Arrigoni Hall of Fame
Brian Roche ’86, '88 MBA enters the Iona College Goal Club Hall of Fame as one of the top middle-distance runners in school history.
A native of Dublin, Ireland, Roche made an immediate impact upon arriving in New Rochelle. As a freshman in 1982, he led the first-ever Iona cross country squad to participate in the NCAA Championship in Bloomington, IN. Roche was also the top runner on Iona’s team that competed at the 1985 NCAA Championship in Milwaukee, WI.
He continued his outstanding performances on the track. Roche set two Iona indoor track records in the mile and two-mile in 1982. Later that year during the outdoor track season, Roche added his name to the record books twice. He clocked a freshman mile record before setting a new school standard in the 1,500m (3:42:00). It is one of the longest standing track marks in the Iona record book.
In 1985, Roche blazed the fastest time ever run by an Iona cross country athlete on the fabled five-mile course at Van Cortlandt Park, crossing the finish line in a time of 23:24.6. He won back-to-back Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference individual cross country crowns in 1984 and 1985- one of just four individuals to achieve such a feat- and was a member of three MAAC Championship teams in 1982, 1983, and 1985.
In 1986, Roche received the Joseph O’Connell Award - presented annually to Iona’s top male student-athlete - as well as earning MAAC All-Academic honors.
