Fredonia's Tom Wilson has been selected 2015 SUNYAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. It's the first time a Fredonia coach has been selected for the award.
Chosen in a vote of his coaching peers, Wilson led the Blue Devils to a second-place finish -- their best team finish since 1998 -- in the conference championship race at Plattsburgh. Fredonia placed two runners among the top 10 finishers and all five scorers among the top 30.
Two men -- and one Fredonia woman -- made the All-SUNYAC Team. The total of three in one season are the most in Wilson's coaching tenure, which began in January of 2011.
Earlier this season, the Fredonia men's 8,000-meter and the women's 6,000-meter records were broken by runners under Wilson's tutelage.
The Blue Devils have one meet remaining on the 2015 schedule -- the NCAA Atlantic Regional Nov. 13 at Letchworth State Park. They will enter that meet ranked No. 10 in the region according to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll released today.
While Wilson is the first Fredonia coach to receive the award, it's not his first SUNYAC coaching honor. He was the 2011 SUNYAC Men's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year just five months after becoming head coach. Before serving as Blue Devil head coach, he was a track and field assistant coach -- specializing in the pole vault. He is a Fredonia alum and a past member of the Blue Devil cross country and track and field teams.
SUNYAC began naming a Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1997. Fredonia won eight conference championships prior to that year.
