Chenango Forks Track and Field
Hall of Fame

Graduated:
School Record in Discus
School Record in Shot Put

SUS Champion: Shot Put (1963, 1964), Discus (1964)
Divisional Team Champion: 1961, 1964
SUS Team Champion: 1961
Class Team Champion: 1961
Sectional Trials Team Champion: 1961
State Meet: Discus (1964)

The most decorated pure Thrower in school history is undoubtedly George Karpus.  Not only was he instrumental in leading our 1964 Squad to just Chenango Forks’s second Divisional Championship in School History, but individually Karpus earned three All Conference selections (two in the Shot Put and one in Discuss) and qualified for the State Meet as a senior in the Disc.  If it were not for the Fragomeni twins (one brother in Shot and the other brother in Disc), Karpus would have had both the Shot Put and Discus Records at Forks for 35 years.  He still ranks fifth All Time in the Shot with a throw of 48 feet 6 inches and third All Time in Disc with a toss of 144 feet--the only Thrower in our history that is ranked in the Top 5 in both Throws.       

George was a three sport star, attending St. Lawrence University after his stellar permanence as an offensive tackle on the gridiron and his surprisingly excellent basketball career.  Surprising because with Forks being a wrestling school it was quite rare for someone as physically gifted as Karpus to not have become a grappler.  It was clearly the right move though as George was second in the Susquenango Association in scoring his senior year, averaging 18 points a game and leading Forks to one of its few successful seasons on the hard court (from 1957-1972, Forks basketball was 43-211). 

Karpus was always known as a class act, winning the Sportsmanship Award his senior season, which is prophetic, as George has been donating annual $2,500 scholarships to Forks/Greene graduates for the last three decades.  After graduating college with a Physics degree, George founded the Karpus Investment Management Firm in 1986 that currently has $3 Billion under its management.  As of 2020, George is still the CEO of his firm and has a net worth of tens of millions of dollars!