Massachusetts Institute of Technology Men's Cross Country

Taylors tenure at MIT began in 1982, as an assistant with the mens track and field squad. He would take over as the head coach of the men in 1990 and has served as Director of MITs Track and Field programs for the past eight seasons, solidifying MITs position as one of the most dominant track and field programs in the region. He is a 16-time NEWMAC Coach of the Year, and was named both the Mens and Womens Coach of the Year in 2015. This season - for the second straight year - the womens team claimed both the indoor and the outdoor New England Division III Championships and won its eighth consecutive NEWMAC title. Under Taylors guidance, his teams have produced a combined total of 278 All-America honors and 18 national champions, including a pair in 2010, three in 2015 and one in 2016. This year, Taylor was named the USTFCCCA New England region Mens Coach of the Year, both indoor and outdoor, and the New England Womens Indoor Coach of the Year, the eighth straight year he has won either the mens or womens regional coach of the year honors. Before arriving at MIT, Taylor coached the womens track club at South Carolina and was the boys track coach at both Granby and Mohawk Regional high schools in Massachusetts.  A native of Columbia, S.C., Taylor is a graduate of the University of South Carolina where he was a four-year letter winner and a 4:05-miler. After receiving his undergraduate degree in Physical Education, Taylor entered UMass-Amherst to study and receive his Masters in Exercise Science. 

Sampson is in his sixth year at MIT, where he assists Coach Taylor with the distance runners and organizes the recruiting efforts. Prior to MIT, Sampson coached at Brandeis University for five years, Falmouth High School in Falmouth, Maine for 10 years, and Bourne High School in Bourne, Mass. for two years, and has been fortunate to have been a part of some highly successful programs over the years. In his 14 years as a Division III athlete and coach, his programs have won 13 New England team titles, including MITs first-ever titles for both the men's and women's cross country teams. Thirsteen of those teams also placed in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. In his 20 years of coaching, he has been on the staff of 22 conference winning teams, including Falmouth's first outdoor title in 19 years and its first cross country title in 15 years. Sampson graduated from Brandeis in 1992.