Gibby to take Position at Michigan, Newberry to Concentrate on Professional Running Career

07/29/10 4:33PM

WILLIAMSBURG - William and Mary's Director of Athletics Terry Driscoll announced the resignations today of Alex Gibby '97, formerly the head men's cross country and track coach, as well as Kathy Newberry '00, who held the same post for the women. Gibby will be taking the post of head men's cross country and distance coach at Michigan, while Newberry will be focusing on developing her professional running career.

"As Head coaches," said Driscoll, "Alex Gibby and Kathy Newberry made outstanding contributions to our Men's and Women's Track and Field programs on a national, regional and conference level with team and individual achievements. We wish them much continued success in their futures."

Gibby has been the head men's coach for his alma mater since 2003-04, and has led W&M to the conference title and NCAA Championships in cross country each of his seven years while adding the CAA track championship in 2004. Last season was his most successful by far, as the College spent the fall ranked in the top-10 nationally before running to fifth at the NCAA Championships. Three runners earned All-American honors, the first time W&M has ever had more than one runner be named All-American at a single meet, and it was the best team finish since the Tribe took fourth in 1973. On the trails, Gibby's charges also won their 10th consecutive CAA title, and won back-to-back region championships for the first time since 1971-72. In total, Gibby's teams in both cross country and track won nine All-America honors, eight CAA team titles, three region crowns, the 2006 IC4A championship, seven IC4A gold medals, six CAA Athletes of the Year, seven CAA Rookies of the Year, and 39 individual CAA crowns. In the classroom his charges also performed at an extremely high level, claiming eight USTFCCCA All-Academic team awards, and individually producing two Academic All-American awards, five Phi Beta Kappa initiates, and 13 CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. Gibby was recognized as the CAA Coach of the Year seven times, and also was named the Southeast Region Coach of the Year in cross country in 2005, 2008, and 2009.

"I've known Gibby since he was 17 years old," said W&M's director of track and field, Dan Stimson, "and I remember chewing out Walt Drenth [the coach at the time] for bringing in this scrawny-looking kid. But, Alex grew as a student and an athlete, and was an All-East runner and member of a ninth-place cross country team by his fifth year. He worked for our program for three years as a volunteer assistant, helping with recruiting and a getting his master's degree, and then he did a wonderful job at SFA. So when Andy Gerard left, he was a natural fit to come back and coach the Tribe. We're truly going to miss him, both he and his wife, both true products of our program."

Newberry took over as the head women's coach in the spring of 2005 and promptly coached her athletes to 10 of 11 CAA championships, winning all five cross country crowns and five of six track titles. She was responsible for helping develop some of the top runners in school history, including three-time All-American Emily Anderson (Golf, Ill.) and 2008 world junior championships participant Betsy Graney (Harper Woods, Mich.), and trained and recruited athletes to win 34 CAA titles combined in both cross country and track and field. In her five and a half years, Newberry's teams were named All-Academic by the USTFCCCA eight times, and she was voted CAA Coach of the Year seven times. In addition to the 34 CAA championships, the Tribe's athletes also won six ECAC titles, three CAA Athlete of the Year awards, and three CAA Rookie of the Year awards. In the classroom, the College produced four Phi Beta Kappa Initiates, and six CAA Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

"I've also known Kathy since she was 17 years old and deciding whether to come run here at W&M," said Stimson. "She really grew into her job, and it truly was a big job for someone her age. With a little bit of help both from Alex and myself, she has become just a terrific coach over the past five years. She is also an outstanding athlete, and was able to compete at an extremely high level at the same time as she was coaching her team. I want to thank them both for their hard work, their loyalty, and I appreciate that this was a incredibly hard decision. They have done a tremendous job building our program to the level it is at now."

"Since I've been here, we've had Walt Drenth go to Arizona State and then Michigan State, Andy Gerard who went to Stanford and won a national title, Jason Dunn who was an athlete and a graduate assistant who went on to be the head coach at Virginia and is now at Stanford - we've developed something of a reputation as the cradle of top cross country coaches in the nation."

While also coaching, Newberry has established herself as one of the top distance runners in the country, qualifying for the past three U.S. track Championships at 10,000m and representing Team USA at five World Cross Country Championships since 2004, captaining the squad in 2009. Gibby and Newberry were married in the summer of 2005, and have resided in Williamsburg since 2003 with their two golden labs, Oskar and Atlas. A national search to determine a new cross country and distance coach is currently underway.

AGATE - W&M announces resignations of Alex Gibby, head men's cross country and track coach, and Kathy Newberry, head women's cross country and track coach