Joseph Cote
Graduating class: 1975
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2026
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
For the better part of his winter and spring high school track and field career Joe Cote was dominant in four events. His specialties were the long jump, high jump, low hurdles and the 220. Competing in dual meets, he was a big time point-getter in all four.
Cote ran and jumped in both the winter and spring seasons from 1973 through 1975…….most of the time looking back over his shoulder. Head Coach Steve Bender called his super star “a pure track athlete at a small school that produced multi-sport athletes. He was a pleasure to coach and was a hard-working athlete who understood team goals.”
The perennial all-star selection set records in 100-yard dash (:10.4), 220 (:23.2), long jump (21-1 ½ ) and high jump (6-feet, 5/8 of an inch) and enjoyed his most productive season in the spring of 1975 which was the first year that track increased event participation in dual meets from two running/one field or two field/one running to two events in both.
Joe’s list of spring events included the long jump, high jump, 100, 220 and the 120-yard low hurdles. Over that period, he compiled 194 points out of a possible 200, went undefeated in four events in eight dual meets and finished first 37 times. He was second three times out of a possible 40 first place finishes.
Othe spring highlights from the ’75 season included: first place finishes in the long jump with a personal best of 21-feet 1 ½ inches and the 120 low hurdles with a best time of 14 seconds flat in the Division 2 Conference meet. Both were Conference and Fairhaven High School records. Cote also placed sixth in the long jump at the State meet.
“Cote’s performance in the Division 2 meet is noteworthy,” Bender was quoted as saying. “He won the long jump, the 120 lows and was on the first-place 4 x 220 relay team. In the long jump and the 120 lows there were trials and the finals. To make it to the finals the athletes must qualify meaning they had to run the event several times! To say the least……it’s noteworthy,” Bender reflected. “And, in Cote’s era the track athlete ran on stone dust or ash-cinder surfaces which is a big difference between the faster all-weather tracks of today.”
In a winter season when meets were held outdoors on the old New Bedford Vocational boards, Cote racked up numerous points in the 50-yard and 300-yard running events as well as the high jump. He was named a Division 2 All-Star in the high jump event after clearing the bar at 5-feet, 8-inches while competing in temperatures of 10 degrees on many occasions.