Andrew Gerard Position: Head Coach Experience: Third Year at Mason (12th overall)

Andrew Gerard enters his third season as George Mason's head men's track and field/cross country coach and 12th overall as a collegiate head coach. Last season, Gerard coached the runner-up at the CAA Cross Country Championships in Charles Millioen, an indoor All-American in the triple jump in Ryan McCoy and the CAA Rookie of the Year award winner, Michael Pachella.

In his first year with George Mason in 2005-06, Gerard helped rekindle some of the Patriots' past glory, leading the team to the IC4A Championship during the outdoor season. The team also had an All-American performer during both the indoor and outdoor seasons as senior Marc Kellman, who was named the CAA Athlete of the Year after the conclusion of the outdoor season, finished as the runner-up in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and leapt to a fifth-place finish at the Outdoor Championships.

He brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and accolades to the post, having led Stanford's nationally-ranked cross country team and assisting with the renowned Cardinal track and field program from 2003-05. No stranger to the Colonial Athletic Association and to the Patriots' past success, Gerard also spent seven years as the head coach of William and Mary's track and field/cross country teams.

Gerard helped mold the Cardinal into a national power during his first tenure from 1993-96 as an assistant cross country and track and field coach. During this time he gained valuable top level experience working with numerous standout athletes including Brad and Brent Hauser, Greg Jimmerson, Nathan Nutter, Monal Chokshi, Mary Cobb, Kortney Dunscombe and Sarna Renfro. In the fall of 1996, just prior to moving to William and Mary, both the men's and women's cross country teams won NCAA titles.

After spending seven years at William and Mary (1997-03), he returned to Stanford in August of 2003, moving up to the position of head men's cross country coach and assistant track and field coach. In his first year back at Stanford, Gerard led the Cardinal to the 2003 NCAA Men's Cross Country title, NCAA West Regional title, and Pac-10 Championship title, earning him both Pac-10 and USTCA National Coach of the Year honors. At the NCAA Championships, the Cardinal placed four runners in the top six, including national runner-up Ryan Hall. Beyond that, Stanford put six runners in the top 13 and seven in the top 23 spots, earning all seven team members All-America status. The Cardinal finished with a team score of 24 points, 150 points better than the second-place team. The team score was the second lowest score in NCAA history and was the largest ever margin of victory at the NCAA Championships.

Gerard has also had significant success on the international scene, placing numerous athletes on the U.S. teams for the World Cross Country Championships. In March of 2004, Gerard coached freshman Forrest Tahdooahnippah to a spot on the United States team that competed at the World Junior Cross Country Championships in Brussels, Belgium, while the 2005 U.S. teams featured three athletes coached by Gerard - Ian Dobson (Sr. Men's 12k team), Don Sage (Sr. Men's 4k team) and Hakon DeVries (Jr. Men's 8k team). Over the course of the 2004 cross country campaign, Gerard received his second straight Pac-10 Coach of the Year award and his first West Regional Coach of the Year selection after leading the Stanford team to their second-straight Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional crowns and a sixth-place showing at the national meet. After replacing six of the seven racers from the 2003 NCAA Championship squad, two athletes garnered All-America selection, highlighted by freshman Nef Araia's eighth-place showing.

Gerard's success on the West Coast was not limited to the cross country course, however. In two short years, athletes under Gerard rewrote the Stanford record books, earned multiple national titles, garnered literally dozens of All-America selections and represented the U.S. internationally numerous times. During the 2004 outdoor track and field season, Ian Dobson (3,000m steeplechase), Louis Luchini (5,000m) and Donald Sage (1,500m) finished in the top-four at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships to gain All-America honors. Under the guidance of Gerard, Dobson (3,000SC, 8:32.09) and Luchini (5,000m, 13:25.19) set school records in their respective events during the regular season while Sage went on to finish sixth in the 1,500m at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento later that summer. In addition, redshirt freshman Russell Brown earned a qualifying spot at the World Junior T&F Championships in the 1500m. Indoors, Gerard guided Dobson to a school record and runner-up performance in the 5,000m at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships. Dobson also finished fifth in the 3,000m, earning All-America honors in both events. In 2005, the Cardinal enjoyed even greater success on the track. Indoors, the Stanford distance medley relay team placed fourth at the NCAA Championships, earning All-America honors, while Dobson moved up a spot, claiming the NCAA title at 5,000m with a new under-cover school record (13:40.91).

