Troy University Men's Cross Country

Blount joined Troys staff after four years as an assistant coach at Columbia University.   Blount worked primarily with the Lions mens middle distance group. While at Columbia, he helped lead the cross country team to NCAA appearances in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In his four years, he coached five All-Americans, 13 NCAA East Regional qualifiers, 10 individual conference champions, 37 All-Ivy League selections and two Academic All-Americans.   I am extremely excited to work with the young men and women here at Troy University, Blount said. I am humbled, and greatly appreciative to have the opportunity to lead our cross country, distance and middle distance programs, granted to me by Athletic Director John Hartwell and Sandy Atkins. Under the direction of Marc Davis, the potential here in Trojan Nation is tremendous.  I very much look forward to bringing the distance programs to a level of excellence in which past, present and future Trojans will be proud to be a part of.   A former NCAA All-American and six-time All-Big East selection, Blount graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2002 with a degree in sports marketing.   As a two-year captain at UConn, he was a nine-time letter winner with the Huskies, an eight-time All-New England selection, the 2002 UConn Outstanding Student Athlete and the 2002 Big East Indoor Outstanding Track Performer.   Upon graduation, Blount became a member of the Oregon Track Club Elite/Nike Farm Team, training in Eugene, Ore., for five years. He was a U.S. Olympic Trials semifinalist in the 800m in both 2004 and 2008, and was a 12-time USA Track & Field Championships qualifier. He raced the European Circuit from 2005-2007, and finished in fifth place in the 800m at the 2006 USATF Indoor Championships.   A native of Freeport, N.Y., Blount is a sub-four minute miler. He served as the assistant track & field coach in his hometown at Freeport High School, before being named the head coach of the boys cross country team at Hempstead High School in Hempstead, N.Y. in 2009.  

  Follow @Halfmyle The Cunningham File Personal Information Hometown Centreville, Va. Education William and Mary, 1998 (Bachelor's) Playing Career William and Mary, 1994-98   Coaching History 2021-Pres. Troy - Head XC Coach / Assistant T&F Coach 2019-21 Bridgewater - Head XC Coach / Assistant T&F Coach 2016-19 Marymount - Head Coach (XC / T&F) 2014-15 Wellesley - Assistant Coach (XC / T&F) 2013-14 Simmons - Head XC Coach 2005-06 Texas-Pan American - Head XC Coach / Assistant T&F Coach 2003-05 William and Mary -  Assistant Coach (XC / T&F)   Veteran coach Brian Cunningham begins his fifth season as the Troy cross country head coach and assistant coach for track & field. Year four saw a young team under Cunningham with 12 freshmen and nine sophomores on a 26-player roster. Despite the youth, he led the Trojans to a top-five finish in the season-opener at the JSU Foothills Invitational. The men finished fifth out of 19 teams, with Keith Warner claiming a seventh-place finish for the 5k, while the women finished fourth (5k) as three runners finished in the top-15 via Alexiana Hinote (10th), Lucy Turley (14th) and Arianna Elder (15th). He also coached a sweep in the Sun Belt Runners of the Week as Keith Warner and Alexiana Hinote received the award with a 24th and 28th-place finish at the FSU XC Invitational. As a team, both sides finished sixth in Tallahassee.   His third year under the helm saw two top-five finishes for the women and two top-10s for the men at the JSU Foothills Invitational and Huntingdon 8k/6k, respectively. The JSU Foothills Invitational saw a fourth-place finish with freshman Lucy Turley leading the way for the women in 18th, while the men finished eighth with fellow freshman Keith Warner topping off in 12th. The Trojans swept the Huntingdon 8k/6k with first-place finishes and a combined 11 top 10 finishes individually. On the women’s side, Troy had all five top-five finishers, with Cadi Rowe claiming gold in the 6k. He also sent Rowe to the NCAA South Regional, where she hit a personal record of 21:46.80.   Year two saw Troy finish in the top 10 in 4-of-5 tournaments for the women and 4-of-6 for the men. Cunningham led a Trojan sweep at the Huntingdon 8k/6k Invitational with individual wins via Bennett Brake and Teanna Cason en route to the Trojans, taking up 9-of-10 top five spots combined between the two events.    In his first season with the Trojans, Cunningham produced four top-10 team finishes for the women and two for the men. This included a first-place finish at the Azalea City Classic, where Troy had three racers in the top five. The first-year head coach also sent 14 competitors to the NCAA South Regional. Following his first year at Bridgewater, he was named the USTFCCCA South/Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year. His runners, Calista Ariel and English Jackson took the top two places in the 3000 and 5000 at the ODAC Championships and set school records in the process. Both athletes also qualified for the NCAA Division III Cross Country and Indoor Track & Field National Championship.   Before joining the Bridgewater staff, Cunningham spent three years as the head coach of the cross country and track & field programs at Marymount University. Under his watch, the Saints had a program-best four All-Conference qualifiers in cross country. The women also earned USTFCCCA D-III All-Academic team status three times. As an assistant coach at Wellesley College in 2014-15, he worked with cross country, middle and long distance and throws. Wellesley qualified for the NCAA XC championships for the first time in 26 years and had three of the top-25 5,000m runners in Division III that spring on the track. Cunningham was the head cross country coach at Simmons College the previous year, coaching his team to a third place finish at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championships. Cunningham ran four years of cross country and track & field at William and Mary, graduating with a degree in kinesiology, after which he ran professionally for Adidas and Fila. As a runner for the Tribe, he was named all-conference in the 800 meters while earning IC4A qualifying status in the 4x800 relay during his four-year career. Cunningham returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach from 2003-05, where he specifically worked with middle-distance runners. From 2003-05, the Tribe qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships twice during his time at William & Mary. Cunningham also assisted with five male and female competitors who were chosen to compete for various Team USA squads. Following his stint at William & Mary, Cunningham was a member of the Texas-Pan American staff, where the men's and women's cross country teams improved across the board. His squads included an individual fifth place finish at the NCAA D-I XC Championships (and fastest American collegian at 10,000m in the spring). Cunningham is a USATF Level 1 Certified coach.

