Willy Wood Makes Five Additions to Coaching Staff
10/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country, Track and Field
NEW YORK ? Columbia's head coach of Cross Country and Track & Field Willy Wood has added five new coaches to his staff since August, including some of the best athletes to come out of Columbia's cross country and track & field programs.
Wood will be joined this year by Scott Moncur ?04CC, Zach Richard ?08CC, Delilah DiCrescenzo ?05CC, Caroline Bierbaum ?06CC and Duke graduate Jillian Schwartz.
Scott Moncur rejoins the track & field program at Columbia, to work with men's and women's long sprinters, long hurdlers and 800m runners. While at Columbia, Moncur set two school records in the 4x400m and the 4x800m. He was the leadoff runner on the 2004 Ivy League Championship 4x400 relay team and was an NCAA Regional qualifier in that event as well. He garnered All-East and All-Ivy League honors in 2001 and was named first team All-Ivy League in 2004. Before joining head coach Willy Wood's staff, Moncur spent a year as assistant coach of the cross country and track and field program at Brown University.
Zach Richard, who will work with Columbia's men and women's middle distance runners, was captain for both the cross country and track & field teams his senior year, and was a second-team All-Ivy League honoree in the 1000m in 2007. Richard was also a member of the school-record holding indoor 4x800m relay team, a part of the 2005 Ivy League Championship cross country team, and is on seven top-five Columbia performance lists.
Prior to returning to Columbia, former track & field All-American Delilah DiCrescenzo served as an assistant coach at Bryn Mawr College for two years, working with cross country and track and field. While competing at Columbia, she was a three-time Ivy League Heptagonal steeplechase champion, and finished ninth in the steeplechase at the 2005 NCAA championships. DiCrescenzo holds the school and stadium records in the 3000m steeplechase, and currently runs professionally for Puma. She is one of only two sponsored Puma athletes in the United States.
One of Columbia's most decorated athletes, Caroline Bierbaum joins Wood's staff as a volunteer assistant who will work with the women's distance runners. A five-time All-American in cross country and track and field, Bierbaum was the 2005 recipient of the prestigious Honda Award, an award which is given to the nation's most outstanding athlete in women's cross country. In 2004, she became the first Columbia woman ever to win the Ivy Heptagonal Championship in cross country, and in 2005, she won the title again, breaking a meet record that had stood for over two decades. Bierbaum holds school records in the indoor 3000m run, the indoor 5000m run and the outdoor 5000m run. She is the school and Ivy League record-holder in the outdoor 10,000m run.
Jillian Schwartz will join the Columbia track & field program as a volunteer assistant coach, working with the Lion pole-vaulters. One of the top pole-vaulters in the world, Schwartz has been a member of seven national teams, and has continued to compete internationally with USA Track & Field. The 2001 graduate of Duke is one of the most decorated athletes to come out of the Blue Devil track & field program. A three-time All-American, four-time All-ACC honoree, and a two-time ACC conference champion, Schwartz holds the Duke records for both indoor (13'5.25”) and outdoor pole vault (14'2”). She was the only Blue Devil named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Women's Indoor Track & Field Team, and her 1999 ECAC individual title was the first ever by a Duke woman.
Wood will be joined this year by Scott Moncur ?04CC, Zach Richard ?08CC, Delilah DiCrescenzo ?05CC, Caroline Bierbaum ?06CC and Duke graduate Jillian Schwartz.
Scott Moncur rejoins the track & field program at Columbia, to work with men's and women's long sprinters, long hurdlers and 800m runners. While at Columbia, Moncur set two school records in the 4x400m and the 4x800m. He was the leadoff runner on the 2004 Ivy League Championship 4x400 relay team and was an NCAA Regional qualifier in that event as well. He garnered All-East and All-Ivy League honors in 2001 and was named first team All-Ivy League in 2004. Before joining head coach Willy Wood's staff, Moncur spent a year as assistant coach of the cross country and track and field program at Brown University.
Zach Richard, who will work with Columbia's men and women's middle distance runners, was captain for both the cross country and track & field teams his senior year, and was a second-team All-Ivy League honoree in the 1000m in 2007. Richard was also a member of the school-record holding indoor 4x800m relay team, a part of the 2005 Ivy League Championship cross country team, and is on seven top-five Columbia performance lists.
Prior to returning to Columbia, former track & field All-American Delilah DiCrescenzo served as an assistant coach at Bryn Mawr College for two years, working with cross country and track and field. While competing at Columbia, she was a three-time Ivy League Heptagonal steeplechase champion, and finished ninth in the steeplechase at the 2005 NCAA championships. DiCrescenzo holds the school and stadium records in the 3000m steeplechase, and currently runs professionally for Puma. She is one of only two sponsored Puma athletes in the United States.
One of Columbia's most decorated athletes, Caroline Bierbaum joins Wood's staff as a volunteer assistant who will work with the women's distance runners. A five-time All-American in cross country and track and field, Bierbaum was the 2005 recipient of the prestigious Honda Award, an award which is given to the nation's most outstanding athlete in women's cross country. In 2004, she became the first Columbia woman ever to win the Ivy Heptagonal Championship in cross country, and in 2005, she won the title again, breaking a meet record that had stood for over two decades. Bierbaum holds school records in the indoor 3000m run, the indoor 5000m run and the outdoor 5000m run. She is the school and Ivy League record-holder in the outdoor 10,000m run.
Jillian Schwartz will join the Columbia track & field program as a volunteer assistant coach, working with the Lion pole-vaulters. One of the top pole-vaulters in the world, Schwartz has been a member of seven national teams, and has continued to compete internationally with USA Track & Field. The 2001 graduate of Duke is one of the most decorated athletes to come out of the Blue Devil track & field program. A three-time All-American, four-time All-ACC honoree, and a two-time ACC conference champion, Schwartz holds the Duke records for both indoor (13'5.25”) and outdoor pole vault (14'2”). She was the only Blue Devil named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Women's Indoor Track & Field Team, and her 1999 ECAC individual title was the first ever by a Duke woman.
Friday, October 31
Friday, November 18
Thursday, October 27
Saturday, October 30
