Mark Longwell

Mark Longwell
Personal information
Place of birth Stamford, Connecticut, United States
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
1978–1981 Fairfield Stags
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978 Slough Town 10 (1)
1983 Tampa Bay Rowdies 5 (0)
1983–1984 Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor) 4 (0)
1984 Fort Lauderdale Sun 20 (?)
National team
1983  United States B Team 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Mark Longwell (born 1960 in Stamford, Connecticut) is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the North American Soccer League and United Soccer League.

Career

Youth and College

Longwell played high school soccer at Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Connecticut where he a two-time All-State selection. He then played college soccer for Fairfield University where he was named All New England and the Tri-State Conference MVP in his junior and senior years. Longwell played with Slough Town FC in Slough, England in 1978, trained with Liverpool F.C. in the summer of 1980, and trained with Chelsea FC in the summer of 1982.

Professional

During Fairfield, Longwell played for Slough Town F.C. in 1978 in the English Isthmian League. After Fairfield, Longwell had multiple tryouts at the professional level. He then signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdiesof the North American Soccer League.[1] He made his professional debut on August 5, 1983 against the Chicago Sting, in a 4–3 win. He also played for the 1983–84 Tampa Bay Rowdies Indoor team.[2] On April 3, 1984, Longwell signed with the Fort Lauderdale Sun of the newly established United Soccer League. The Sun went on to win the 1984 USL championship with Longwell as captain.[3][4]

International

Longwell was a member of the United States men's national soccer team B Team which toured Malaysia and Singapore in 1983.[5]

Running and Cycling

After professional soccer, Longwell turned to running and triathlons, competing in over 300 races, including 56 marathons/ultramarathons. He has a PR of 3:13 for the marathon, 4:29 for 50K, 8:06 for 50 miles and 22 hours, 6 minutes for 100 miles in the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run in 1996. Longwell also has a personal best in the Ironman triathlon of 11:36 in the 1993 Ironman Canada race in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. Along the way, Longwell raced in marathons/ultras in 9 different countries. In 2004, he competed in the Race Across America bike race in the two man division with John Delia of Middletown, CT. The team crossed the USA (3000 miles- San Diego to Atlantic City) in 8 days, 15 hours and 42 minutes to finish in third place in their division. Longwell completed his 100,000th documented lifetime cycling mile on Thanksgiving Day, 2012. Additionally, Mark has averaged 13,000 miles per year for 2012,2013,2014 and 2015- and rode 16,025 miles in 2015. As of November, 2016, Longwell has ridden 155,000 miles lifetime.

References

  1. ↑ Tampa Bay Rowdies 1983
  2. ↑ 1983–84 Tampa Bay Rowdies Indoor team photo
  3. ↑ SUN SOCCER CLUB SIGNS EX-ROWDIE Miami Herald, The (FL) – Tuesday, April 3, 1984
  4. ↑ Tampa Bay Rowdies Appreciation Blog: Mark Longwell 1983; 1984
  5. ↑ Mark Longwell website
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