SUNY-New Paltz Women's Cross Country

Trunkes starts his 10th year as the head mens and womens cross country coach for the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2016. He continues to develop his Hawk runners toward solid performances at the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships as well as at invitational meets and at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships.  The 2015 season saw the men's team place fifth at the conference meet for the third year in a row while the women finished seventh overall in the team standings.  For the second year in a row, the Hawk women and men finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at the 2014 edition of the SUNYAC Championships. Mike Scher garnered First-Team All-SUNYAC recognition as a result of a fourth-place finish at the SUNYAC meet, which was the highest finish ever recorded by a New Paltz runner at the conference championship and earned him a spot in the SUNYAC Cross Country Hall of Fame. In the women's race, Terisa Woych crossed 13th, which was good for All-SUNYAC Third-Team honors. Woych followed that performance up with a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region finish at the regional championship meet, finishing 21st overall. The women posted a program-best fourth-place finish at the 2013 SUNYAC Championships after occupying fifth place for the past three seasons. Amanda Wolfer picked up Third-Team All-SUNYAC recognition with an 11th-place finish. Wolfer received more accolades at the 2013 NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships by capturing USTFCCCA All-Region honors, placing 26th of 269 runners. The mens team, meanwhile, posted its best conference meet finish since 2002, finishing in fifth place, with all seven of the Hawks top runners placing among the top 75. The Hawk women finished fifth in the SUNYAC Cross Country Championships for the third year in a row in 2012. Nichole Wischoff was the highlight of the race for New Paltz, as she earned a spot in the SUNYAC Women's Cross Country Hall of Fame. Wischoff earned First-Team All-SUNYAC honors and U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region recognition in 2012 as well. The women also matched their best-ever finish at the Vassar Invitational, placing second out of seven teams. The men's cross country team enjoyed a one-place improvement in the SUNYAC standings in 2012, vaulting SUNY Oswego to place eighth in the SUNYAC Cross Country Championships. New Paltz made waves in the region in 2011, as the women finished a program-best 12th at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships and took fifth at the SUNYAC Cross Country Championships in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. In addition, Trunkes coached Wischoff to a 14th-place finish at the regional meet, which landed her a spot at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in Winneconne, Wis. 2010 marked one of the program's most successful seasons ever on the women's side, and Joe Gentsch provided one of the best individual campaigns in program history on the men's side. The women placed fifth at the SUNYAC Cross Country Championships in Oswego, N.Y., which tied for the best finish in program history at the conference meet. They followed that performance up by placing 13th out of 33 teams at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships in Oneonta, N.Y., which served as the highest finish in program history at the regional championship meet up to that point. Gentsch turned in the second First-Team All-SUNYAC performance in the men's program's history, crossing sixth at the 2010 SUNYAC Cross Country Championships. In 2009, Trunkes coached the womens team to a second-place finish at the Vassar Invitational, its best finish to date in the meet. The Hawks followed this strong showing with their first-ever invitational victory at the Bard Invitational where Danielle Harmon took the overall individual honors. The women placed sixth out of nine teams at the SUNYAC Championships, the squads second-best overall finish in school history. Two weeks later, the womens team went on to place 16th overall out of 44 teams in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships, the program's best result in its 24-year history, improving eight places from the previous year. The men placed second overall at the Vassar Invitational and were led by overall winner Gentsch. Two weeks later, the men went on to win the Bard Invitational, once again being led by the overall winner, Gentsch. At the SUNYAC Championships, Gentsch went on to become the first male runner since 2002 to be named to the All-SUNYAC Team after his 14th-place finish in that meet.  Under Trunkes guidance, the Hawk harriers have rewritten the programs record book. He coached Gentsch to a program-record 25:29 in the mens 8K in 2009 and also mentored Wischoff toward a program-record finish in the womens 6K (22:09). Wolfer established the women's program's 5K record (18:12.9) in 2013. Trunkes began as an assistant coach with New Paltz in 2006 and was tabbed to lead the program starting in 2007. Trunkes earned a bachelors degree in marketing and merchandising from the University of Arizona in 1985. He competed in both cross country and track & field and was a member of the Wildcats 1984 Pacific-10 Cross Country Championship team, which also managed a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships later that season. An avid runner for more than 30 years, Trunkes has achieved personal-best marks in the Marathon (2:28:17), the 10K (29:54), the 5K (14:42), the 3K (8:26) and the 1500-meter run (3:58). As a masters runners' coach, Trunkes has posted times on the track of 32:57 for the 10K and 15:55.75 for 5K. He has been a member of the Central Park Track Club for 24 years where he has worked as an adviser to many top athletes. Trunkes has also earned a Level 1 coaching certification from USA Track and Field at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and moderated the first Hudson Valley Distance Running Summit. Trunkes currently resides in New Paltz with his wife, Petra. Contact Michael Trunkes at ext. 3922 or