Courtesy: UMBC Sports Information
BALTIMORE?Tim Walker has been hired to take over the reins of the UMBC men’s and women’s cross country teams, Director of Athletics Dr. Charles Brown announced today.
“We’re excited to have the addition of Tim Walker to our coaching staff,” Brown said. “He has a great background, working under legendary coach Harry Groves at Penn State and being assistant coach at Division III national champion Cortland. I believe he will bring a winner to cross country at UMBC.”
Walker takes over the head coaching position following the departure of former head coach Scott Catone, who resigned earlier this month for personal reasons.
Walker comes to UMBC from the State University of New York at Cortland, where he served as the assistant cross country and track and field coach from September 2005-May 2007.
While at SUNY Cortland, Walker helped propel an unranked men’s cross country team to their first NCAA Division III Championship appearance since 1999, which ultimately culminated into a fourth place finish for the Red Dragons in 2006, their highest finish ever.
En route to the fourth place finish at nationals, Walker helped coach the Red Dragons to their eleventh SUNYAC title in program history, and first since 1999, while having six athletes named to the all-league teams.
Throughout the course of his stay at Cortland, Walker coached a total of six All-Americans in indoor and outdoor track and field, while helping the Red Dragons to a runner-up finish at the 2007 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Prior to coaching at Cortland, Walker was a four year member of the track and field team, and three year member of the cross country team at Penn State, where he graduated from in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant, and institutional management.
“I am really excited for the opportunity to coach at the Division I level,” Walker said. “I look forward to having a great season and doing extremely well at conferences.”
While competing for the Nittany Lions, Walker was named Academic All-Big Ten in 2003 and 2004, while finishing 31st at the 2003 IC4A Cross Country Championships. He also finished seventh in the 800-meter run at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships and was part of the IC4A title-winning 4 x 800m relay team in 2003.
Walker is a native of Hopewell Junction, N.Y. where he graduated from John Jay High School in 2001. While at John Jay he competed in track and field and cross country and ran the anchor legs on John Jay’s national indoor champion 4 x 800m and distance medley relays.
Walker currently resides in Ellicott City, Md.