Amherst College Women's Cross Country

Funke-Harris guided Amherst to a seventh place finish with two runners capturing two of only seven spots given to individual harriers from the New England Region to compete at the NCAA Championships. Both runners would go on to place in the top-73 in the 280-woman field. Funke-Harris also saw success in 2013 and 2014; posting 11-top five finishes in 18 races while guiding the Purple & White to an 8th and fourth place finish, respectively, at the NCAA Regionals. The 2014 squad placed 11th overall at the NCAA Championships under her leadership. In an impressive first season at the helm of the cross country program in 2012, she led the Purple & White to a third-place finish at the NESCAC Championships and a fifth-place showing out of 51 teams at the NCAA Regionals. Helping to guide Amherst to a 10th-consecutive NCAA Championships appearance, the Purple & White placed 16th behind All-American Keri Lambert's third-place finish. Prior to her 2012 arrival, Funke-Harris spent six years as an assistant cross country and track & field coach at her alma mater, Carleton College. She was a four-year letter-winner for the Knights, notably earning an All-America selection during the 2004 cross country season before graduating with honors in 2005. During her coaching tenure at Carleton, Funke-Harris helped the womens cross country team capture a pair of MIAC titles and three NCAA Championship berths. She was instrumental in producing 10 all-conference honorees, 13 all-region performers and a pair of All-America selections. Also working with the womens track & field program, Funke-Harris helped guide Carleton student-athletes to 19 individual MIAC titles, 34 all-conference selections, 19 NCAA provisional qualifying marks and nine All-America performances.The Knights cross country and track & field teams have garnered 21 USTFCCCA All-Academic Awards in the last six years, as well as a CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honoree. Earning a bachelors degree in biology from Carleton in 2005, Funke-Harris earned her masters in kinesiology and exercise physiology from the University of Texas-Austin in 2008. She holds a USATF Level I Coaching Certification, having also participated in the National Distance Running Summit in Grinnell, Iowa in 2011.

Zizza graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Psychology. Working primarily with the track & field teams sprinters, jumpers and multi athletes, Zizza was named the 2014 Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in both indoor and outdoor track & field by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA). In her first five seasons at Amherst, Zizza has coached 25 National qualifiers, 10 All-Americans, and two National Championship winning long jumpers. Away from athletics, Zizza is currently pursuing a Masters of Science degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Springfield College.