Queens University of Charlotte Men's Cross Country

Baney was named the USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year. Felix Duchampt captured track athlete of the year by qualifying for the indoor national meet in the mile, 3k, 5k and distance medley relay.  During the outdoor season coach Baney again was named USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, this time for the women as Andrea Guerra captured USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Track Athlete of the Year honors.   During Baneys three years at Queens she has coached 11 NCAA cross country national qualifiers and two cross country All-Americans. On the track, she has coached 23 national qualifiers and one junior national qualifier. During her time here both teams have improved in Cross Country and Track. Baney handles all distance responsibilities; she came to Queens from East Carolina University where she spent four years as the assistant cross country track coach. The Pirate programs have been gradually improving over the past few years with Baneys leadership, collecting both programs best finishes on the mens and womens side at the Conference USA Championships and NCAA Southeast Regional meets.    Prior to joining the Pirate staff, Baney, spent five years as a student-athlete at UNC-Charlotte. The three-time cross country all-conference selection achieved her highest conference finish in 2006 when she crossed the line in 2nd place at the Atlantic-10 Conference Championship. Baneys best finish in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship came at the end of her junior year, when she clocked a season and collegiate-best 6K time of 21:25.5.   Baney also displayed excellence on the track. She was a three-time conference champion in the steeplechase, as well as three-time all-conference participant in the 5k, a four-time NCAA Regional participant, four-time National Junior Qualifier, two-time NCAA National qualifier, and the Atlantic 10 record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. In 2005, she qualified for the NCAA East Regional and was the C-USA Champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, posting a school-record time of 10:21.18 at the meet. Baney went on to finish 11th in the steeplechase at the NCAA East Regional in 2005. As a junior, Baney qualified for the highly competitive USA Track and Field Nationals in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. A year later, she ran a career-best steeplechase time of 10:10, which was fast enough to rank her among the professional ranks. She met the qualifying standard for the Olympic Trials but missed the 24 and final spot by less than a half second with that time. She was also the UNC-Charlotte record holder in the indoor 5,000-meter run.     2014 - 3rd, 31st at NCAAs 2013 - 10th (Felix Duchampt individual qualifier - All-American) 2012 - No Team   2014 - 4th (Catie Byrd - All-American, Meghan Wright individual Qualifier) 2013 - 10th 2012 - No Team (Mathilde Timboni individual qualifier)  

Gibson joins the track and field staff after a successful career at the NCAA Division II level at Shippensburg University where he was an All-American member of their distance medley relay team. He will assist Associate Head Cross Country/Assistant Track and Field Coach Tsehaye Baney in all aspects of working with the distance group and will help with day to day operations in the office.   Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Jim Vahrenkamp says, Nick is exactly what we were looking for when we began to identify candidates to work with Coach Baney and the distance program. He has a strong desire to become a coach and comes from a family with a coaching background. Currently both his brother, sister and father coach at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels.   2013 (R-Junior): Gibson completed a redshirt season in cross country at Shippensburg. On the track, Gibson anchored both of SUs PSAC Championship 4x800-meter relay squads and capped off a banner year with three more PSAC individual place-winning performances, including two All-PSAC honors. Indoors, Gibson placed third in the mile and fourth in the 800 meters while outdoors, he placed third in the 800 meters.   2012-13 (R-Sophomore): Gibson began the year at California, Pa., running cross country, before transferring to Shippensburg in the winter. With the Vulcans, Gibson ran in all six of his teams races. He was the No. 3 runner at the PSAC Championships and the No. 5 runner at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships. Gibson also posted a sub-27 minute 8K time at the Waynesburg Invitational and was a member of the AD Honor Roll. He red-shirted in track & field at Shippensburg.      

Vahrenkamp enters his fourth season with the Royals after three successful years rebuilding the cross country and track & field programs. In cross country the men captured a bid to the 2014 NCAA National Championships in Louisville, Ky. while Catie Byrd captured the programs first ever Individual Regional Champion. She then went on to finish 32nd at the NCAA championship where she was named All-American. Her finish was the highest finish for a female in program history.   On the track, Nikia Squire set new school records in the 60m earning her a birth at the NCAA Championships and at the USATF Indoor championships. Her appearance at the USATF championships was a first in program history. At the NCAA championships Squire captured All-American Status in the 60m dash and the Long Jump.   At the 2015 outdoor championships both the men and women captured conference championship titles, another first in program history. I am so proud of what the men and women have accomplished this year. It has been pretty inspiring to see them come together and support one another at the conference championship. There were great performances across the board in all events and they showed the type of team effort that it takes to win championships this weekend, said Vahrenkamp.   Vahrenkamp repeated as Southeast Regional Womens Outdoor Track Coach of the Year, and added to his collection the 2015 Southeast Regional Womens Indoor Coach of the Year, as well as the 2015 SAC Mens and Womens Coach of the Year awards. Through his leadership the Royals have been awarded eight All-American honors, in the past three seasons.   Prior to Queens, Vahrenkamp spent three season with the Augustana College Vikings in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At Augustana, Vahrenkamps core responsibilities involved recruiting for both the mens and womens programs, assisting in budgeting and fundraising, monitoring academic success plans for both programs and assisting in meet administration at home events. As an assistant he was also in charge of coaching jumps, sprints, hurdles, and multi-events with the track and field teams.   While with the Vikings, Vahrenkamp had the opportunity to coach Adou Omot, the 2011 NCAA Division II 800 meter indoor and outdoor champion. At the close of the 2011 spring season the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Vahrenkamp the Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year for his efforts in just his second complete season with the Vikings.   Augustanas most recent success came in the 2011 cross country season when the women were able capture the NCAA National Title. In 2010 the Viking men finished sixth, their highest finish ever in school history, while the women took seventh. In track the Viking women won the indoor Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship for the first time in school history before winning the outdoor title for the first time in 2011.   Prior to joining Augustanas staff, Vahrenkamp was an assistant track and field coach for one year at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. While at Emory, Vahrenkamp coached throws, pole vault, high jump and multi-event athletes for both the indoor and outdoor teams. The Eagles snagged their first University Athletic Association Indoor Championship in 2009 and the coaching staff was recognized as Coaching Staff of the Year.   Before Emory, Vahrenkamp spent two seasons with the Coyotes of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. While there he helped the mens indoor and womens outdoor teams become North Central Conference Champions in 2007. In 2008 the women were indoor and outdoor NCC Champions. Vahrenkamp also spent three years at Rapid City Christian High School as the assistant track and field coach where he coached the state champion in the womens 3200. Before joining the collegiate world of coaching Vahrenkamp was the 2001 South Dakota State Champion in 300-meter hurdles and in 2002 he became the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology school record holder in the pentathlon.   He then went on to attend the University of South Dakota where he was part of the North Central Conference Championship team during the 2005 indoor season and the 2006 indoor and outdoor seasons. He also became the 2005 NCC Champion in the pentathlon. The Coyotes finished fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2006. Vahrenkamp holds a bachelors degree in education which he obtained from The U in 2006. He also received his masters degree in history from there in 2008. In addition, he has earned the USTFCCCA Head Coaching Certification and a Certification in Sprints and Hurdles along with the Track and Field Technical Certification and the USATF Level One Track and Field Coaching Certification.