Outdoors, however, the middle distance and distance corps really caught fire. School records at 5,000m and 10,000m were shattered in the spring campaign. Ryan Hall won the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the 5,000m, edging out Dobson (13:22.54) with a school-record time of 13:22.32. The order of finish was reversed just two weeks later at the USA Track and Field Championships, as both dove under Hall's newly-inked time at the NCAAs. This time Dobson (13:15.33) nipped Hall (13:16.03), however, both qualified for the World Championships and were selected to the U.S. team for Helsinki. In addition, during the season, Dobson also sliced down the 10,000m record to 27:59.72, in the process becoming only the fourth U.S. collegian ever to dip under the 28:00 barrier. While Hall and Dobson were setting records, Gerard had numerous other athletes notch significant career bests at a spread of middle distance and distance events including Jon Pierce (8:45.84) and David Vidal (8:43.07, ninth place at USA T&F Championships) in the steeplechase, and redshirt freshmen Nef Araia (13:44.78) and Russell Brown (3:41.72, ninth place at NCAA Championships) at 5,000m and 1,500m, respectively.

Between his stints on the West Coast, Gerard spent seven years as the head men's track and cross country coach at The College of William and Mary, pushing the Tribe cross country and track and field teams into a position of national prominence as one of the school's most successful athletic programs. In cross country, William and Mary qualified for and finished in the top 16 at the NCAA Championships every year, including top-10 finishes in 1997 and 2000. The 2000 squad also won the Southeast Regional Cross Country title. In recognition of those successes, Gerard was named Colonial Athletic Association Cross Country Coach of the Year five times and was the 2000 Southeast Region Coach of the Year. Along the way, William & Mary won four league titles, including a 2001 title which saw the Tribe score a conference record-low 17 points. On the track, William and Mary captured the Colonial Athletic Association track and field title in 2003, earning Gerard his first selection as conference Coach of the Year. In all, Gerard's squads and athletes set a dozen school records and, in the process, picked up nearly 50 All-CAA, and 25 All-Region selections in cross country and track and field at William and Mary.

Recognized as one of the most promising young coaches in the NCAA ranks, Gerard has mentored a laundry list of the nation's finest distance runners. Under his guidance, more than 20 athletes gained All-America honors in cross country and track and field during Gerard's tenure at William and Mary, and he coached another 26 All-Americans during his most recent stint at Stanford. Beyond the plethora of top athletes from his days at Stanford, the list of athletes Gerard has successfully produced includes Matt Lane, who finished his William and Mary career with 11 All-America honors, seven school records, and the fourth-fastest American collegiate 5000-meter time in history (13:25.38). Lane was the top American finisher (fourth) in the 5000 meters at the 2001 World University Games and was fourth at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5000 meters. Lane was also honored as the 2001 USTCA Athlete of the Year, the highest honor a collegiate track and field athlete can achieve. Among other highlights from his time at William and Mary were two performances that provided the bookend for his career. In his first season at William and Mary, Anders Christiansen placed second at the 1997 NCAA Championships in the 800-meter run, finishing in 1:46.66, a remarkable improvement from his PR of 1:57.80 the season before Gerard's arrival. Subsequently, Christiansen twice traveled to Europe with the U.S. Middle Distance Development squad. Capping his time at William and Mary, Ed Moran and Sean Graham finished fifth and sixth in the 5000 meters at the 2003 NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Along with the numerous athletic successes on the track and cross country course, Gerard's teams have also excelled in the classroom. During his tenure at William and Mary, several cross country and track and field athletes were named to Academic All-America teams. In addition, during his seven-year tenure, nearly 20 athletes received Academic All-America distinction from the two sports governing bodies, the USTCA and USCCCA. The Tribe and Cardinal cross country squads earned Academic All-America team recognition in 1997 and every year from 1999 through 2005. The 2003 William & Mary track and field team was recognized as one of the top-five NCAA Division I academic teams. Capping the success in the classroom have been numerous CAA Conference Scholar-Athlete selections, a handful of Phi Beta Kappa honorees and a pair of Rhodes Scholarship nominees.

A 1990 Cum Laude graduate of Colgate University with a degree in Biology and an emphasis on human physiology, Gerard was a four-year letterman with the Red Raider cross country and track and field squads. In 1992, Gerard was ranked in the top-50 in the United States in the steeplechase.

Gerard and his wife, the former Ashley Elder, married in July 2003 and have one son, Jack.