La Salle University Women's Track

Petersons third at the helm of the La Salle mens and womens cross country/track programs. Peterson was promoted to the head coach on July 31, 2014. Prior to his promotion Peterson spent the previous three years at La Salle as an assistant coach for the cross country and track and field teams. During the track season of 2016, Peterson saw an eleventh place finish for the womens cross country team in the Atlantic 10, where Morgan Szekely defended her A-10 title in the 1500 meter and continued on to compete in the NCAA East Preliminary Championships. Szekley was named to the Academic All-Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track Team. Peterson coached mens team standout Chris Sanders to a sixth place finish in the 800 meter at the NCAA Final and guided him to competition in the U.S Olympics trials for Rio in the 800 meter. Saunders captured a silver medal at the NACAC U23 Championships in El Salvador under Peterson to continue his remarkable season. Peterson coached the mens team to a third place finish in the Atlantic 10, which was the highest finish in the program since 2008. Additionally, Peterson saw an Atlantic 10 gold in the mens 4x800m Benjamin De Venezia, Nick Smart, Sanders and Stephen Lewandowski, who defended their title for the seventh time. Peterson saw success in DeVenezia, who was honored as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. In his first year as head coach, Peterson led the womens cross country team to a second place Atlantic 10 finish and coached the A-10 individual champion in freshman Morgan Szekely. Fellow freshman Megan Connell also earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference team thanks to her 12 th place finish. Szekely went on to finish fifth at the Mid-Atlantic Regional and qualify for the NCAA Championships. Connell finished the season by finishing 11 th at the 2015 USA Cross Country Championships to earn a spot on the USA team at the APA Pan American Cross Country Cup in Colombia.   On the mens side Nico Greco finished sixth at the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championship and earned Academic All-Conference honors. Katie Boligitz was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 First Team while both the cross country teams and track and field teams were named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams.   During the 2014-15 track season Peterson saw two individual conference champions and a relay championship. Chris Sanders defended his title as the Atlantic 10 Outdoor 800 meter champion and the 4x800 meter relay team win the crown for the sixth straight year. Szekely won the Atlantic 10 1500 meter crown. Four school records were set as Amber Jackson set the indoor long jump and triple jump school records while Szekely set the 800m time and the 4x800 womens relay team set the indoor school record. Sanders and Szekely ended their seasons at the NCAA East Preliminary Round while Vince Perozze was named Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference during the indoor season.   As an assistant with the Explorers, Peterson helped guide the mens and womens cross country programs to three Atlantic 10 Championships. In addition to the team championships; Nico Greco and Alfredo Santana won the Atlantic 10 individual crowns in 2013 and 2011 respectively. On the womens side Michelle Capozzi and Meghan McGlinchey qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2013 and 2012 respectively. Prior to La Salle, Peterson served as a volunteer assistant at the University of Wisconsin. He was a member of the coaching staff which enjoyed a 2009 Big 10 championship in cross country. Prior to his time with the Badgers, Peterson served a two-year stint at Appalachian State University from 2007-09.  At ASU, Peterson competed his first year as a graduate student, then was a graduate assistant coach the following year. As an assistant coach for both men's and women's middle distance and distance athletes, he helped the Mountaineer men to the Southern Conference cross country title in 2008. During his tenure, the Appalachian State men's track team also claimed the 2009 indoor conference championship while the women earned the 2009 outdoor conference title. Peterson also ran collegiately at Iona College under current Wisconsin head coach Mick Byrne. While at Iona, Peterson earned All-MAAC conference honors in the 3000-meter steeplechase and won All-Southern conference honors in the same event while at Appalachian State. He was also an Iona College Academic Excellence Scholarship recipient in all four years. A native of Centereach, N.Y., Peterson earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from Iona College in '07 and a Master of Science in exercise science from Appalachian State in '09. He is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.     

Ferguson joins La Salle mens and womens Track and Field as an assistant coach with an emphasis in the sprints, hurdles, and jumps event groups. Before migrating back to Philadelphia, Ferguson was an Assistant Coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Maine. During her time at Maine she guided the mens team to an indoor and outdoor third place finish in the America East Conference, including a conference champion and runner up in the triple jump. Along with a runner up in the long jump, the IC4A Triple jump champion and regional qualifier in the event.   Ferguson also spent one and a half years at Cheyney University in PA, as a part time women's assistant track and field coach/ recruiting coordinator. During this time period, Ferguson facilitated the womens sprinters, hurdlers, and mid distance runners. Fergusons coaching methods advanced a number of athletes to contests including, but not limited to the Penn Relays, IC4A/ECAC, Milrose Games and New Balance Collegiate Invite while rewriting the Cheyney Schools record books in the process.               Prior to Cheyney University, Ferguson started her coaching career after graduating college, as an assistant Track and Field Coach-Intern at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA.  At SU, her primary responsibilities were recruiting, coaching the sprinters and assisting with the jumpers and hurdlers. In the two short years at Susquehanna, she guided the team to back-to-back runner up finishes in both the indoor and outdoor Landmark Conference Championships including 18 top three performances. These accomplishments have not gone unnoticed as the coaching staff of Susquehanna University was awarded both indoor and outdoor coaching staff of the year honors for the men and women's teams.               Ferguson is a 2010 graduate of Mansfield University where was a key performer on the women's track and field team. As a lady Mountaineer, she was a NCAA provisional qualifier, 400m school record holder and the current indoor and outdoor Long Jump record holder. Being named the indoor and outdoor most improved athlete recognized these accomplishments. Her college success was preceded by a successful high school career as she was a two-time High School All American and a member of a National Record Relay team at West Philadelphia Catholic High School.               Ferguson obtained a Masters of Science degree in Sports Management from California University of PA in May 2013 and a Bachelors of Science in Communications from Mansfield University in PA.                She is a USATF level I Certified coach (Villanova University, PA), USATF level II- Combined Events Coach (California State University-East Bay) and in the process of completing a USATF level III- Combined Events certification (Olympic Training Center Chula Vista, CA). She also has US Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) technical certification and Jumps Specialist Certification ( Villanova University, PA)