High Point University Men's Cross Country

Esposito's tutelage, the men's cross country program has put together its best three-year stretch in the school's Div. I history. HPU won the Big South Championship title in 2014, its first since 2004, in convincing fashion. The Panthers bested second-place Liberty by 25 points and were represented by a program-record six all-conference selections. In 2014, the Panthers also finished seventh at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship, tying the program's best-ever finish in regional action. The Panthers have claimed the individual Big South title in each of the past three seasons, with HPU runners Jacob Smith (2012), Patrick Crawford (2013) and Jeff LaCoste all claiming conference titles. Since Esposito took over the program, 24 Panthers have earned all-Big South men's cross country accolades. He is a three-time Big South Coach of the Year and has earned the accolade in for men's cross country (2014), indoor track & field (2012) and women's cross country (2011). In 2011, the HPU women's cross country team won its first-ever Big South Championship while the men's team placed second for the fifth year in a row. The HPU women's team placed all five of its scorers in the top 10 at the 2011 Big South Cross Country Championship, knocking off two-time defending champion Liberty. HPU also won the women's cross country title in 2014, led by a pair of all-conference selections. On the track, High Point's men's team had four competitors all underclassmen finish in the top 20 at the NCAA Preliminary in 2012. That included Jacob Smith, who qualified for the NCAA Final in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Smith is one of three NCAA steeplechase qualifiers for the Panthers over the past four years, joining Dakota Peachee (2013) and Jacob Smith. Both Smith and Peachee earned All-America accolades, with Peachee claiming first-team honors and Smith garnering second-team honors for their steeple performances in Eugene. Javelin standout Christine Rickert has qualified for NCAA Preliminary action in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and finished 14th in 2015, missing NCAA Championship qualification by just two spots. In track & field, HPU student-athletes have earned 58 Big South titles, including 37 on the men's side and 21 on the women's. HPU records have been set in 28 events on the women's side and 22 events on the men's side since 2006. In 2012, sophomore sprinter Evan Emery set three HPU records, including the 100-meter dash (10.31) and 200-meter (20.87). Smith set High Point records in the outdoor 3,000-meter (8:13.87) and steeplechase (8:47.09) while sophomore Tristan Faure set records in the heptathlon (4,956) and decathlon (6,633). Women's hurdler Manika Gamble set eight High Point records during her career from 2008-12, including the Big South record in the 400-meter hurdles (58.56). In Esposito's first seven seasons as head coach, High Point never finished lower than third in the Big South Championship in men's cross country, and HPU runners earned 16 All-Big South honors. In women's cross country, HPU runners earned All-Big South honors 13 times over the past seven seasons. Three of Esposito's former HPU runners have gone on to the professional ranks: Cole Atkins is running for ZAP Fitness and Tamas Kovacs is a professional marathoner in Hungary. Both Cherry and Atkins will participate in Olympic Trials competition in 2016 in the hopes of qualfiying for the Rio games. Esposito's squads also perform well off the track, as HPU has posted a perfect APR score of 1000 in women's cross country and track & field, earning the program NCAA Public Recognition honors in 2015. In addition, the men's cross country and track & field programs registered perfect single-year scores of 1000 in 2013-14 and have a strong-four year average score of 987. The Punxsutawney, Pa., native came to High Point following 19-years as the head coach at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, N.C. At Mount Tabor, Esposito coached four national champions, four national runners-up, three Footlocker finalists, over 52 individual and relay state champions, and 11 state champion teams. Esposito was honored for his success on the track by having been named Conference Coach of the Year 22 times and N.C. Coach of the Year eight times. Mount Tabor's men's cross country teams went undefeated from 1994 until Esposito's final season of 2005, and the women's team was nationally ranked in 2000 and 2001. Esposito served as the co-director of the North Carolina Indoor and Outdoor Track Championships on numerous occasions and was the director for the state cross country meet from 2002-04. Esposito, a graduate of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., played basketball for the Titans before joining the cross country and track teams. He was named most valuable runner in 1979 and 1980.Mike Esposito