Davis was named the Director of Track & Field at Troy in July 2014.   Davis comes to Troy after 15 seasons with the Yale University track & field program, where he served as the mens head coach since 2011. During his time at the helm of the Bulldogs program, Davis coached Ivy League champions in the 60m, 100m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m events. He also coached school record holders in the womens 60m, 100m, indoor and outdoor 200m, 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, mens 60m, 100m, indoor and outdoor 200m and 400m.   We are extremely excited to welcome Marc to the Troy Family as his results over a decade and a half at Yale speak for themselves, Hartwell said. His enthusiasm is contagious and his vision for the future of the Troy track & field and cross country programs is one every Trojan can be excited about. Marc has competed and coached at the highest level in collegiate athletics and he will be a great asset to this athletics department.   Davis began his coaching career in the fall of 1995 at his alma mater, Lafayette College, where he was a volunteer assistant coaching the sprints and hurdles.  Davis left Lafayette to become a graduate assistant at Millersville in January 1997. He helped guide numerous Millersville student-athletes to the NCAA Division II National Championships and to All-East performances as the sprints, hurdles and jumps coach.   I want to thank Chancellor Hawkins, (Associate Athletic Director) Sandy Atkins and John Hartwell for this opportunity, Davis said. Im ready to get down to Troy and start working. We have an outstanding returning nucleus of student-athletes and Im excited about the future of the Troy track & field and cross country programs. There are a lot of talented athletes in the South and Ive always wanted to have the opportunity to coach in this part of the country.   From Millersville, Davis joined the staff at Yale before the 2000-01 season to coach the sprints.  Under the guidance of Davis, Yale sprinters saw a great deal of success and have virtually rewritten the schools track and field record books.   He competed as an undergraduate at Lafayette under the tutelage of current Yale coach David Shoehalter. He was a two-time Patriot League champion in the sprints and was an All-East performer in the 200m (indoors).   Davis, a Kennett Square, PA, native, graduated from Lafayette in 1995 with a degree in anthropology and sociology. Davis currently serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.