Jeff DeLong
Head Coach (Men's and Women's Track and Field/Cross Country)
2nd Season

Bearcat Head Coach Jeff DeLong enters the 2006-07 season as his second at the helm of the men's and women's cross country and track programs.  Before assuming the head coach role, DeLong also spent a year at SBU as the assistant track coach, primarily working with the middle distance and sprint athletes in the 2004-2005 season.

In a two year span, DeLong's athletes have amassed 30 All-MIAA awards, one NCAA All-American certificate, 9 academic All-American honors, and six MIAA championships in relays/individual events. 

During the 2005 season, DeLong guided T. Jay Sanderson to a fourth place finish in the mile run at the NCAA Indoor Championships to garner All-American honors, only the second athlete in Bearcat men's history to do so.  Sanderson also won MIAA titles in the indoor mile, outdoor 1500m, and the indoor distance medley relay that season.

DeLong's athletes have also re-written the SBU record book in 39 different events between the 2005 and 2006 track seasons. 

In keeping with a tradition of academic excellence from the Bearcat cross country/track squads, DeLong's women's cross country team posted the third highest GPA in the nation in NCAA Division II in the fall of 2005 en route to their fifth straight selection to team academic All-American status.  The men also claimed their fifth straight national academic honor.

Prior to arriving in Bolivar, DeLong spent three years competing for the Nike Farm Team, an Olympic training group located at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.  DeLong finished 5th at the 2002 U.S. Outdoor National Championship, and finished that year ranked 56th in the world with his personal best time of 1:46.23.  DeLong also was an Olympic Trials semi-finalist in the 800m during the 2004 season.

As a collegiate competitor, DeLong twice earned NCAA Division I All-American honors in the 800m while running for Central Michigan University.  He also finished 8th in the U.S. Outdoor National Championships as a senior, and won two Mid-American Conference titles in the 800m run.  He still holds the indoor (1:48.32) and outdoor (1:47.70) school records for the Chippewas.

Coach DeLong and his wife, Sarah, reside in Bolivar.