Montclair Firefighter Inducted Into Wall Of Fame

The Seton Hall University track & field program received an incredible honor when its 1986 Penn Relay sprint medley relay championship team was inducted into the Penn Relay Wall of Fame on Friday, April 27, at a banquet held at the Palestra in Philadelphia.

The SHU sprint medley relay team of Andrew Valmon, David Jones, Baron Chambliss and Akanni Gbadamosi edged by a talented team from the University of Texas to take first place in the sprint medley relay at the 1986 meet, setting a meet record of 3:13.56 that lasted for eight years.

Members of the Penn Relay Wall of Fame are permanently enshrined on plaques on the Eastern Wall of the historic Franklin Field where the meet is held.

Valmon, who was inducted into the Seton Hall University Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, was also a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, winning the 4x400-relay in 1988 and again in 1992, and still holds the SHU 400-meter school record with a time of 44.89, set in 1987.

Jones still holds a pair of school records, holding the all-time long jump mark of 7.47 meters, set in 1985, and the 400-meter hurdle record of 50.31, which he set in 1988.

Jones, a high school All-American, is a 1985 graduate of Montclair High School and is currently a firefighter with the Montclair Fire Department.