 
Patrick Cunniff returns for his second season at Long Beach State as head cross country/assistant track & field coach. Coming off a very successful first year and joined by an outstanding recruiting class, Cunniff is poised to lead the continued development of the distance program at The Beach. Cunniff's first year was marked by strong results in all three phases of the sport, cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Both the men's and women's cross country teams beat their pre-season rankings at both the Big West Conference and NCAA West Regional championship meets, with the women placing in the top 10 at the regional meet and beating four Pacific 10 teams. Sarah Apgar earned All-Conference honors with her sixth place finish at the Big West meet. During a limited indoor campaign, Cunniff's athletes set two school records (men's 800 meters/women's DMR Relay) and Alex Freitas earned an NCAA Provisional qualifying mark. An outstanding outdoor track & field season was highlighted by a Big West Championship for the men's team, with distance athletes scoring in four out of five events. At the prestigious Drake Relays, the Beach Quartet, anchored by 800m runner Freitas, ran to victory in the Sprint Medley Relay and posted one of the top five times in the nation for 2008. Numerous athletes set personal bests in a wide variety of events and registered ever twenty performances on LBSU's all-time lists. Additionally, Cunniff's teams excelled in the classroom, with women's cross country earning national All-Academic honors with a 3.42 team GPA. Prior to his stint at LBSU, Cunniff served as an assistant at Texas Christian University and the University of Texas. "Patrick Cunniff brings a wealth of experience and a history of success to our distance program," said Andy Sythe. " He is committed to placing the well being of our student-athletes and their collegiate running experience high on his list of priorities. Coach Cunniff inherits a motivated group of athletes that lost several of its top runners to graduation in 2007. Under his guidance we will be capable, once again, of making our presence known at the regional and national level. " Cunniff coached six NCAA Division I National Championship qualifiers during his two years at TCU (2004-06), including three cross country student-athletes. The TCU women finished second at the Conference USA Championships in 2004 and at the '04 South Central Regional a TCU runner won the individual cross country championship. Cunniff coached 10 student-athletes to individual conference championships during his tenure (1 cross country, 6 indoor, 3 outdoor). During the spring of 2006 Cunniff served as the interim head coach at TCU. He began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach for women's track and cross country at the University of Texas. In his time at UT the Longhorns won the 2003 and 2004 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships while also winning the 2003 South Central Regional Cross Country title. For the past year he has served as a program coach and team coordinator for Luke's Locker, an adult program in 5k, 10k and marathon training. Cunniff earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia with a degree in political science. He was a three-year letterwinner in cross country and track for the Bulldogs. |
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