The Cunningham File

Personal Information
Hometown	Centreville, Va.
Education	William and Mary, 1998 (Bachelor's)
Playing Career	William and Mary, 1994-98

Coaching History
2021-Pres.	Troy - Head XC Coach / Assistant T&F Coach
2019-21	Bridgewater - Head XC Coach / Assistant T&F Coach
2016-19	Marymount - Head Coach (XC / T&F)
2014-15	Wellesley - Assistant Coach (XC / T&F)
2013-14	Simmons - Head XC Coach
2005-06	Texas-Pan American - Head XC Coach / Assistant T&F Coach
2003-05	William and Mary - Assistant Coach (XC / T&F)

Veteran coach Brian Cunningham begins his fifth season as the Troy cross country head coach and assistant coach for track & field.

Year four saw a young team under Cunningham with 12 freshmen and nine sophomores on a 26-player roster. Despite the youth, he led the Trojans to a top-five finish in the season-opener at the JSU Foothills Invitational. The men finished fifth out of 19 teams, with Keith Warner claiming a seventh-place finish for the 5k, while the women finished fourth (5k) as three runners finished in the top-15 via Alexiana Hinote (10^th), Lucy Turley (14^th) and Arianna Elder (15^th). He also coached a sweep in the Sun Belt Runners of the Week as Keith Warner and Alexiana Hinote received the award with a 24^th and 28^th-place finish at the FSU XC Invitational. As a team, both sides finished sixth in Tallahassee.

His third year under the helm saw two top-five finishes for the women and two top-10s for the men at the JSU Foothills Invitational and Huntingdon 8k/6k, respectively. The JSU Foothills Invitational saw a fourth-place finish with freshman Lucy Turley leading the way for the women in 18^th, while the men finished eighth with fellow freshman Keith Warner topping off in 12^th. The Trojans swept the Huntingdon 8k/6k with first-place finishes and a combined 11 top 10 finishes individually. On the women’s side, Troy had all five top-five finishers, with Cadi Rowe claiming gold in the 6k. He also sent Rowe to the NCAA South Regional, where she hit a personal record of 21:46.80.

Year two saw Troy finish in the top 10 in 4-of-5 tournaments for the women and 4-of-6 for the men. Cunningham led a Trojan sweep at the Huntingdon 8k/6k Invitational with individual wins via Bennett Brake and Teanna Cason en route to the Trojans, taking up 9-of-10 top five spots combined between the two events.

In his first season with the Trojans, Cunningham produced four top-10 team finishes for the women and two for the men. This included a first-place finish at the Azalea City Classic, where Troy had three racers in the top five. The first-year head coach also sent 14 competitors to the NCAA South Regional.

Following his first year at Bridgewater, he was named the USTFCCCA South/Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year. His runners, Calista Ariel and English Jackson took the top two places in the 3000 and 5000 at the ODAC Championships and set school records in the process. Both athletes also qualified for the NCAA Division III Cross Country and Indoor Track & Field National Championship.

Before joining the Bridgewater staff, Cunningham spent three years as the head coach of the cross country and track & field programs at Marymount University. Under his watch, the Saints had a program-best four All-Conference qualifiers in cross country. The women also earned USTFCCCA D-III All-Academic team status three times.

As an assistant coach at Wellesley College in 2014-15, he worked with cross country, middle and long distance and throws. Wellesley qualified for the NCAA XC championships for the first time in 26 years and had three of the top-25 5,000m runners in Division III that spring on the track.

Cunningham was the head cross country coach at Simmons College the previous year, coaching his team to a third place finish at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championships.

Cunningham ran four years of cross country and track & field at William and Mary, graduating with a degree in kinesiology, after which he ran professionally for Adidas and Fila. As a runner for the Tribe, he was named all-conference in the 800 meters while earning IC4A qualifying status in the 4x800 relay during his four-year career.

Cunningham returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach from 2003-05, where he specifically worked with middle-distance runners. From 2003-05, the Tribe qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships twice during his time at William & Mary. Cunningham also assisted with five male and female competitors who were chosen to compete for various Team USA squads.

Following his stint at William & Mary, Cunningham was a member of the Texas-Pan American staff, where the men's and women's cross country teams improved across the board. His squads included an individual fifth place finish at the NCAA D-I XC Championships (and fastest American collegian at 10,000m in the spring).

Cunningham is a USATF Level 1 Certified coach.

Year	School	Postseason
2024	Troy	SBC Championship (M - 9th / F - 10th)
2023	Troy	SBC Championship (M - 9th / F - 13th) / NCAA South Regional (Cadi Rowe - 159th)
2022	Troy	SBC Championship (M - 8th / F - 10th) / NCAA South Regional (M - 22nd)
2021	Troy	SBC Championship (M - 8th / F - 7th) / NCAA South Regional (M - 23rd / F - 28th)
2020	Bridgewater	COVID - N/A
2019	Bridgewater	ODAC Championships (M - 7th / F - 6th) / NCAA South/Southeast Regional (M - 26th / F - 21st) / NCAA D-III Championships (129th & 152nd)
2018	Marymount	AEC Championships (M - 3rd / F - 4th) / NCAA D-III Mid-East Regional (M - 47th / F - 40th)
2017	Marymount	CAC Championships (F - 7th) / NCAA D-III South/Southeast Regional (M - 31st / F - 28th)
2016	Marymount	CAC Championships (F - 5th) / NCAA D-III Regionals (F - 18th)
2015	Wellesley (Assistant Coach)	NEWMAC Championships (2nd) / ECAC Championships (7th) / NCAA Regional Championships (5th) / NCAA D-III Championships (19th)
2014	Wellesley (Assistant Coach)	NEWMAC Championships (2nd) / ECAC Championships (7th) / NCAA Regional Championships (5th) / NCAA D-III Championships (22nd)
2013	Simmons	GNAC Championships (3rd)
2006	Texas-Pan American
2005	Texas-Pan American
2004	William and Mary (Assistant Coach)
2003	William and Mary (Assistant Coach)