Bill DeBoer ’68
Bill DeBoer was an outstanding multi-sport athlete at Glen Rock High School —
wrestling and track & field – and still holds the school record in the shot put.
Bill DeBoer was an exceptional performer in both track and field and wrestling and one of the school’s most outstanding multi-sport athletes in the 1960’s.
Bill was an extremely successful wrestler in the unlimited Heavyweight class, where he often used his athletic skills to defeat heavier wrestlers. As a junior, his second place finish in his weight class at the All Group, District Championship helped Glen Rock win the school’s second District Championship. He received Honorable Mention, All-Suburban (by The Ridgewood News). As a senior (and team Co-Captain), he won the District Championship in his weight class and helped Glen Rock finish a close second at the District Championship. Having advanced to the All Group, Regional Championship, Bill was named to the First Team, All-Suburban (by The Ridgewood News).
Bill played on the baseball team as a sophomore (and hit one and maybe two home runs on to the roof of the school during practice). He then joined the track & field team for his junior and senior years, where he competed in the weights (both discus and shot put) and also occasionally ran (and won points) in the 220 yard dash. As a senior, he was the team’s second leading point scorer, helping the team achieve a dual meet record of 7-3. At the season ending NBIL, Eastern Division Championship, he finished second in the shot put. At the subsequent Group 3, Bergen County Championship, he finished second with a toss of 54 feet and 1-1/2 inches, and at the following Group 3, Sectional Championship, he finished second with a toss of 55 feet and 1-1/2 inches. Finally, at the Group 3, State Championship, he finished fourth with a school record toss of 57 feet and 1-1/2 inches. Bill’s toss at the State Championship broke Ron Duncan’s previous school record and still stands as the longest toss in Glen Rock High School’s history. At the end of the season, Bill was awarded Honorable Mention, All-County (by The Bergen Record) and was selected to the First Team, All-Suburban in the shot put.
In June 1968, the administration and coaches of Glen Rock High School recognized Bill as the top athlete in that year’s graduating class and gave him the esteemed Athlete of the Year Award. After graduating from Glen Rock, Bill attended and graduated from Rutgers University, where he lettered in track in his sophomore and senior years and in baseball in his junior year. He also started for Glen Rock’s Connie Mack baseball team in the summer of 1968 and then was the leading player for a local team in the Metropolitan Baseball League in the following summers. After graduating from Rutgers, he finished second in the shot put at the June 1973 New Jersey AAU Senior Men’s Outdoor Championship