Vassar College Men's Track & Field

Joe Reed was named head coach of the Vassar men's and women's track & field programs in August of 2021.  as the next head coach of the Brewers men’s and women’s track & field programs. In his first season at the helm of the outdoor track & field teams, the Brewers broke ten program records and four student-athletes were named All-Liberty League.    Reed comes to Vassar following an five-year stint as an assistant track and field coach at Army. With a primary focus on the Black Knights’ sprinters, hurdlers and horizontal jumps, he helped guide the program to the 2019 Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championship.   During his tenure at Army, Reed helped develop 19 conference champions, four NCAA East Regional qualifiers in four different events, 20 conference runners-up, while seeing 13 school records broken. He also served as a liaison to Minority Admissions, was a summer camp director, as well as an assistant recruiting coordinator.   Prior to Army, Reed spent five seasons at his alma mater, Oneonta State. He served two years as an assistant coach, before being promoted to the associate head coach, serving in that role for three seasons. For his efforts during his time with the Red Dragons, he was named the Division III Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012, 2014 and 2016.   Reed worked directly with the Red Dragons’ sprinters and hurdlers in his tenure. Under his guidance, the Red Dragons achieved much success, as two student-athletes finished fourth and fifth, respectively in their events at the 2016 NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships. In the 2011-12 season, he coached a student-athlete who went on to win the Division III title in the 200-meter dash at the outdoor championships.   Throughout his tenure, Reed helped coach 30 conference champions and 13 Division III All-Americans, while watching eight of his student-athletes break a school record and two earn a conference record. He also helped the Red Dragons to four team conference titles.   Prior to joining Oneonta’s staff, Reed spent a year as an assistant coach at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., coaching an Empire 8 Champion in the 400 meters.   As a 2009 undergraduate at Oneonta, Reed had one of the most decorated athletic careers in the history of Red Dragons athletics. His career was highlighted with a 2009 NCAA Division III national championship in the indoor 4x400 meter relay. He was a seven-time NCAA Division III All-American and a four-time SUNYAC individual champion.   Reed is a USA Track & Field Level III & IAAF Level V certified coach in the jumps and also a USTFCCCA Sprints, Hurdles, and Relays Specialist Coach.  

Vassar College Men's and Women's Track and Field Coach Joe Reed has announced the hiring of Lauren Bossi-Johnson as the new assistant coach and facilities assistant. Bossi-Johnson joins the staff after spending the last six years at San Diego State University. Bossi-Johnson comes to Poughkeepsie following her time at San Diego State where she was a Health Promotion Specialist. The majority of her work centered on sexual health education & ensuring equitable access to safer sex resources. She provided tailored one-on-one health education sessions and group presentations with the aim of empowering students to make the choices that work best for their unique life circumstances. Part of her work also involved maintaining a relationship with student-athletes on campus through hosting sexual health and violence prevention workshops throughout the school year. She was also the lead facilitator for the SDSU Peer Health Education program, a year-long undergraduate internship program for students who were interested in becoming peer mentors. Over the course of her involvement with the program, Lauren was able to establish a robust network of students and alumni engaged in supporting student well-being at SDSU – bringing about greater awareness to the resources and services available within the SDSU Student Health Center, and strengthening connection between the School of Public Health and the Well-Being & Health Promotion Department. Bossi-Johnson also had a successful collegiate career at the University of Hartford from 2013-2017 as a member of the cross country & track and field team. She was a top-five finisher in the America East Conference Indoor Championship and school record holder in the indoor pentathlon.  Bossi-Johnson earned her Bachelor's degree in Business Marketing from the University of Hartford in 2017 before earning her Masters in Public Health in Health Promotion and Behavioral Science from San Diego State in 2020.