2011-12 Coaching Staff

Walter Curry - Head Men's Track Coach

(860) 685-2905 - wcurry@wesleyan.edu

     Walter Curry is in his 11th season as head men's & women's track & field coach for the Cardinals in 2010-11.  Before taking over as head coach at Wesleyan, Walter was an assistant track coach for eight years at Boston College . 
     Walter was quite successful, coaching three Division I All-Americans and numerous Big East all-conference and all-New England performers during his stint at B.C.  In his 10-year tenure at Wesleyan, Walter has had similar success, coaching 29 NCAA qualifiers (17 indoors and 12 outdoors) and 14 All-Americans (10 indoor, four outdoor), two of whom were crowned National Champion (indoor 55m dash in 2003, indoor 5,000m run in 2007).
     Walter is a 1987 graduate of Iowa State University where he was an outstanding hurdler and sprinter for the Cyclones and was part of their indoor and outdoor Big Eight conference champion squads with several individual top-three conference finishes, a place on the Iowa State 55-meter hurdles and 110-meter hurdles top-10 list and a trip to the NCAA Division I Championships in 1986 to his credit.
     Walter began coaching while a student at Iowa State, working with the Cyclones' summer camp in 1985 and 1986.  In past years he has been a clinician for hurdles events at the Brown University track & field camp from 1995 to 2002 and was a guest clinician at the 2000 and 2001 New England High School Track & Field Coaches Clinic.  He is the writer, co-producer and clinician for an instructional video on hurdling which was first distributed nationally by Championship Books and Video Productions in 1998.
     A U.S.A.T.F. level II certified coach in sprints and hurdles, Walter also has certification in the jumps and throws. Walter resides in Torrington, Conn., with his wife Judy and their three children - Olivia, Dante and Austin.

John Crooke - Assistant Coach (distance)

(860) 685-5320 - jcrooke@wesleyan.edu

    John Crooke is in his 12th season as head men’s and women’s cross country coach and assistant track coach at Wesleyan University. Under his guidance both the men’s and women’s team have been elevated in regional and national rankings and are consistently ranked among the top-10 in New England . The 2002 women’s team qualified for the NCAA championships for the first time in school history. That feat was accomplished again in 2004 and in 2009 with the squad placing 14th each time.  The men's team qualified for its first national championship in 2005, also coming in 14th, then qualified a second time in 2006 with a 15th-place showing.  John was named NESCAC men's co-Coach of the Year and New England Division III men's Coach of the Year following the 2005 campaign.
    John also serves as an assistant coach for both men's and women's indoor and outdoor track, working with the distance runners. John was acting head coach for both teams during the outdoor season in 2000-01 and guided the women’s team to a third-place finish in the NESCAC championships which was the highest conference finish in school history.
    Prior to his appointment at Wesleyan, John served as head men's and women's cross-country and track & field coach at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. He was associate head cross-country and track & field coach at Widener University in Chester, Pa. (1996-98) where he directed the women's programs, and head boys and girls cross country and track & field coach at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pa. (1988-95).
    Graduating from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia in 1983, John went on to earn his master's degree with a concentration in sport and athletic administration from West Chester University in 1996.  He is a member of his alma mater's track & field Hall of Fame.

Joe Wassink - Assistant Coach  (sprints, hurdles)

(860) 685-5805 - jwassink@wesleyan.edu

     Joseph Wassink is in his second season as a Wesleyan track & field assistant coach, lending a hand with the sprints and hurdles. Before joining the Cardinals, Joe was a graduate assistant coach for two years at Emporia State University.
     While coaching at Emporia St., Joe trained a Division II All-American in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, and assisted in the development of five other All-Americans as well as numerous indoor and outdoor MIAA Conference champions.
    Joe earned his M.S. in health and physical education from Emporia State University. He is a 2007 graduate of Susquehanna University, where he competed as a sprinter and hurdler. While competing, Joe was a Division III NCAA Championships participant in the 400m hurdles, served as a team captain and earned three first-team all-conference awards. After competing at Susquehanna, Joe received his certification as a USATF Level 1 coach.

Laura Pierce - Assistant Coach (distance)

     After a solid cross-country and track career at Oberlin College before graduating in 2003, Laura Pierce will give the Cardinals coaching support for a second time during the 2011-12 season.  She assisted in both cross country and track at Wesleyan in 2010-11 and cross country again in 2011.  Laura also has coaching experience at both Swarthmore College, where she served as an assistant in both cross country and track for two years (2003-05), and most recently Millikin University. There she was head coach of the cross country squads in 2009 after serving as an assistant in 2008.  She also assisted in track from 2008-10.  Between her stints at Swarthmore and Millikin, Laura received a M.S. in kinesiology from the University of Illinios.
     At Oberlin, Laura was a three-time all-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) performer in cross country while earning a trip to the NCAA Division III Championship as an individual qualifier in 2001. She was a four-time NCAC champion in track, twice making the grade indoors (3k & 5k) and twice outdoors (5k & 10k).  Laura was twice named a USTFCCCA academic All-American in cross country and equaled that effort in track.

Mark Winiarski - Assistant Coach (jumps) 
Frank Wolak - Assistant Coach (throws)