Swarthmore College Men's Golf

Heller , the 2012 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year , enters his 11th season as the head coach of the Garnet. He has guided the Swarthmore golf program to seven top-four finishes at the Centennial Conference Championships, which included finishing third in 2014 and 2015. This past season, Andrew Park '15 received All-Centennial Conference honors after finishing fifth and the team posted its lowest round in conference championship history with a 297 on the second day of competition.   Heller most notably led the Garnet to a second-place finish, which was a program best, at the Centennial Conference Tournament in 2012. Two members of the team senior Paul Weston and freshman Andrew Park earned all-conference honors while Weston became just the second golfer in program history to finish tied for first place individually at the tournament. The Garnet reached the GCAA National Rankings for the first time ever that spring after placing in the top three of the team standings at the Dickinson Invitational, McDaniel Invitational and Messiah Falcon Classic.   During the 2011 fall season, the Swarthmore golf team set both the team and individual program records. The team shot a record low 294 in the Immaculata Invitational while sophomore Jeff Wall set the individual round record, shooting a 69 in the Swarthmore Invitational.   The Garnet golf team rose to new heights in 2007 by finishing in a tie for second at the Centennial Conference Championships, which was the best showing in school history at the time. Two Swarthmore golfers - Zach Moody '07 and Eric Zwick '07 - were named All-Centennial while Zwick was also named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year. Hellers 2007 squad also earned the Swarthmore school records for all-time low tournament score with a 305 and the school's lowest Centennial Conference Championship tournament score with a 306.   All in all, Heller has had five student-athletes combine for eight All-Centennial selections. This included Eric Zwick in 2006 and 2007, Zach Moody in 2007, Alex Nichamin in 2009, Paul Weston in 2010, 2011 and 2012 as well as Andrew Park in 2012.   A resident of Glen Mills, Pa., Heller spent 10 years prior to coming Swarthmore as the head golf coach, freshmen girls' basketball coach and voluntary assistant athletic director, at nearby Springfield (Delaware County, Pa.) High School.   Heller, a long-time member of the Springfield Police Department, retired in 1995 after over 24 years of service. He is also a full-time member at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield.

Tana Thomas has been Swarthmore College's men's golf coach since the fall of 2022. In 2024-25, the Garnet finished fourth at the Centennial Championships. Dylan Zhang placed fourth on the leaderboard to become just the second golfer in program history to earn three All-Centennial selections. In 2023-24, Thomas guided Swarthmore to its first Centennial Conference runner-up placement since 2017. The Garnet boasted two All-Region players (Benjamin Garcia Moreira, Dylan Zhang) for the first time in program history with Garcia Moreira also earning a spot on the national All-Freshman Team. Garcia Moreira was also chosen the Centennial Rookie of the Year. Swarthmore claimed four tournament titles during the season. The squad's performance helped land Thomas the GCAA Region III Coach of the Year award. Thomas was also selected to represent Region III on the NCAA Golf Committee for the next four years Thomas led the Garnet to a third-place finish at the 2023 Centennial Championship. Swarthmore claimed the team title at four tournaments during the campaign. Dylan Zhang was named the Centennial Rookie of the Year after tying for fourth individually at the conference tourney and went on to earn All-Region honors. Thomas has spent two decades as an NCAA Division-III golf coach and over 30 years as a golf instructor. She most recently spent six seasons leading the men's and women's programs at Cabrini University. Thomas also coached at Immaculata University from 2005-16, while spending time as the head women's golf coach at Northern Arizona University (1995-1998) and Smith College (1995).  The nine-time conference Coach of the Year experienced plenty of success during her time at Cabrini. Under her guidance, the men's team captured three-consecutive AEC Championships. The Cavs also appeared in the 2022 NCAA Championship Tournament for its fifth NCAA appearance in program history and first since 2017.  In 2021-22, Thomas led the men's team to a dominating championship three-peat. The Cavs defeated the championship runner-up by 34-strokes and had four individuals finish inside the top-five for the tournament.  On the women's side, the Cavs finished seventh in the Centennial Conference Championships, while placing one individual inside the top-five scorers to earn All-Centennial honors. Thomas started Cabrini's women's program in 2017. Before joining the Cavs, Thomas coached at Immaculata University from 2005-2016. Thomas was named CSAC Coach of the Year four times and led the Mighty Macs to the 2013 CSAC title and an appearance at the NCAA Championship. Prior to her time at Immaculata, Thomas spent four years at Division-I Northern Arizona University, where she began the women's golf program in 1995. Thomas led the Lumberjacks to the Big Sky Conference title in 1996 and 1997 and was named Coach of the Year at the conclusion of both seasons. Thomas also had stints as head women's coach at Smith College and head boys' coach at Sir Francis Drake High school in San Anselmo, Calif. Thomas graduated from Arizona State University in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in the humanities. Thomas was a standout junior and collegiate player, representing California in the Junior America's Cup and competed in the USGA Girls National Championship twice. At Arizona State, Thomas was a member of the 1990 NCAA Championship winning Sun Devils, the program's first NCAA title.