Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League

 
For half a century, George Rudolph coached the cross country and track & field teams at Oakland Catholic and Sacred Heart, starting both programs in the fall of 1973. A 1956 graduate of St. George, Rudolph went west for his post-high school studies, earning an Associate’s degree from the College of San Mateo, a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, and a Master’s degree from Humboldt State University. He returned home and accepted a teaching position at Sacred Heart in 1972, and began the cross country and track & field programs shortly after despite having no field, track, jumping pits, weight room, uniforms, and student-athletes, and only three hurdles. Rudolph’s build of the Sacred Heart programs – and later Oakland Catholic after Sacred Heart and St. Paul merged in 1989 – has been nothing short of extraordinary, as he has led his teams to 16 Catholic conference championships, 10 WPIAL section titles, and a pair of WPIAL cross country team trophies in 2016 and 2017. His student-athletes have won three WPIAL cross country golds and 16 WPIAL track & field titles, and he has coached 15 All-State runners and four All-Americans, including Laura Grignano, who was the 1985 national champion at the Junior Olympics. Rudolph also has had 46 alumnae compete collegiately on scholarship across the nation. He spent 25 years as the athletic director at Oakland Catholic, initiating programs for fencing, lacrosse, rowing, softball, and swimming & diving, and was a social studies teacher for 47 years, specializing in Russian and Chinese history. Rudolph has received the Tri-State Track & Field Coaches’ Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the Franklin Select Circle of High School Coaches Award, and the Scholastic Magazine Prominent Coaching Award. He is a founding member of the Federation of Pittsburgh Diocesan Teachers and was the president of the Pittsburgh Softball Association for Umpires.