Janet Moreau

Janet Moreau was the only white runner on the winning Olympic relay team in 1952 and, at the age of 24, she was the oldest member of the team. Although she never won an outdoor AAU title, she came close to making the 1948 Olympic team when she placed fourth in the 200 m at the Final Trials. She did win AAU indoor titles in the standing broad jump, the 50 yard dash, and the 220 yards.

Moreau won a gold medal in the 1951 Pan American Games 4×100 metres relay. Moreau also competed in the 1951 Pan American Games 100 metres and finished sixth. She was an excellent swimmer and was a member of the Rhode Island All-State Swimming team from 1947-49 in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle, setting records at Tolman High School.

Moreau, later Mrs. Stone, graduated from Boston University in 1952, and was a physical education teacher in the Barrington, Rhode Island school system for 36 years before retiring in 1986. She also did pastoral study, graduating from the Diocese of Providence Ministry Institute, and became a Certified Catholic Chaplin with the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. Stone’s original dream was to be a priest, but was denied that because of her gender. After her marriage, she became an interfaith minister, giving communion to Catholics at home and in nursing homes, and praying with them.

Her sports career led to numerous honors, including being chosen the 1952 Rhode Island French Athlete of the Year and the 1952 Athlete of the Year chosen by the Disabled American Veterans. She was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame (1968), the Boston University Hall of Fame (1979), the Rhode Island Aquatic Hall of Fame (1987), and the Rhode Island Hall of Fame, and in 1986 was made a charter member of the Pawtucket Hall of Fame.

Personal Bests: 100 – 12.0 (1952); 200 – 26.4y (1953).