Hall brings four decades of elite track & field experience to the HPU program and an impressive student-athlete alumni list that includes 150+ NCAA Championship qualifiers, 97 NCAA All-Americans, 80+ conference champions, 16 NCAA Champions and six Olympians.   "Scott's extensive experience at all levels of track & field will be a fantastic asset for our program," Esposito said. "He's a very high character person and he will make an incredible impact with our student-athletes. We are excited to have Scott on board."   Recognized as one of the top combined events coaches in the United States, Hall served as Chair for Combined Events on the USATF Olympic Development Committee from 1999-2012. He has also been named to seven Team USA international coaching staffs as either a coach or manager.  In 2012, Hall served as Coach of the Liberian Olympic team for the London Games.   Under his direction, athletes have earned berths on more than twenty US national teams and six of those athletes have also gone on to compete in the IAAF World Championships, Pan American Games or the Olympic Games.   In the collegiate ranks, Hall's most recent coaching stints have included stops at Wake Forest (2003-12), North Carolina A&T and Salisbury (2013-15).   At Wake Forest, Hall mentored 11 ACC individual champions, eight All-Americans and one NCAA individual champion. He garnered USTFCCCA Div. I National and East Region Men's Sprints/Hurdles Coach of the Year honors in 2006 as a member of the Demon Deacon Staff.   In his most recent stint at Salisbury, Hall worked with 12 All-Americans, six NCAA Div. III individual champions and two Div. III Athletes of the Year.  He was part of the 2014 & 2015 Capital Athletic Conference Indoor & Outdoor Coaching Staffs of the Year and the 2014 Capital Cross Country Coaching Staff of the Year.   Prior to his time in the Tar Heel State, Hall spent close to two decades as the director of men's & women's track & field and cross country at Northern Colorado University (1986-2003), a perennial top-20 program. A two-time North Central Conference Track & Field Coach of the Year, Hall also garnered NCC Cross Country Coach of the Year accolades in 2000. He also was named the NCAA II North Central Region Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2000.   While in Greeley, Hall also taught as an assistant professor of kinesiology at Northern Colorado.   Hall served as an assistant track & field coach at Idaho State in 1982-85 and also worked as head coach of the Pocatello Track Club while at ISU from 1983-85.   Hall graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1980 with a degree in physical education. He earned his M.P.E. in athletic administration from Idaho State in 1981 and completed his doctorate in mechanical kinesiology at Northern Colorado in 1993.Scott Hall

Houston Assistant Coach Alma Mater: North Carolina '12 First season at HPU: 2015 Scott Houston was named to the High Point University track & field staff in September 2015. Houston comes to HPU after serving as a volunteer assistant at Indiana University from 2013-15 while pursuing a post-collegiate pole vault career. The Oak Ridge, N.C., native is an accomplished vaulter that starred at both the University of North Carolina and Indiana.   He finished fourth at the USA Indoor Championships in 2015 and aims to make the U.S. roster for the Summer Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.   "Scott brings elite competing experience to our staff," Esposito said. "He has a lot of enthusiasm and his youthful energy is infectious. He has a passion for vaulting and is excited about the emphasis we place on it here at High Point. Our student-athletes will benefit greatly from his mentorship and expertise."   While serving as a volunteer assistant at Indiana, Houston helped mentor  Terry Batemon to an outdoor Big Ten Championship in 2015, and an NCAA berth. Sophie Gutermuth was a runner up at both indoor and outdoor Big Ten championships in 2015 while setting an NCAA indoor qualifying mark and new indoor school record of 4.35m.   Houston also worked with multi-event student-athletes at IU and led two Hoosiers to All-America honors in the heptathlon at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships.   In 2014, Houston also mentored the women's vault trio of Kelsie Ahbe, Sophie Gutermuth, and Sydney Clute to a first, second, and fourth place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Ahbe and Clute went on to become NCAA All-Americans during the outdoor season, with Ahbe setting a school record at 4.40m, escalating herself to the NCAA runner up finish.   As a student-athlete at Indiana, Houston was an NCAA Championship outdoor qualifier and won the Big Ten Indoor title in 2013. At North Carolina, Houston finished third in the vault at the 2009 ACC Outdoor Championships and still holds the fifth-best vault mark all-time at Chapel Hill.   In his post-collegiate career, Houston has posted personal best vaults of 5.51m in indoor competition and 5.63 in outdoor action. He has qualified for the United States Indoor and Outdoor Championships and recently won the prestigious Brit's Pub Vault in Minneapolis on Sept. 5 with a victorious vault of 5.63m (18-5.5).   Houston also still holds the indoor and outdoor North Carolina high school pole vault records.

