William & Mary interim Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Alex Heacock '09 announced today the promotion of Chris Solinsky to the position of Head Men's Distance Coach.  Solinsky, who has spent the past two years as an assistant coach for both the Tribe's men's and women's teams, will also serve as the head men's cross country coach during the fall, in addition to coaching the men's distance and middle distance during the indoor and outdoor track seasons.

"People who know cross country and distance running know Chris Solinsky," said Heacock, "the athlete from his days as a multiple-time NCAA champion at Wisconsin, to his brilliant exploits as a professional runner. What they probably don't know is that Chris has been able to use those experiences to effectively coach and motivate the men and women in our program for the past two years, and I believe he is very worthy of this new role as Head Men's Distance coach. Chris is a great coach, but also a great competitor and I know he will do a great job in continuing to set the bar high for our men's distance runners and help them achieve great success under his tenure."

In his two years with the Green and Gold, Solinsky has helped his runners regain the ranks of NCAA qualifiers and IC4A title-contenders, while retaining supremacy in the CAA.  Ryan Gousse won two-straight conference titles in the 3,000m steeplechase, and ranked 31st in the country in 2016 with his lifetime-best time of 8:47.76.  Faris Sakallah was the CAA Champion at 10,000m as a sophomore in 2015, and came within steps of winning the conference title in cross country last fall.  Freshman Riley Covert ran the team's fastest 5,000m of the year in 2016 and qualified for the USAT&F Junior Championships, where he finished 10th in the nation.

In his final conference meet, Nathaniel Hermsmeier swept the 5,000m and 10,000m CAA titles in 2016, leading his teammates to five of the six scoring places in both events.  The middle-distance events saw a breakout campaign in 2016 as well.  Sophomore Dawson Connell, who was runner-up in the CAA 1,500m as a freshman to teammate Kurtis Steck, ran a 4:03.41 mile indoors and went on to third at the IC4A Championships indoors.  He carried that over to the spring, running 3:46.40 and winning the CAA crown, as well as taking second in the 800m at 1:53.  Freshman Ryan McGorty was third in the 1,500m at the conference meet, and ran bests of 1:55 and 3:51 in his first season of collegiate training.

Solinsky came to W&M after seven years as a professional athlete in the highest ranks, and with three years of Division I coaching experience.  He served as a volunteer coach at the University of Portland from 2012-14, helping the Pilots men's team to a 12th place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2012 and improving to seventh in 2013.  He also spent one year as a student assistant while finishing his degree at Wisconsin.

Solinsky's professional running career was the envy of most, including eight years sponsored by Nike.  He was a member of Team USA at the 2009 World Outdoor Championships, finishing 12th in the 5,000m, and was runner-up in the event at the 2009 U.S. Championships.  In 2010, Solinsky ran 26:59.60 in the 10,000m, breaking the American record by more than 14 seconds and becoming the first man not born in Africa to ever break 27 minutes in the event.  He has also broken major barriers in the 5,000m (12:55.53) and the mile (3:54.1), and ranks second all-time in U.S. history in both the 5,000m and 10,000m as well as fifth all-time in the 3,000m.

Solinsky ran for the Wisconsin Badgers as an undergraduate, helping the team win the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2005 and the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2007.  He was a 14-time All-American and a five-time NCAA Champion, winning each of his last three years indoors (2005 and 2006 3,000m; 2007 5,000m) and his last two outdoors (2006 and 2007 5,000m).  Solinsky won four individual Big Ten titles, and helped Wisconsin sweep the Big Ten team championships in every season all four years.

He graduated from Wisconsin in 2007, with a degree in history.  Solinsky and his wife, former Badgers pole vaulter Amy Dahlin, live in Williamsburg with their daughter, Ayla, and dog, Tucker.

AGATE -- W&M promotes Chris Solinsky to Head Men's Distance Coach