Queens University of Charlotte Athletics

2014 was another good year for coach Baney and the distance squad. During the XC season the men and women’s teams showed marked improvements at the regional championships. The men’s team captured third place at the Southeast Regional Championship qualifying them for nationals. The women’s team just missed capturing a bid to the NCAA championship by placing fourth. Catie Byrd became the first regional champion in school history while Megan Wright finished second. Both ladies earned individual bids to the NCAA championships. Catie Byrd went on to become an All-American at Nationals by virtue of her 32nd place finish, becoming Queen’s highest individual finisher in program history.
 
During the 2014 indoor season coach Baney was named the USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year. Felix Duchampt captured track athlete of the year by qualifying for the indoor national meet in the mile, 3k, 5k and distance medley relay.  During the outdoor season coach Baney again was named USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, this time for the women as Andrea Guerra captured USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Track Athlete of the Year honors.
 
During Baney’s three years at Queens she has coached 11 NCAA cross country national qualifiers and two cross country All-Americans. On the track, she has coached 23 national qualifiers and one junior national qualifier. During her time here both teams have improved in Cross Country and Track.

Baney handles all distance responsibilities; she came to Queen’s from East Carolina University where she spent four years as the assistant cross country track coach. The Pirate programs have been gradually improving over the past few years with Baney’s leadership, collecting both programs best finishes on the men’s and women’s side at the Conference USA Championships and NCAA Southeast Regional meets. 
 
Prior to joining the Pirate staff, Baney, spent five years as a student-athlete at UNC-Charlotte. The three-time cross country all-conference selection achieved her highest conference finish in 2006 when she crossed the line in 2nd place at the Atlantic-10 Conference Championship. Baney’s best finish in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship came at the end of her junior year, when she clocked a season and collegiate-best 6K time of 21:25.5.
 
Baney also displayed excellence on the track. She was a three-time conference champion in the steeplechase, as well as three-time all-conference participant in the 5k, a four-time NCAA Regional participant, four-time National Junior Qualifier, two-time NCAA National qualifier, and the Atlantic 10 record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. In 2005, she qualified for the NCAA East Regional and was the C-USA Champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, posting a school-record time of 10:21.18 at the meet. Baney went on to finish 11th in the steeplechase at the NCAA East Regional in 2005. As a junior, Baney qualified for the highly competitive USA Track and Field Nationals in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. A year later, she ran a career-best steeplechase time of 10:10, which was fast enough to rank her among the professional ranks. She met the qualifying standard for the Olympic Trials but missed the 24^th and final spot by less than a half second with that time. She was also the UNC-Charlotte record holder in the indoor 5,000-meter run.
 
South East Region XC Championship Finish By Year
 
Men
2014 - 3rd, 31st at NCAA’s
2013 - 10th (Felix Duchampt individual qualifier - All-American)
2012 - No Team
 
Women
2014 - 4th (Catie Byrd - All-American, Meghan Wright individual Qualifier)
2013 - 10th
2012 - No Team (Mathilde Timboni individual qualifier)