High Point University athletic director Dan Hauser named Remy Tamer as women's cross country head coach in late August 2016. In his first season at HPU, Tamer led the women's cross country team to a second-place finish at the Big South Championships and had four runners earn All-Big South honors, including Natalia Ocasio and Cozette Collin, who finished third and fourth, respectively. Tamer then guided Ocasio and Collin to Big South titles in the 3,000m steeplechase and 1,500m, respectively, at the conference outdoor track and field meet. In 2017, women's cross country ran to its fourth conference title since 2010 and, in the process, tied the record for the largest margin of victory in conference history since 1996. The women’s team repeated as champions in the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. Famke Heinst claimed Big South Cross Country individual titles in 2017, 2018, and 2019. This is en route to claiming back-to-back-to-back Big South Runner of the Year awards 2017-2019 and USTFCCCA All-Southeast Region honors in 2018 and 2019. During this time, 16 other HPU women have earned All-Conference honors in cross country in addition to Heinst. On the track, Heinst earned back-to-back Big South Runner of the Year recognitions (across all seasons) in 2018 and 2019. On the way, she also claimed the Most Outstanding Performer awards at the 2019 indoor and outdoor conference meets. During Heinst’s freshmen and sophomore years, she captured 10 conference titles between indoor and outdoor seasons. She recorded the multiple event wins in the indoor mile and 3000m, along with titles in the 3000m steeplechase, 1500m, and 5000m during the outdoor seasons. Heinst set Big South Championship records in the 5000m (2018) and the 3000m steeplechase (2019). As a sophomore Heinst reached NCAA East Preliminaries for a second straight year, coming just a single spot shy of a National Championship berth with a school record performance.   In addition to Heinst's 10 conference titles in 2018-19, Panther women claimed 21 more podium spots in Big South distance events and three additional individual titles during this time, accounting for a pair of new HPU program records. Zoe Geis taking conference titles in the 5000m indoors and 10000m outdoors in 2019 and Keaton Case taking the 800m title outdoors in 2019. Case also earned the conference’s Scholar Athlete of the Year honor during the 2018 indoor season. Lead by Tamer, Zoe Geis is now the most prolific point scorer in HPU Track & Field history scoring a total of 123 points over her four indoor and three outdoor Big South Championships. Along with averaging over 30 points a year for the Panthers, Geis also holds program records in the 10000m (34:53.92) and indoor 5000m (16:47.94). Geis has never finished below 5th place at any Big South track & field championship and has earned All-Conference honors in cross country four years in a row. In 2021, Tamer guided the HPU Cross Country team to their fourth straight Big South title with a team score of 29. Famke Heinst won her fourth straight individual title, the first person in Big South history to complete this feat, qualifying her for the NCAA Cross Country Championship. Freshmen Ashley Jones was the top Freshman finisher in the race as she placed ninth earning Big South Freshman of the Year honors.  Heinst went on to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships as the first female Panther since 2004 and the second in program history.   Tamer closed out the 2021 outdoor season with a trip to the NCAA East Preliminary Championships with Famke Heinst and Zoe Geis as they competed in the 3000 m Steeplechase. Heinst finished in 29th place overall recording a time of 10:32.17. Her senior campaign consisted of a Big-South Cross Country title, Big South Individual titles in the 5000 m and the 1500 m, while also competing in the NCAA Cross Country National title and the NCAA East Preliminary in the same season. Geis finished in 22nd place overall recording a time of 10:22.61. Geis closed out her career as reigning Big South Most Valuable Athlete.   