John Crooke - Head Cross Country Coach

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

    John Crooke is in his 10th season as head men’s and women’s cross country 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 and the 2004 squad repeated the effort while placing 14th nationally.  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. While a student at St. Joseph's, John was a team captain in both cross country and track, earning all-Atlantic 10 honors in each while also receiving all-East accolades in cross country. He is a member of his alma mater's track & field Hall of Fame.

Brendan Callahan - Assistant Coach
bcallahan@wesleyan.edu

     Joining the Wesleyan coaching staff as a part-time assistant in 2009, Brendan Callahan brings a wealth of cross country and distance running experience with him.  A 2003 graduate of the College of Wooster who went on to earn a M.Ed. at the University of Connecticut in 2006, Brendan was a four-year veteran cross country, indoor and outdoor track star for the Fighting Scots.  He participated in both the 2001 and 2003 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships as an individual qualifier and met the NCAA provisional qualifying standards in track for the 3k steeple chase, the 5k and the 10k.  He left Wooster as the school record holder in the 3k and 5k indoors and the 5k and 10k outdoors.  He was named the North Coast Athletic Conference's Outstanding Athlete in both 2001 and 2002.  In addition to his running exploits, Brendan served as a student assistant in both cross country and track at Wooster with responsibilities for communication with prospective student-athletes and event management.
     Continuing his distance activity after graduation, Brendan was a part of the New Balance-Connecticut Elite Racing Team in 2008, finishing 27th overall and 10th among U.S. entrants in the 2008 ING New York City Marathon with a time of 2:23.25.  He also was seventh in the ING Hartford Half Marathon and 22nd in the USATF 20k National Championship.  He currently competes with the Boston Athletic Association Elite Development Club with a ninth-place finish in the New Bedford Half Marathon to his credit.
     Beginning his professional career as a substitute teacher in Shaker Heights, Ohio in 2006, Brendan spent two years teaching middle-school social studies at the Mary M. Hooker School of Environmental Studies in Hartford from 2007-09.  He plans to extend his professional experience in the teaching arena in the near future.