La Salle track coach Torpey dies at 58

Charles Torpey, head coach of La Salle University's men's and women's cross country and track and field programs since 1994, died of an apparent heart attack on Friday. He was 58.

Torpey had just finished supervising a workout with Sean Quigley, a former La Salle All-American who is training for the 2012 Olympics, at Valley Green. After the workout, Quigley went for a brief cooldown run, and when he returned, he saw medics putting a person into an ambulance.

"I came back and saw an ambulance and cop cars, and I saw they were doing CPR on somebody in the ambulance," Quigley said. "When I didn't see Charlie, I thought it might be him."

Brian Gallagher, another former La Salle athlete, set up an alumni run last Saturday and Sunday in memory of his coach.

"I was in his first recruiting class," said Gallagher. "I still hadn't made up my mind about La Salle, but after 20 or 30 minutes with him I made my decision."

Gallagher said he reached out to other La Salle alumni through Facebook, and that nearly 100 showed up for Sunday's run.

"When somebody dies, you go to the family's house," Gallagher explained. "My idea was to see my La Salle family.

"[Torpey] was certainly knowledgeable. He tried to figure out who you were, understand you, and you were able to achieve a lot of great things."

Under Torpey, Gallagher earned All-American honors and was the first Explorer to run a mile in under 4 minutes.

Quigley was another distance All-American under Torpey, and said he will continue to train for the marathon and/or 10,000 meters for the London Olympics.

"He made you believe and he believed in his athletes," Quigley said. "That's the best thing a coach could do."

Torpey was a graduate of Keene State College in New Hampshire. At La Salle, he coached a total of nine All-Americans in cross country and track.

Charles Torpey is survived by his wife Janice, two sons, Christopher and Brian, and a daughter, Jenna.

A viewing is set for Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at R.L. Williams Funeral Home, Skippack Pike at Cedars Road, Skippack, Pa. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday at the Church of St. Mary, 40 Spring Mount Road, Schwenksville, Pa.