2008-2009 Coaching Changes

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http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/sports_ ... 900.118998

Case Added, Hogs Men's Track Staff Completed
by UA Sports Information
FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas Razorback men's cross country and track and field head coach, Chris Bucknam, announced the addition of assistant coach Doug Case to the staff on Monday. Bucknam has now completed his staff with assistant coach Dick Booth and director of operations Danny Green staying on board.

"I've known Doug (Case) for many years, starting when I recruited him to the University of Northern Iowa," Bucknam said. "He competed for me and then went on to have great coaching stints at Arkansas State and Drake University. His record and experience speaks for itself and he has had great success with his student-athletes. He is a very talented coach and recruiter. I'm very excited Doug and his family have decided to come to Fayetteville."

Case comes to the University of Arkansas after spending nine seasons at Northern Iowa where he served on Bucknam's staff, coaching the pole vault and sprints groups. A 1987 graduate of Northern Iowa, Case has also spent time coaching at Drake University (1997-99) and Arkansas State University (1990-97).

"I am really looking forward to working at the University of Arkansas," Case said. "The Razorbacks have a great track and field tradition that was started by Coach John McDonnell and I'm thrilled my family and I can be a part of it. I am excited to move my family to Fayetteville because it is a great town to live in. I'm ready to get started and get to work."

Under Case's guidance, UNI sprinters and pole vaulters have earned 35 All-America honors, including a national championship in the pole vault and 64 NCAA Division I national meet qualifiers. UNI sprinters and vaulters have dominated the Missouri Valley Conference over the last nine years, crowning 80 individual and relay conference champions.

In the past four seasons alone, Case's sprinters have racked up 24 MVC titles and 25 All-America honors. Six school sprint records fell in 2007.

When it comes to the pole vault, Case built UNI into a national leader in the event. He developed three of the greatest vaulters in MVC history in Jacob Pauli, Andre Poljanec and Jarno Kivioja, a trio that claimed 12 MVC championships and eight All-America honors from 1999 to 2007.

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http://www.caller.com/news/2008/aug/19/ ... kcc-coach/

Ryan Dall signs on as Javs Track/CC coach
FROM STAFF AND CORRESPONDENT REPORTS
Originally published 11:05 p.m., August 19, 2008
Updated 11:05 p.m., August 19, 2008

KINGSVILLE Texas A&M-Kingsville has turned to a veteran Division I assistant coach to lead its track and field and cross country programs.

Ex-Duke and Florida International assistant Ryan Dall was announced as the Javelinas new track and cross country coach, the latest in a long line of recent coaching and athletic administrative hires at the university. A&M-Kingsville athletics director Scott Gines said Dall will commence duties early next week.

"Ryan is a top young coaching talent and we think he will be a great fit in Kingsville," Gines said.

A 1999 Miami graduate, Dall served as a Duke assistant for five years and was at Florida International for four years. Prior to his coaching career, Dall was the 1995 Big East Conference indoor and outdoor pole vault champion and finished in fourth place in the 1999 Big East decathlon.

"I am very excited to take over the (Javelinas) program," Dall said. "They have had a lot of success in the past and I would like to send us back in that direction."

Dall becomes the 12th head coaching or athletic administrative hire at A&M-Kingsville since the 2006-07 season. The only sport unaffected in that span is men's basketball, in which Pete Peterson begins his 12t h season as the Javs' head coach this fall.

At Duke, Dall coached and recruited sprinters, hurdlers, pole vaulters and multi-event athletes. He organized the Asics Duke Invitational Track and Field Meet, a 70-plus school event. Dall also coached his athletes to 14 school records, six All-Atlantic Coast Conference awards, three IC4A champions, 17 All-IC4A awards, one ECAC champion and nine All-ECAC awards.

At FIU, Dall worked with two All-Americans in the high jump and javelin, an NCAA Championship qualifier in the 60-meter hurdles, four conference champions and over 20 all-conference performers. He also worked with the cross country team.

