Jim J. Barrett was the premier sprinter through the first 20 years of the men’s track & fieldprogram.
The 6-foot-1 inch, 190 pound South Windsor native achieved All-New England recognition eight times in six different events in his three-year career between 1993 and 1995, and graduated as the program record-holder at 55, 100 and 200 meters and with the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays and was second all-time in the long jump only behind New England champion Clayton Kempain.
The ninth member of the Eastern track & field or cross country teams to be inducted into the E-Club Hall of Fame, Barrett is only the second male sprinter to be honored. He follows into the hall four-time long jump All-America Jason Edwards, who joined the program three seasons after the graduation of Barrett.
“Jimmy learned a lot about being part of a team, and compromising to make things work for everyone,” praised current Eastern track and field coach Kathy Manizza, who coached Barrett as a junior and senior. “He always gave it his best effort and always encouraged his teammates, as well.”
In his senior season, Barrett qualified provisionally for the NCAA Division III national championship meets in the 55 meters indoor and 100 meters outdoors and earned All-New England honors with a third-place finish in the 55 indoors, and outdoors, with a fourth-place finish in the 100 and with a fifth-place finish with the 4x100 relay.
In winning the 55 meters at Wesleyan with a time of 6.62 in his senior season, Barrett posted the fastest time indoors in New England Division III that season. That time of 6.62 at Wesleyan would have placed him sixth nationally at the Division III indoor national meet.
The 1994-95 season proved to be one of the most successful in program history, with the indoor team taking eighth and the outdoor team seventh at their respective New England Division III meets. In addition to Barrett, the 1995 outdoor team featured a host of talented other sprinters, as well as Kempain, triple and high jump standout Chris Vechinsky, high jump recordholder Keith Christoffers, and 800 meter specialist Todd Lohrman.
As a team during the 1995 outdoor season, Eastern won the 12-team Rhode Island College Invitational and the 11-team Bryant College Tri-State Championships by large margins and was second at the Wesleyan University Invitational and Worcester Tech invitationals and was the second-highest finisher among state institutions at the New England meet.
In May of 1994 at the Connecticut Intercollegiate Championship – a meet which featured every four-year institution in the state -- Barrett placed third in the 200 and was second in the 100, where five of the eight scorers were from Division I.
After gaining All-New England recognition in the 55 and long jump in high school, Barrett attained All-New England distinction in his first year at Eastern in 1993, placing fourth in the long jump and sixth in the 4x400 relay.
Through 2015, Barrett still ranks among the program’s all-time Top 10 in the 4x100 (4th/42.94), 100 (6th/11.01), 55 (t-6th/6.59), and long jump (8th/21-4).
An Army war hero who served three tours of duty in the Middle East, Jimmy returned to Eastern as an assistant coach for three years, the final two under his former high school coach, Clint Bowman.
