Chris Solinsky Promoted to Head Men's Distance Coach at William & Mary

Published by William and Mary on September 6, 2016

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 Sakallahwas 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.