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http://www.mpnnow.com/sports/x144228025 ... ll-winners

Beck takes the helm

SUNY Fredonia has turned to a SUNYAC sister school to find its new head cross country coach and stayed in-house to fill a second coaching position.

Jeffrey Beck, a three-time All-American distance runner at Geneseo, has accepted an interim position to head up the Blue Devils men’s and women’s cross country programs. He also will serve as assistant track and field coach, said Fredonia assistant director of athletics Joe Baudo.

Baudo also announced that Elizabeth Aldrich, an assistant track and field coach for the past two seasons, will serve as interim director of track and field. A Fredonia native and graduate of the University of Alabama, Aldrich will be assisted by Paul Csont as well as Beck and pole vault coach Tom Wilson.

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http://www.uvm.edu/~sportspr/?Page=News&storyID=12620

Wisser Named Assistant Track and Field Coach at Vermont

Release Date: 08-26-2008

Author: Lisa A. Champagne
Email: Lisa.Champagne@uvm.edu
Phone: 802/656-1818 Fax: 802-656-8328

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Former Plattsburgh State assistant track and field coach Greg Wisser will join the University of Vermont track and field program in the same capacity. UVM head coach Matt Belfield made the announcement today.

“Greg brings a combination of outstanding coaching skills and experience with recruiting and administration. We are confident that Greg will hit the ground running with the day to day tasks, along with providing excellent technical instruction in field events,” said Belfield.

“In a year that we are adding about 60 new student-athletes to our team, many in technical events, it is wonderful to have someone with Greg's background joining the staff."

Wisser completed his second season as an assistant at Plattsburgh in 2007-08. While with the Cardinal, he developed Jon Daly into an All-America decathlete. Daly broke a 30-year-old school record with 6,786 points at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Wisser, who is from Pittsburgh, Pa., arrived at Plattsburgh in August 2006 after two seasons as an assistant coach for track and field and cross country at the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

He designed the strength and conditioning program, coached throwing events, multi-events, hurdles, pole vault and high jump, groomed 15 NCAA and Eastern College Athletic Conference qualifiers and helped the Mariners to back-to-back Skyline Conference cross country championships for both men and women.

Wisser earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa. He was a four-year decathlon letterman on the Gator track and field squad, which captured both indoor and outdoor North Coast Athletic Conference championships in 2003 and '04.

He holds memberships with USA Track & Field and National Pole Vault Coaches Association, and is a certified Level 1 coach.

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http://www.idahostatesman.com/104/story/498465.html

BSU hires Olympic medalist as assistant track and field coach



Statesman staff - Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 09/10/08

Olympic bronze medalist Chris Huffins was hired as an assistant track and field coach at Boise State, coach Mike Maynard announced Tuesday.

Huffins will work with the sprints, jumps, hurdles and multi-events.

Huffins previously coached at Cal, his alma mater, and Georgia Tech.

A two-time Olympian, Huffins earned a bronze medal in the decathlon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

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http://www.keanathletics.com/sports/tra ... 91108Penta

Penta Named Head Coach of Track and Field Programs
UNION, N.J. (9/11/08) - The Kean University Department of Athletics has named Michael Penta the head coach of the track and field programs after spending two years as an assistant coach at Kean.

Penta joined the coaching staff prior to the 2006-2007 indoor track and field season, specializing in the field events of pole vault and long, triple and high jumps and the sprints.

"We are excited to elevate Mike to head coach of the cross country and track and field programs," said Glenn Hedden, Director of Athletics at Kean. "His enthusiasm is evident and we are confident that he will continue to strengthen the programs within the New Jersey Athletic Conference and the region."

This past year, the Cougars qualified seven individuals and three relay teams for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Prior to Kean, Penta was an assistant indoor and outdoor track and field at Elizabeth High School from 2002 through 2006.

The chairperson of the health and physical education department at Elizabeth High School, Penta graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education and earned a master's degree in administration and supervision from St. Peter's College.

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I hear that Kate Carlson has left Seattle Pacific and will be coaching at USC in California.

