6/18/2024 2:00:00 PM

Mary Nolte Named Head Cross-Country And Track & Field Coach

Both programs will start their varsity season in 2025-26

CHESTERTOWN, Md.- Washington College Director of Athletics Thad Moore has named Mary Nolte the Head Coach for both the Cross-Country and Track & Field programs, both are to become varsity sports for the 2025-26 school year.

Nolte, a Maryland native, comes to Washington from Williams College where she served as Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Coach for Men's and Women's Cross-Country and Track & Field since 2021.

"Thank you to Athletics Director Thad Moore and the rest of the search committee for trusting me with this responsibility and making me feel so welcome," Nolte said. "And thank you to the many great coaches, student-athletes, friends, and family who have supported me over the years and encouraged me to take this next step."

During her three years at Williams, the Ephs swept the NESCAC and Mideast Region team titles in cross-country (2021, 2022, and 2023), earned three NCAA team podium finishes, (XC 2021, T&F 2022, XC 2023), and collected numerous individual accolades, including three national titles, two DIII national records, and 38 First-Team All-American honors.

In 2023, Nolte was named the NCAA Mideast Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

"We couldn't be happier to welcome Mary to our department," expresses Moore. "Her vision on how to restart our cross country and track and field teams is inspiring. As a former Division III athlete herself and current assistant coach, her passion for the full Division III experience really stood out to us. We are looking forward to working together with Mary to both build our rosters and our new facilities."

Prior to her time at Williams, Nolte spent several years in the Centennial Conference. She earned a bachelor's degree in English and Education from Dickinson College in 2013, a master's degree in Kinesiology from McDaniel College in 2021, and completed coaching stints at both schools.

As a graduate assistant at McDaniel (2019-2020), Nolte coached the long sprints, mid-distance, and relay events. Though the outdoor season was canceled due to COVID-19, her athletes had a strong showing indoors, scoring Conference points in the 200m, 400m, mile, and distance medley relay, and earning medals in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. In addition to coaching, Nolte served on the athletic department's Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and she remains connected to the graduate program as an adjunct instructor in Sports Psychology.

At Dickinson, Nolte served as an Assistant Coach (2014-2017), Assistant Director of Admissions (2017-2019), and the Admissions / Athletics Liaison (2020-2021). During her time with the team, the Red Devils found great success: she worked with 20 NCAA qualifiers, nine All-Americans, 35 individual Centennial Conference champions, and four conference champion relay teams. Both the men's and women's teams consistently finished top-three in the conference in both cross country and track & field, and finished as high as 11th (women) and 12th (men) at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships.

While working in admissions, Nolte facilitated athletic recruitment for 18 varsity teams, oversaw Dickinson's student volunteer ambassador program, and served on the Resiliency Working Group Committee, created to support students' mental and emotional well-being during their transition to college.

As a student-athlete, Nolte was a four-year varsity member and two-year captain of Dickinson's cross country and track & field teams. She was a First-Team All-Centennial Conference and All-Mideast Region athlete, and an NCAA National Qualifier in both cross country and track & field (1500 meters). An accomplished student, she earned USTFCCCA National All-Academic honors in 2012 and 2013, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa honor society her senior year, and received the Lloyd W. Hughes Scholar-Athlete award for graduating with the highest GPA of all student-athletes at Dickinson.

In addition to her bachelor's and master's degrees, Nolte holds the USTFCCCA Track & Field Technical Certification, the Return on Inclusion Inclusive Leadership Certificate, and is a Class #52 graduate of the NCAA Women's Coaches Academy.

"I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this new beginning for cross-country and track & field at WAC," says Nolte. " There seems to be a lot of excitement already from the campus community, and I see so much potential to build something really special here! I'm excited to be back home in Maryland and back in the Centennial Conference, and I look forward to getting started soon!"

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