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The William and Mary cross country and track and field teams announced a staff reorganization today, as long-time Director Dan Stimson is stepping down to focus exclusively on coaching the Tribe's throwers. Stephen Walsh, who served as the head men's and women's coach last year, has been promoted to the post of interim Director and will retain all of his prior responsibilities.
Stimson's 25-years as the College's Director of Track and Field have seen unprecedented success for both the teams as a whole, and for the individual athletes. Since joining the Tribe in 1986-87, Stimson's teams accounted for 49 Colonial Athletic Association Championships, nearly half of all of W&M's league-leading 102 titles. In fact, if the cross country and track programs were ranked by themselves along with all the schools in the CAA, they would be tied for third with Old Dominion behind James Madison (64) and the rest of W&M's teams (53).
On an individual level, Jon Grey '11 this spring gave Stimson his 64th All-America award, a total that also includes 1996 Olympian Brian Hyde '96, the American collegiate record-holder at 1,500m. Matt Lane ’01 was an 11-time All-American, and won the USTCA Male Track Athlete of the Year award as a senior in 2000-01. In the classroom, three of the College’s six Rhodes Scholars have been members of the track and cross country teams, and 37 athletes have been named Phi Beta Kappa. In 2007, the College’s new throwing area was named in his honor, and this past spring, alumni and friends established a scholarship endowment in his name as well.
Stimson will stay with the program as the throwing coach. He has two outstanding upperclassmen returning in junior Natalie Baird (Sterling, Va.) and senior Brandon Heroux (Westfield, N.J.), as well as bevy of sophomores and freshmen. Baird is the Tribe's record-holder in the discus, and won that event at the CAA meet in 2010 before redshirting last season. Heroux was one of the top javelin throwers in the country this spring, winning the Penn Relays with a school-record throw of 73.09 meters (239-9) and going on to add the CAA and IC4A titles before injuring his elbow.
In Stephen Walsh's first year as the head coach for both cross country teams, he saw the men win the CAA championship, the Southeast Region, and take 19th at the NCAA Championships despite losing three All-Americans from the year before. The women's team has hit even harder, losing the top-seven runners from 2009, but still finished second in the conference and second at the ECAC Championships. Walsh also oversaw much of the track and field program alongside Stimson, shepherding Grey to a top-15 finish in the NCAA 10,000m and setting freshman records at 3,000m and 5,000m on the women's side. In his role as interim Director, Walsh will continue to work directly with the distance and middle-distance athletes, while also assuming greater oversight responsibility for every other track and field discipline as well as the administrative operations of the program.
Stimson's 25-years as the College's Director of Track and Field have seen unprecedented success for both the teams as a whole, and for the individual athletes. Since joining the Tribe in 1986-87, Stimson's teams accounted for 49 Colonial Athletic Association Championships, nearly half of all of W&M's league-leading 102 titles. In fact, if the cross country and track programs were ranked by themselves along with all the schools in the CAA, they would be tied for third with Old Dominion behind James Madison (64) and the rest of W&M's teams (53).
On an individual level, Jon Grey '11 this spring gave Stimson his 64th All-America award, a total that also includes 1996 Olympian Brian Hyde '96, the American collegiate record-holder at 1,500m. Matt Lane ’01 was an 11-time All-American, and won the USTCA Male Track Athlete of the Year award as a senior in 2000-01. In the classroom, three of the College’s six Rhodes Scholars have been members of the track and cross country teams, and 37 athletes have been named Phi Beta Kappa. In 2007, the College’s new throwing area was named in his honor, and this past spring, alumni and friends established a scholarship endowment in his name as well.
Stimson will stay with the program as the throwing coach. He has two outstanding upperclassmen returning in junior Natalie Baird (Sterling, Va.) and senior Brandon Heroux (Westfield, N.J.), as well as bevy of sophomores and freshmen. Baird is the Tribe's record-holder in the discus, and won that event at the CAA meet in 2010 before redshirting last season. Heroux was one of the top javelin throwers in the country this spring, winning the Penn Relays with a school-record throw of 73.09 meters (239-9) and going on to add the CAA and IC4A titles before injuring his elbow.
In Stephen Walsh's first year as the head coach for both cross country teams, he saw the men win the CAA championship, the Southeast Region, and take 19th at the NCAA Championships despite losing three All-Americans from the year before. The women's team has hit even harder, losing the top-seven runners from 2009, but still finished second in the conference and second at the ECAC Championships. Walsh also oversaw much of the track and field program alongside Stimson, shepherding Grey to a top-15 finish in the NCAA 10,000m and setting freshman records at 3,000m and 5,000m on the women's side. In his role as interim Director, Walsh will continue to work directly with the distance and middle-distance athletes, while also assuming greater oversight responsibility for every other track and field discipline as well as the administrative operations of the program.
