The Catholic League was not part of the IHSA in 1961 and its teams could not participate in state tournaments in any sports.

Because they wanted to participate on the state level, St. George and three other Christian Brother schools (DeLaSalle, St. Mel, and St. Patrick) left to form the Chicagoland Prep League (CPL).

They won a coin flip to decide who would face Phillips (Public League champion) in the Chicago Prep Bowl.

The Dragons then traveled to New York City to play Mount St. Michael's of the Bronx in a special interdivisional game at the Polo Grounds for the "National Championship".

Tom Sullivan ran the 1600 in 4:02.4 (a converted time from mile of 4:03.5 to 1600 meters), which was the nation's best until future Olympian Jim Ryun broke the record three years later at 3:59.0.