Liquori, "Marty" (Martin)
Track and Field
b. Sept. 11, 1949, Montclair, NJ
Liquori made the U. S. Olympic team in 1968, when he was a nineteen-year-old freshman at Villanova, and he reached the finals of the 1,500-meter run but suffered a stress fracture and finished last.
In 1969, he won the NCAA and AAU outdoor 1-mile championships and finished second to Jim Ryun in the NCAA indoor meet. He repeated in the AAU outdoor in 1970 and had his best year in 1971, winning the NCAA and AAU outdoor titles, a gold medal in the 1,500-meter at the Pan-American Games, and running a personal best 3:54.6 in the mile at the Martin Luther King Games in Philadelphia.
Late in the year, however, he injured his left heel while running cross-country. He didn't return to competition until 1973 and had indifferent success until 1975, when he ran a personal best 3:52.2 in the mile, finishing second to Gilbert Bayi, and set a U. S. record of 8:17.12 in the 2-mile.
Liquori qualified for the 1976 Olympic team by running a 13:33.6 in the 5,000 meters early in the year. Unfortunately, he missed the Olympics again because of a severe hamstring pull at the AAU national outdoor meet, and he was forced to retire.
Since then, Liquori has worked for a number of sportswear companies, including his own, and he also done frequent television commentary on track and field.