Matt McGuirk

Head Coach
Office Phone: (503) 370-6898
E-mail: mmcguirk@willamette.edu

Matt McGuirk is entering his fifth year as Head Track & Field Coach at Willamette University.

McGuirk will be looking to lead the programs to new heights coming off a very successful 2007 campaign in which the women's team placed 18th at the NCAA Championships and earned six All-America awards. The women's team also won its sixth consecutive Northwest Conference championship. McGuirk was named NCAA Division III Women's Track and Field National Coach of the Year. He also was chosen West Region and Northwest Conference Women's Track and Field Coach of the Year.

In 2006, McGuirk directed the both teams to Northwest Conference titles. The men’s team garnered a 10th place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, while the women placed 22nd.

In 2005, a total of 14 Willamette athletes qualified for the National Championships and McGuirk was named NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s West Region Coach of the Year. He and his coaching staff guided three-time All-American Shannon McGrane to West Region Athlete of the Year honors. At the same time, McGuirk coached eventual seven-time national champion Nick Symmonds to West Region and National Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year, which marked the second year in a row that a Willamette athlete earned the national honor. McGuirk’s staff led ten athletes to fourteen All-American marks at the national championships, as the men finished 4th and the women finished 11th.

During his years at Willamette, McGuirk and his staff have coached seventeen different athletes to fourty All-American performances. Included in these are seven-time National Champion Nick Symmonds, who has won the 1500 three times and the 800 four times under his tutelage. Symmonds was also the 2006 USATF National Championship Runner-up in the 800. Among McGuirk’s proudest achievements is coaching three Bearcats (Jacob Stout, Aaron Hollingshead, Scott Overby) to All-American status in the 2004 National Steeplechase event, his primary race throughout his collegiate and professional career.

Prior to his arrival at Willamette, McGuirk was the first head coach at Wilsonville High School and built the cross-country program from the ground up. In only their fifth year of existence, the school won its first state cross-country championship. From that time, Wilsonville has annually been one of the top 3A programs in Oregon.

McGuirk is a native of Eugene. After completing a decorated high school career at South Eugene, McGuirk embarked upon an excellent college career at The University of Oregon. At Oregon, he became a member of a select group by lettering eight times in cross-country and track & field. McGuirk also put his name in the Oregon books by racing to All-American status in the 1984 steeplechase, helping the Ducks win the outdoor track and field national championship that year, their last to date. He graduated from The University of Oregon with degrees in finance and marketing.

McGuirk has shown an ability to transcend his athletic experience into true coaching expertise, allowing dedicated student-athletes to realize immediate results as well as focus upon long-term goals.

“Willamette is the ideal place for a student who is looking for high quality academics and athletics. It’s my honest belief that if an individual chooses Willamette and decides to be successful in and out of the classroom, the opportunity will be provided. The philosophy of my staff is to simply impart the best advice, information, and opportunities possible to allow student-athletes to be great in whatever they aspire to achieve.”

Coaching Quick Facts

Hometown: Eugene, Oregon
High School: South Eugene
Alma Mater: University of Oregon, ‘88 (B.A. in Finance/Marketing)
Running Career: 1983 U.S. Junior Steeplechase Champion; Ranked Top 40 in the world in steeplechase (1992 & 1993) Placed seventh in the steeplechase in the 1992 Olympic Trials, setting a personal record of 8:26.10; 1993 Olympic Festival steeplechase champion
Coaching Highlights: 2004 3rd place finish at Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, 2005 4th place finish at Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, twelve straight Northwest Conference titles as head coach in cross-country/track & field

Brett Franz

Recruiting Coordinator / Assistant Coach
Jumps/Multi-Events
Office Phone: (503) 370-6834
E-mail: bfranz@willamette.edu

Brett Franz is in his second year on the Bearcat staff and will oversee the jumps and multi-events, as well as assisting with the distance runners. Franz joined the staff after being the Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Distance Coach at Lindenwood University in St Charles, Missouri. In addition to coaching the Distances, Franz was the Head Assistant Coach for Track and Field.

Under his direction the Lindenwood Men’s Cross Country team placed 3rd at the NAIA National Championships while the Women’s Cross Country team placed 15th. He coached the men’s NAIA National Champion in Cross Country, as well as the runner-up. Franz was named the Men’s HAAC Conference and NAIA Region V Coach of the Year for Men’s Cross Country.

As the Head Assistant Coach for Track and Field at Lindenwood, Franz worked with a squad that had 50 NAIA Track and Field All-Americans including 11 NAIA National Champions. He helped guide Lindenwood to an Indoor NAIA National Championship for the men as well as a National Runner-up finish in Outdoor. The women’s squad finished fourth at the Indoor National Championships and sixth at the Outdoor National Championships. Lindenwood had the Men’s Indoor and Outdoor NAIA National Champion in the Triple Jump as well as the Women’s National Champion’s in the Indoor Triple Jump and Long Jump. In total, Lindenwood had 14 NAIA All-Americans in the Long Jump, Triple Jump and High Jump. Franz helped guide 2007 World High Jump Champion, Donald Thomas, in his inaugural year of jumping while at Lindenwood. Franz coached the NAIA National Champion in the Mile (indoor) and the 10,000m (outdoor), his distance runners accumulated 6 NAIA All-Americans in Track. Coach Franz was named trackbrain.com’s NAIA National Assistant Coach of the Year (Distances) for Indoor Track and Field.