Tamer led the women's distance team to their fifth straight cross country title in the fall of 2021. Lindsey Ickes was the top finisher for HPU as she finished in fourth with a time of 17:56. Sydney Bagus, Camryn Harper, and Olive Allen all played big roles in the team score of 50. The team then went on to compete in the NCAA Southeast regional placing 16th with a team score of 449. Lindsey Ickes was the top finisher for the Panthers with a time of 21:24.09.  He guided the Panthers to a second place finish in the 2022 Indoor Track and Field Championships in which the distance team played a big role in gaining points for the Panthers. Hannah Brookover was named Big South Most Valuable Athlete as she finished second in the mile, first in the 3000 m, and first in the 5000 m. Olive Allen recorded a third place finish in the mile, while Sydney Bagus and Franzi Jakobs recorded fourth and sixth place to claim four of the top six finishes.  In the 2022 Outdoor season he guided the Panther women to a first place finish in the Big South Championships. Hannah Brookover and and Olive Allen claimed second and third place respectively in the 1500m. The Panthers also swept the podium in the 5000 m, led by Ashley Jones who finished with a time of 16:34.24, a facility and meet record. Hannah Brookover and Lindsey Ickes helped round out the podium sweep.  During Tamer’s time at HPU, the women distance athletes are responsible for seven school records and 23 top-10 all time performances. Tamer Era - Women's Cross Country (2016-2023)  7 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-21*, 2021, 2022, 2023) Big South Women's Cross Country Championships  5 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023) Big South Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year  7 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-21*, 2021, 2022, 2023) Regional Appearances as a team   Tamer joined the HPU staff after spending two years at Florida State University as first a volunteer and then part time coach. There, he helped mentor a number of All-ACC selections and NCAA qualifiers.   During Tamer's time in Tallahassee, women's cross country runners garnered four All-ACC selections and nine USTFCCCA all-region accolades. Cross country standout Carmela Cardama Baez was both an all-ACC and USTFCCCA All-Region selection.   On the track, Chelsea Jarvis earned second team indoor All-America honors at the NCAA Championship (800m), while the women's distance medley relay raced to a second place ACC showing in 2016, just missing NCAA qualification by two positions.   Bridget Blake earned second team All-ACC honors in the mile run (indoor), then tallied a runner up finish in the 3000m steeplechase outdoors while qualifying for the NCAA Championship in the event. Blake also finished sixth in the outdoor 1500m and garnered All-ACC accolades.   On the strength of the Seminoles' distance squad, Florida State captured the 2016 ACC Outdoor Championship.   While in Tallahassee, Tamer also attended Florida State University earning a masters degree in Sport Psychology. During that time, he was an assistant cross country and track coach at the Maclay School where he helped the lady Marauders win the 2013 Florida 1A Track & Field Championship and the boys to a repeat runner-up finish at the 2012 and 2013 Florida 1A Cross Country Championships. During this time Maclay produced four individual state champions and two state champion relay teams.    Tamer also worked for a professional track & field results company and served as a sport psychology consultant to athletes and teams in the Tallahassee area ranging from youth sports to NCAA programs.   Tamer was a two-time Academic All-American at UNC Wilmington, where he also won the Seahawks' cross country Rookie of the Year Award in 2007 and is a part of the school record 4x800m relay time that still stands today.   He graduated from UNC Wilmington in 2011 with a degree in psychology and earned his master's degree from Florida State in sport psychology in 2014.   Tamer also has worked as a resident intern at ZAP Fitness in Blowing Rock, N.C., a professional running club that features a strong alumni base.   He is a USTFCCCA Level 2 certified track & field coach and has earned his USATF Level 1 coaching certification.