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http://media.www.easttennessean.com/med ... 5597.shtml

Track and Field names Sunquist new assistant

Head ETSU track and field coach David Walker announced the hiring of a new assistant, Eli Sunquist, on Wednesday afternoon.
Sunquist brings an excellent track record to the Buccaneer program, both as a coach and an athlete. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native spent the past two years coaching the Charlotte 49ers, his alma mater, where he supervised all the male and female field event athletes. Sunquist is member of the National Pole Vault Coaches Association and United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association. He and his wife Tara, a former UNF volleyball standout, reside in Johnson City.

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http://www.hvpress.net/news/150/ARTICLE ... 01-14.html

Lott, Penn Join Army Track and Field Coaching Staff

Greg Lott (left) and Jayne Penn (right)
WEST POINT – The Army track and field program added two talented and highly respected assistants to the coaching staff when head coach Troy Engle announced the hiring of Greg Lott and Jayne Penn.

Lott will primarily work with the sprint and pole vault events while Penn will work with the speed, power and middle-distance events.

“We’re very excited to round out our coaching staff with two excellent coaches in Greg and Jayne,” said Engle. “It became very clear to me throughout the interview process that these two coaches bring not only a great background in the sport of track and field, but they understand the caliber of scholar-athletes that we have here at the U.S. Military Academy. Both came with the highest recommendations from the track and field community and they have a phenomenal presence and knowledge of the sport that allowed them to immediately connect with the cadet-athletes.”

Lott has spent the past two years running professionally under the tutelage of U.S. Olympic team coach Brooks Johnson and training at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla. Competing on the European Circuit in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes, Lott had top-10 international finishes in Belgium, France, Italy and Germany. In 2007, he ran a leg of the 4x400-meter relay for the U.S. team at The International Freedom and Friendship Games.

Concurrent to his own racing, Lott orchestrated the pole-vaulting program at the National Training Center (NTC) in Clermont, FL where he trained elite high school, youth and master’s athletes. Under his direction, five high school athletes were district champions, three were regional champions, and two of them finished second at the state championship meet in Florida. Additionally, in his role as an Exercise Specialist at the NTC, Lott worked with elite athletes from teams such as USA Rugby and UK Paralympic Track and Field.

“Greg’s experience competing at an international level and training for the U.S. Olympic trials under two of the top sprinting coaches in the nation in Dennis Mitchell and Brooks Johnson will be invaluable to our program,” said Engle. “He was a nationally successful athlete in college and was a very successful coach after graduating from Dickinson before he returned to competition, so he brings a very unique perspective.”

From 2005-06, Lott served as a graduate assistant coach at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Ind. with a primary responsibility for the sprints, hurdles and relays. On the track, athletes he coached achieved great heights with 39 personal best performances, 20 marks on the “Top-five All-Time List” at Valpo and five school records. While at Valpo, Lott also completed coursework towards a Master of Business Administration degree.

Lott began his collegiate coaching career at Buffalo State College while completing his master’s degree in sport administration at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. Working with the Bengal sprinters and hurdlers, he led Richard Harris to a first place finish in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2005 Division III Outdoor National Championships, becoming the first track and field athlete at Buffalo State to win a national championship since 1986.

A 2004 graduate of Dickinson College, Lott captained the Red Devils’ track and field team for two seasons. A fierce collegiate competitor, Lott was an All-American finishing as high as second in the 200m at the NCAA Div. III Championships. He was a five-event qualifier for the NCAA championships, has held seven school records at Dickinson College and broke three all-time marks for the Centennial Conference as well (100m, 200m and 4x200m relay).

Lott was named as his team’s Most Valuable Athlete, Centennial Conference Most Outstanding Athlete and Mid-East Regional Athlete of the Year in 2004. To accompany these accolades he garnered awards for Dickinson’s Most Outstanding Athlete, representing all sports and the Joseph M. Durcharme Memorial Leadership Award for inspiring his team after coming back from a seemingly career ending injury in his sophomore season. A multiple time Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll member, Lott earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Business and Management.