FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News Release
Media Contact: Mallory Benz, 704 337-2452
benzm@queens.edu 

Queens Welcomes Coach of NAIA National Champions

Scott Simmons to coach men’s and women’s cross-country & track teams, moves
Queens into southeast region’s top five

	Scott Simmons

Simmons’ arrival is already having a positive impact on Royals athletics. Previously unranked, the men’s cross country team this week moved into the top five (#4) among NCAA Division II teams in the southeast region and Senior Daniel Kanyaruhuru, was named cross country runner of the week for week three by Conference Carolinas.

“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 hails from Bristol, Va., where he previously served as head coach of the men’s cross-country team at Virginia Intermont College. There, he led the team to three consecutive National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national cross-country championships (2004-2006), continuing his success as head coach after achieving the same results in 2002 and 2003 with the Minot State University men’s cross country team in Minot, N.D.

Simmons received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Alabama and a master’s of sport coaching from the United States Sports Academy. He has earned the U.S.A. Track & Field Coaching Education Certification (Levels I, II and III), attended the 2006 U.S.A. Track & Field Marathon Summit and the 2005 United States Olympic Committee Junior Elite Coach Clinic.

His list of achievements during his 17-year coaching career is impressive; Simmons is a two-time National Team Leader, has been honored with six NAIA National Coach of the Year Awards and coached a collegiate athlete to break the American 25k record.

In addition to serving as a coach, he is an experienced speaker, serving as a guest lecturer on the sport of cross-country at seminars throughout the United States, including Georgia, 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.”

Queens University of Charlotte is a private, co-ed, Presbyterian-affiliated comprehensive university, with a commitment to both liberal arts and professional studies.  Located in the heart of historic Charlotte, Queens serves approximately 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students through its College of Arts and Sciences, the McColl School of Business, The Pauline Lewis Hayworth College and the Presbyterian School of Nursing.
 

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