Coaching Staff
Sullivan coached seven All-NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region finishers in cross country in 2011. 1996 campaign. Penn State advanced to the Championships via an at-large bid, thanks to in-season wins over outstanding programs such as Florida State, Illinois, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Providence, and SMU, earning more than enough qualifying points to make the field. A year prior, Sullivan coached Franek to a 23rd-place effort and All-America honors at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Sullivan also led the men’s squad to its first appearance at the NCAA meet since 1994, thanks to a second-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional. The Nittany Lion men notched a 25th-place standing at the NCAA Championships. The Nittany Lion men engineered an outstanding 2008 campaign, thanks to a group of seasoned veterans, two talented freshmen, and homegrown Pennsylvania work ethic, as six of the eight Nittany Lion men that traveled to the NCAA Championships are former Pennsylvania high school standouts. The Nittany Lions continued to impress at the Big Ten Championships, posting a fourth-place effort in the team standings - the highest conference finish in nearly a decade. Dawson was also voted Big Ten Freshman of the Year following his effort at the conference championships, becoming the first athlete in Nittany Lion history to earn the honor in cross country. On the men’s side, Sullivan led the Nittany Lion cross country squad to its first appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships since 1994 The Nittany Lion cross country squads have been a strong factor at both the conference, regional, and national levels since Sullivan’s arrival in 1999, as the Penn State women have made NCAA appearances in 2002, and 2003, 2009, and 2010 while earning top five finishes in the Mid-Atlantic region on eight occasions. In 2000, Sullivan led Suzanne Heyer to a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships - the highest-ever finish by a Nittany Lion woman in the NCAA era. Before Penn State … Prior to her tenure at Penn State, Sullivan was the Women's Coordinator for the Stanford track and field and cross country teams from 1995-99. During those four years, Sullivan coached over 30 NCAA All-America athletes including one NCAA individual champion (Monal Chokshi in the 3,000 meters), led numerous Pac-10 team and individual championship performers and led the team into national prominence. Under her coaching, Stanford placed in the top 10 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships all four years of her tenure including winning the NCAA championship in 1996. The Cardinal also took home runner-up honors in 1997 and a strong third place finish in 1998. In return, Sullivan was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year three times, NCAA Regional Coach of the Year twice and NCAA Division I Coach of the Year in 1996. Before her years at Stanford, Sullivan served as the head coach at Mankato State University from 1993-95 and as the assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State University from 1991-93. She earned conference-coaching honors and produced over 20 conference champions for these schools.
In 2007, Sullivan was inducted into the Minnesota Classic Lake Conference and the Hopkins High School Hall of Fame, both in Minnetonka, Minn. As a high school athlete at Hopkins High, Sullivan competed in track and field and cross country and was a member of the state championship cross country team in 1983, and the fourth-place 4x800-meter relay at the state level.
Sullivan earned a bachelor's degree in Social Work in 1989 from the University of Minnesota. As a Golden Gopher, she ran cross-country and track and field and captained her cross-country team her sophomore through senior years. She later completed a Master of Science degree in Sports Administration at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1993. While at SIU, she began her college coaching career serving as assistant coach from 1989-91. During her time at SIU, she met and married her husband, Jim Sullivan. Jim is a full-time instructor with the Department of Kinesiology at Penn State and continues to be an important resource in developing training methodology. Dr. Sullivan volunteers his time as the Penn State pole vault coach. The couple lives in Boalsburg, Pa.
Penn State Track and Field/Cross Country Under Beth Alford-Sullivan ... * 125 NCAA All-Americans * 70 Big Ten Individual Champions * 14 Big Ten Champion Relays * 24 Coach of the Year Awards * 25 USTFCCCA Regional Athletes of the Year * 8 Big Ten Championship Records * 4 NCAA Champions * 5 Big Ten Athletes of the Year * 6 Big Ten Team Titles * 5 Big Ten Freshman of the Year * 2 Olympians * 2 World Championship Qualifiers * 2 IAAF World Junior Medalists * 2 NCAA Trophy Teams * 2 Penn Relays Wheels * 1 Big Ten Triple Crown
TRACK AND FIELD/CROSS COUNTRy
www.GoPSUsports.com
5