New Jersey Institute of Technology Women's Track

Alonso, P.E., was the ideal candidate to coach both programs. Alonso spent the last 19 years as the head men's coach at Stevens Institute of Technology, and was the only coach in the 11-year history of the Ducks' women's program. He was the youngest head coach at Stevens and among the youngest collegiate coaches in the nation. Stevens's men's teams won their final 53 dual meets under Alonso, and never had a losing season. His women's teams were 28-12 and won their last 18 dual meets. Alonso was named Independent Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1993, 1995 and 1996, and has produced 34 all-conference runners. He was also the head men and women's track and field coach at Stevens for the last six years. As an undergraduate at Stevens, Alonso was instrumental in making cross-country a varsity sport. He was president of the Ducks' club team his first two years, then as a junior led the inaugural varsity squad to the IAC championship. Alonso was recognized for his athletic accomplishments as a student and coach by being inducted into the Stevens Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Coach Alonso enters his fourth year at the helm of the Highlanders. In just 3 years, the cross country team had climbed to the top of the 12-member CACC conference including CACC MVP and Newcomer awards. So far, the men and women teams have combined to break 33 cross country school records, 5 CACC All Conference, 3 CACC All Academic, 1 individual and team NCAA All Academic, and culminating with our first ECAC All East recipient, Umar Saeed. Community service has always been close to coach Alonso's heart. Athletes should be role models and therefore should be involved in community service projects. In the last 3 years, NJIT cross country and track athletes have been involved in no less that 8 projects. The highlight came in the spring of 2006 when the team organized their first "24 hour Make-A-Wish" relay to raise funds towards the CACC Conference foundation goal. This single event raised more funds than any of the other 11 Universities in the conference. Coach Alonso believes that the combination of academics and athletics are instrumental for success in the corporate world. The team members are assigned duties within the program, which allow them to develop leadership/management skills that will serve as a foundation for future development. In his first year at NJIT coaching cross country, coach Alonso started a self funded track & field club team coached by volunteers. Although the Athletic department did not foresee adding any new varsity teams in the near future (and if they did, other sports would be given priority over track & field since there was no facilities available), coach Alonso felt that if he developed a turnkey operation and an opportunity arose, the program could quickly move to the top of the list. He quickly put to work his vast meet management/fundraising skills and hosted no less than 3 cross country meets and 2 track & field invitationals (even though NJIT did not even have their own facilities). Today, this is a different story with NJIT's new synthetic turf field with a jogging track around the outside (and coach Alonso's "make a track" tool for the outdoor 200m turf oval on the inside). NJIT will also benefit from the new Mondo outdoor track & field complex at West Side Park less than a 2 mile jog from campus as well as the use of the newly Mondo resurfaced Jersey City Armory indoor track complex. With NJIT's move to Division 1, new sports had to be added. Varsity Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field for men and women became the first 4 sports to be added and they did not have to look far for a new Head Track & Field coach either. Alonso earned a bachelor of engineering degree in electrical engineering from Stevens in 1983, MS in Computer Science in 1985 (Stevens) and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1988. He is member of Tau Beta Pi honor society as well as a licensed professional engineer in the state of New Jersey and has Level-2 coaching certifications from United States of America Track & Field (USATF). As a Senior Principal Engineer with Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corporation (A world-class developer and quality producer of precision state-of-the-art navigation & guidance systems), Alonso has worked on sophisticated electronic projects for the NASA Space Shuttle, B1-B, B2, Centaur/Titan, Trident and other Space/Air/Land/Sea military programs. He resides in West New York, New Jersey.

Luginsland, a USATF Level II Throws coach, joined the NJIT track and field staff in September of 2015 as an assistant coach. Prior to NJIT, Luginsland spent a year as co-throws coach at Division III Stevens in Hoboken, NJ, teaming up with 2015 USA national qualifier in the hammer, Alina Duran, to produce one of the most successful throwing teams in Stevnes program history. Under the duos guidance, six school records were broken in the womens shot put (Indoor & Outdoor), mens shot put (Indoor & Outdoor), mens discus and mens hammer throw,  respectively, as well as shattering the Empire 8 Conference men's discus meet championship record. To round out the 2014-2015 campaign, nine Stevens throwers qualified for ECAC Division III Championships and one ECAC (DIII) finalist in the womens shot put. Prior to Stevens, Luginsland coached at the 2014 and 2015 USA Indoor National Championships and worked as the Head Throws Coach for the adidas Garden State Track Club (aGSTC). While working with aGSTC, Luginsland coached at USA Indoor Nationals in 2014 at Albuquerque, NM, following a breakthrough 2013 season with helping coach the mens team to its first ever USATF club national championship. His throwers at adidas GSTC either set or broke the clubs records in all throwing events during his tenure at the club.   Before GSTC, Luginsland coached at Essex County College (NJCAA DI) and Montclair State University (NCAA Division III), boasting several NCAA, NJCAA & Penn Relay appearances from his athletes. Luginsland gives a lot of credit to his coaching success through the continuous tutelage of Monmouth throws coach Abraham Flores and his former throws coach, Pierpaolo Mancarella.   Luginsland was a seasoned shot put and discus thrower for Montclair State, becoming a finalist in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) and the Collegiate Track Conference Championships (CTC). Luginsland graduated from Montclair State University in 2011 with a BS in chemistry and finished his MS in Chemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University-Madison in 2015. (updated May 2016)  

Crawford joins the NJIT Cross Country and Track and Field coaching staff for the 2012-13 season after eight seasons as the head coach of the Stevens Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track Programs. During his stint at Stevens, Crawford has coached numerous All-Conference, All-ECAC and Academic All-Americans (men and women).  Since arriving in Hoboken in 2004, a majority of the school's Track and Field records have been smashed by members of Crawford's teams. Crawford also coached 18 NCAA qualifiers, two All-Americans and one National Champion (in the womens 400 hurdles).  He coached the 2008 Male ECAC/IC4A Athlete of the Year (from all sports and divisions) and most recently the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year (from all sports and divisions) the highest individual award given by the NCAA. Prior to Stevens, Crawford coached at SUNY Cortland from 2002-04. In his first season there, he led the Red Dragons' cross country team to their best finish in five years, while the women's squad were ranked 17th in the nation at the NCAA Division III Championships. During the indoor track season, the men's team finished second in the State University of New York Athletic Conference and No. 29 at the ECAC Indoor Championships. Crawford, a two-time SUNYAC Coach of the Year, led SUNY Cortland to its first-ever indoor and outdoor track and field championship. In addition, Crawford helped produce 31 NCAA qualifiers, four All-Americans, and one national champion while placing 18th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Before going to Cortland, Crawford spent three years working as a collegiate assistant track and field coach at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va. During his tenure at VMI, Crawford helped the men's team to two Southern Conference championships in 2000 and 2001. He also coached the league title-holders in the 800, 5,000 and 10,000-meter events. In 1992, Crawford took a position as the first varsity cross country coach at Seattle University and within three years, the program produced its first All-American. Under Crawford's tutelage, the women's team earned 12th and 13th-place finishes at the NAIA National Cross Country Championships in 1994 and 1996, respectively. Crawford holds five USATF Level II coaching certifications (endurance, jumps, multi-events, sprint/hurdle and throws). He also owns a USATF Level I instructor certification and USA Weight-Lifting Club Coach Level I certification.