Andy Ronan is entering ninth season as the men’s and women’s head cross country and track and field coach. His women’s squad is currently the top-ranked team in the Northeast Region and ranked 12th in the United States according to the USTFCCCA Division I Cross Country Polls. The men’s team is ranked 13th in the Northeast. Ronan guided the women’s team to their first NCAA championship appearance last year, after winning their first America East Conference championship and the team is poised to reach the national meet again. In 2007, Ronan, who spent six years as an associate head coach at Providence before joining the Seawolves, was named America East Coach of the Year and Northeast Division I Coach of the Year.
ArmoryTrack.com caught up with Ronan for this edition of Coaches Corner.
AT: Briefly describe your coaching philosophy.
AR: Development. Year by year we want to get better. Patience is a virtue. Basically, with the new kids I look at what they did in high school. By the end of the year, mileage-wise, I want it 10-15% higher. It’s monotonous work: longs runs, tempos. We work through that in the fall. Then we dropped down. As we get toward the championship time, we drop down to repeats in distance, depending on the course we’ll race that weekend.
AT: What’s one of your staple workouts and why do you do it?
AR: In the fall would be we have a 2K loop. I like to do that. Depending on the group it could be 2x2K or 3x2K. The guys would do 3 to 5 depending on the group.
We do that every three weeks. I use that as a monitor to where we are. When you start in September they’re at a certain fitness level and they can get through it. Everyone can do a session of 400s. The longer efforts are more beneficial. In the first second a kids get to 1500 meters and starts to struggle. Three wks later he gets to 1700.
AT: You took a program with one-year’s Division I experience and now, in your ninth season, Stony Brook men’s and women’s cross country programs are among the best in the Northeast Region and the women are currently ranked 12th in the country. How’d you do it?
AR: We started from scratch. We just kept plugging away and improving the group every year. As we improved we started to attract better quality athletes. We’re still a hidden commodity in the area but athletically and academically we match up with any school in the Northeast. The fact if you can get the kids to buy in, trust and believe in what you’re doing you can be successful.
AT: How do you decide on your race schedule?
AR: I like to race every two weeks. The race schedule has matured over the years based on how we’re doing and how we’re progressing as a program. I like to show them the next level. It’s very obvious. Lehigh Invitational with the guys and Notre Dame Invitational for the girls. It shows them where we’re
The reason is it allows me to work hard for two weeks and then come back and see how we are. You can take a look at the race and then see where we are and make adjustments for the next race and where we are in the season and get a good read on where each individual is.
AT: You are the head coach for the men’s and women’s teams with one assistant coach. You’ve been very successful in finding international talent. How did you handle recruiting?
AR: I do the international stuff. That’s what I did at Providence. I made a lot of contacts. Maybe once or twice a year you have to make a trip but it’s usually between seasons. The international season is pretty different so it makes it easier. We made a major push every year. We sent out over 500 letters at the start of the season to New York athletes and the Northeast Region and we got three responses. Mick got the same thing at Iona. We will try to get the best local athletes but I can’t take people just to take people. We want to get the best student athletes and put the best program out there.
AT: What would you say is your biggest challenge as a head coach?
AR: Staying competitive. You work at the recruiting and you work at the coaching. You continue to learn new things to make the kids better. It’s a fantastic thing that we’re ranked 12th in the country but we haven’t done anything yet. We haven’t accomplished anything. We have to keep working.
- Christopher Hunt
