2012-13 Coaching Staff

Walter Curry - Head Men's Track Coach

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

     Walter Curry begins his 12th season as the head coach of Track & Field coach for the Cardinals in 2012-13.  Before becoming head coach at Wesleyan, Walter was an assistant track coach for eight years at Boston College.
     Walter had a successful stint at B.C, coaching three Division I All-Americans and numerous Big East All-conference and All-New England performers during his time with the Eagles.  In his 11-year tenure at Wesleyan, Walter has had similar success, coaching 31 NCAA qualifiers (18 indoors and 13 outdoors) and 18 All-Americans (12 indoor, six outdoor), two of whom were crowned National Champion (Indoor 55m dash in 2003, Indoor 5,000m run in 2007) At the conference level, Walter guided the men’s team to a fourth-place finish in the 2008 NESCAC championships, which was the highest conference finish in Wesleyan history.
     A graduate of Iowa State University (Ames,IA) where he was an outstanding hurdler and sprinter for the Cyclones as a member of their indoor and outdoor Big Eight conference championship squads of the mid 80s, Walter had several individual top-three conference finishes, a place on the Iowa State 55m hurdles and 110m 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. More recently, Walter has been a clinician for the 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. For the past two years, Walter, along with Wesleyan Track, has been the co-sponsors of the Connecticut HS Coaches Association Track & Field Clinic. The event is hosted by Wesleyan Track & Field in the Bacon Field House each November.
     Walter is also a U.S.A.T.F. level II certified coach in sprints/hurdles, along with his certification in the jumps and throws. Walter had the good fortune to be involved in the teaching of the "hurdle event" as 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, and is still in circulation today, teaching high school athletes and coaches the principals of the hurdle event.
    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 13th season as head men’s and women’s cross country coach and assistant track coach at Wesleyan University in 2012-13. 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.

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 fourth time during the 2012-13 season.  She assisted in both cross country and track at Wesleyan for the first time in 2010-11 and cross country again in both 2011 and 2012 while helping again with track last year.  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.

Mike Simeone - Assistant Coach (sprints)

     Mike Simeone is in his first year of coaching the sprinters as an assistant at Wesleyan University.  Prior to Wesleyan,. he coached sprints, jumps, and hurdles at Division 1 Bryant University in Smithfield, RI.  There he coached athletes to school records in the women’s 55m hurdles, women’s 60m hurdles, women’s 110m hurdles, women’s triple jump, and women’s pole vault, as well as the men’s 60m hurdles, men’s 110m hurdles, and men’s DMR.  He also coached men’s relay squads that were All-Northeast Conference and All-New England in the 4x100m and 4x400m.  Before going to Bryant, Mike coached the girls at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, Conn.  At Hand, he coached multiple athletes to State Championships, All-State, and All-New England performances in the 55m, 100m, 200m, 300m, 600m, 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m, long jump, and triple jump. He also had a 200m athlete in the top 10, DMR teams repeatedly finishing in the top 15, and a 4x800m that won the Emerging Elite division at New Balance Nationals.
     In addition to coaching, Mike works for Gaylord Hospital in outpatient physical therapy as an aide where he works with the clinical staff in rehabilitating patients, including professional athletes, for the return to their sport.
Mike has an advanced sprint, hurdle, and relay specialist certification through the USTFCCCA, as well as a USATF Level 1 certification, and completed the CSCS from the NSCA.
     As a collegian, Mike ran sprints for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of an All-ACC relay squad.  In 2002 he was voted most improved athlete.  He graduated with a BA as a double major in psychology and exercise and sport science.  Before transferring to UNC, he ran an indoor season at Quinnipiac University and was MVP as a freshman, and still holds school records in the 55m and 200m.  As a high schooler at Xavier High School, he ran 10.63 for 100m qualifying for USA Jr. Nationals, and 21.96 for 200m indoors, finishing the season ranked third in the U.S.

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