from HCC Sports Information
Hutchinson Community College men’s and women’s cross country coach Dave Smith resigned his post this week.
Smith was the Blue Dragon head cross country coach for two seasons, taking over for longtime coach Terry Masterson.
Both of Smith’s women’s teams and the 2011 men’s team at Hutchinson competed at the NJCAA National Championships.
“The Blue Dragon Athletic Department thanks Coach Smith for his service to our cross country program,” HCC athletic director Randy Stange said.
The 2010 cross country season was solid on several fronts for the Blue Dragons under Smith.
Both Blue Dragon men’s and women’s teams won the Blue Dragon Invitational at Carey Park. The HCC women finished fifth in the Region VI Championships and competed in the 2010 NJCAA National Championships for the first time since 2007.
This past season, the men were sixth at regionals and 29th at the NJCAA Championships. The HCC women were fifth at Region VI and 32nd at nationals.
Smith was also an assistant coach for the Blue Dragon track and field team, coaching the distance runners. During the 2011 indoor track season, Smith watched middle distance runner Annelle Chestnut won two regional titles and was named the Region VI Female Runner of the Meet. Smith got to watch Chestnut run two more races at the 2011 NJCAA Outdoor National Championships at Gowans Stadium.
Before becoming the head coach, Smith was an assistant under Masterson in 2009.
This was Smith’s second stint with the Blue Dragon cross country program. The first was in 1980 when he was an assistant under Masterson. That team produced one NJCAA All-American and three national qualifiers.
Before coming to HCC, Smith was the head coach for both cross country and track and field at McPherson College in McPherson , Kan. , from 2003 to 2008. During his tenure at McPherson, Smith had 10 NAIA national qualifiers and one men’s KCAC conference championship. He was named the league’s Coach of the Year once.
Smith started his coaching career at Goessel High School in 1970. He started the cross country program at Goessel and in the first year, he qualified two runners for the Kansas State Championships. As Goessel’s track and field coach, Smith coached one individual state champion and had numerous state qualifiers. He was also Goessel’s first girls’ basketball coach.
From 1974 to 1979, Smith was a coach and teacher at Haven High School . He started the cross country program at that school and also served as the track and field and girls’ basketball coach at the Reno County school.
No timetable has been set to name Smith’s replacement.