Scott Simmons begins his third year as the head coach of Queens University of Charlotte’s men’s and women’s cross-country & track teams after directing the men’s program to a record high 7th-place finish at the 2008 NCAA DII National Cross Country Championships and coaching four NCAA DII individual national championship titles in Daniel Kanyaruhuru (Indoor 5,000-meters, 2008), Michael Crouch (Indoor 5,000-meters and Outdoor 1500-meter, 2009) and Tanya Zeferjahn (Outdoor 10,000-meters, 2009).??
“Our track and cross-country programs are already successful and adding a national-caliber coach like Scott creates even more enthusiasm about where these programs can go,” said Jeannie King, director of athletics for Queens.??
Simmons, a native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., is no stranger to national collegiate success. He joined the Royals after three years at Virginia Intermont College where he led the men’s team to three back-to-back-to-back National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national cross-country championship titles (2004-2006) right on the heels of two national team titles while at Minot State University in Minot, N.D. in 2002 and 2003.??
Simmons earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Alabama in 1990 and a master’s of sport coaching degree from the United States Sports Academy in 1992. He has earned U.S.A. Track & Field Coaching Education Certification at Levels I, II and III. ??His list of achievements during his 18-year coaching career is impressive. Simmons is a two-time USA National Team Leader, has been honored with six NAIA National Coach of the Year Awards and coached numerous individuals to US national titles and onto US National teams including Fernando Cabada, who broke the American record for 25k while a collegian and ran 2:12 for the marathon, the seventh fastest debut by an American.
Simmons lead the American Distance Project, a group of professional athletes that include Justin Young who qualified for the 2009 World Championships in the marathon with a 2:13 PR in 2008 ranking him #2 in the US; Fasil Bizuneh who qualified for the US Olympic Trials with a 27:50.48 10k, the fifth fastest time by an American in 2008 and who finished 2nd at the US Half Marathon in 2007 beating Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflizighi; and 42-year old Stephanie Herbst Lucke who ran within 5-seconds of the American master’s record for 10k with her 32:55 a year ago.??
In addition to serving as a coach, Simmons is an nationally recognized speaker, serving as a guest lecturer at seminars throughout the United States, including Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, New Mexico, Iowa and Nevada. Simmons has penned a handful of books on the sport as well, including “Take the Lead: A Revolutionary Approach to Coaching Cross Country” and USA Track & Field’s “Post Collegiate Distance Runners’ Survival Guide.”
