Liz Natale, a 1982 graduate of Newton North and perhaps the most accomplished female distance runner in Newton history, will be inducted into the Newton North/Newton High Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies this Friday, Nov. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Needham Hotel in Needham. Prior to her senior year at NNHS, Natale was several times a runner-up in Class A and State mile and two-mile races. As a sophomore, she ran 10:59 to take second in the outdoor state two-mile. As a senior, Natale won the indoor and outdoor Class A titles in the mile, running 4:56.8 and 4:55.3, respectively. After her H.S. indoor season, Natale won the open New England championship, running 4:52, and then ran a 10:31.8 in the Eastern States Championship at Harvard, still a Newton record. After graduation from NNHS, Natale ran first at Tennessee and then at Texas. At Texas, she was a six-time All-American in indoor track, outdoor track, and cross-country. In cross-country, she finished as high as 5th in the NCAA championship meet. In indoor track, she finished 3rd and 4th in the 3000m indoors, and was NCAA runner-up in the 3000 outdoors. At her indoor conference meet in 1986, she won both the mile (4:50.94) and two-mile (10:05.31). Her all-time bests include times of 4:15.68 for 1500 (still a Texas record), 9:01.34 for 3000, and 15:55.9 for 5000m. She also ran on the 4x800 relay team that ran 8:27.90, a record that still stands 23 years later.
Class: 1982 Inducted: 2010