Schmitt Hired to Lead PSUGA Track & Field and Cross Country
The PSUGA Athletics Department announced the hiring of Greg Schmitt as the new head track & field and cross country coach on Friday. Schmitt brings over 10 years of coaching experience as well as professional running experience.
McKeesport, PA. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Athletics Department announced the hiring of Greg Schmitt as the new PSUGA Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach on Monday. Schmitt comes to PSUGA with over 10 years of coaching experience both at the high school and collegiate level as well as several years of experience as a professional runner and track & field competitor.
Schmitt comes to PSUGA after leading the Carlow University Cross County and Track and Field teams for the last five seasons. During his tenure with the Celtics, he helped build the inaugural season of Carlow Track & Field in 2017-2018 leading the first year program to the River States Conference Championship where his team placed 4th out of eight teams at the meet. He had 12 top five finishers across all the events including a 2nd place finish by Javondii Meyers in the Men’s High Jump and a 4th place finish by Larissa Kijowski in the Women’s 400 Meter Dash.
Prior to joining Carlow, Schmitt was the head track & field and cross country coach at Laurel High School from 2008-2013 where he coached 29 PIAA state qualifiers with four of those being medal winners. He also helped lead Laurel to two WPIAL Championships during his six-year tenure.
Along with his coaching experience, Schmitt has also been competing in track & field and cross country since high school. He graduated from Youngstown State University where he was a two-year letter winner in track and field. He then went on to run professionally where he was a two-time State Games of America National Champion. He also qualified for the USA 15K national qualifier four times and was a 25K USA National Qualifier for the seeded race.
Schmitt is excited to help build the PSUGA Track & Field program from the ground-up and build a competitive program. He will look to lead a talented group of athletes through the 2019 season while recruiting and helping the program grow in the future.
Schmitt is hitting the ground running holding a track & field and Cross Country interest meeting on January 7th inside the Wunderly Gymnasium where he will meet with this year’s athletes and plan for the upcoming season. That meeting will take place in the Wunderly Gym Classroom at 5 p.m.