Franz Received a Masters in Athletic Administration from Lindenwood University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Western Oregon University.

Christopher Sabato

Assistant Coach
Office Phone: (503) 370-6803
E-mail: csabato@willamette.edu

Christopher Sabato returns to the Bearcat staff as an assistant coach for the cross country and track & field teams. Sabato works with the cross country team in the fall and coaches the pole vaulters in the spring. In 2007, four Bearcat women vaulters placed in the top eight at the Northwest Conference Meet, including the second and third place winners. Sabato also helps with the spints and horizontal jumps.

Sabato started his coaching carreer at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, where he has spent two years coaching the sprints and jumps including several all conference athletes and a handful of NCAA Division III national qualifiers.

Sabato attended Alfred University in Alfred, New York, graduating in 2002 with a degree in electrical engineering. During his collegiate track & field career, Sabato competed in the sprints, the long jump, and the pole vault. He was a 3-time All-State pole vaulter in the New York State Collegiate Track Conference.

Galen Carlile

Assistant Coach
Multi-Events/Jumps

Galen enters his fifth year of coaching at Willamette after enjoying a very successful tenure as a high school coach in Oregon. He directed Neah-Kah-Nie High School to three Oregon 2A State Championships during his time there as well as being named Oregon 1A/2A Coach of the Year three times. Galen assists Gery Ellibee with the training program of the jumpers as well as giving guidance to all decathlon/heptathlon athletes at Willamette. Most recently, Carlile has helped with two-time NCAA Division III All-American decathlete Tyler May as well as long jump All-American Lindsey Patterson.

Gery Ellibee '73

Assistant Coach
Sprints/Jumps

Gery Ellibee (’73) has been a fixture in Willamette Track & Field for over thirty years. First, he competed at Willamette as a standout jumper and football player. While completing graduate school, Gery began helping his college coach Chuck Bowles. Gery has been the emotional leader of Willamette Track & Field ever since. Prior to Willamette, Ellibee was a junior college All-American at Spokane Falls Community College, where he was a part of two national record setting distance medley teams. As a Bearcat, he set six Willamette school records in the sprints and jumps and still holds the long jump record to this day (23' 9"). Most recently, Gery has coached some of the top jumpers in the Northwest Conference, including Lindsey Patterson, who attained 2004 All-American honors in the long jump.

Sam Lapray '87

Assistant Coach
Hurdles/Sprints/Conditioning

Sam Lapray (’87) is entering his eighth year as an assistant with Willamette Track & Field. Sam works specifically with the sprinters and hurdlers while also directing the conditioning program for the jumpers, vaulters, sprinters, and hurdlers. While at Willamette, Lapray was All-Northwest Conference in both football and track. He still holds the #4 all-time 110-hurdle mark at his alma mater. Lapray has overseen a revolution of the sprints and hurdles at Willamette. In recent years, Lapray helped guide the Bearcats to the national meet in the women’s 400 hurdles, 1600 meter relay and men's decathlon. In 2006 the Bearcat women's 1600 meter relay raced to a second place finish at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships earning them All-American status and a school record (3:47.85).

Soren Sorensen

Assistant Coach
Throws

Soren Sorensen begins his eighth year at Willamette, where he oversees the development of the throws group. Sorensen is a 1987 graduate of Western Oregon University, where he competed in track and field and powerlifting. He was a two-time NAIA All-American as he placed fourth in the hammer throw and fifth in the discus in 1987. As a powerlifter, he won a Collegiate National Powerlifting Championship in 1986, and then went on to win a national title as a post-collegiate in 1991. As a coach for the Bearcats, Sorensen’s athletes have been competitive at the conference and national levels.In 2005, Kelsey Stolz, Sophia Dentzel, and Jeff Liepman all represented Willamette at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the javelin, with Stolz earning All-American honors. Sorensen recently guided Nate Matlock to his second All-American award in the hammer throw, and school records in the shot put and hammer throw. In 2006 Sorenson helped Sophia Dentzel to All-American status as she finished 6th at the NCAA Championships.

Tricia Wright

Assistant Coach
Javelin

Tricia Wright is in her sixth year at Willamette University. During that time, she has assisted with the javelin, an event that she won two NCAA Division III titles in while competing for The University of La Verne. She was a three-time All-American in track and field and also a NCAA Division III Volleyball All-American at La Verne before she graduated in 1990. Wright has coached at Utah State, Upper Iowa, Claremont, and most recently at New Mexico State, where she helped build their volleyball program to a strong level. In 2005, Wright instructed javelin throwers Kelsey Stolz, Sophia Dentzel, and Jeff Liepman to their first national meet, where Stolz earned All-American honors. In 2006, she coached Dentzel to a 6th place finish at the NCAA Chamionships and All-American status.