Gavin Kennedy returns for his fourth season on the men's and women's cross country/track and field staff and second year as associate head coach of the program. Kennedy's responsibilities include assisting in all aspects of the program including recruiting and training.
In his first season (2008-09), Kennedy helped coach the Gaels to a second-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute. Two All-Americans were produced in the race as seniors Andrew Ledwith and Mohamed Khadraoui finished third and sixth overall. The spring season saw additional success for Kennedy and the Gaels as two more All-Americans were crowned. Ledwith earned his second of the season in the 10k outdoor with his fifth place finish. Red shirt freshman Ryan Sheridan was named to the top honor in the 5k outdoor event.
In 2009-10, the men's cross country team posted an eighth place finish at the NCAA Championship in Terre Haute. Sheridan earned his second All-America honor by finishing 12th individually while teammate Alex Soderberg also earned the distinction with his 35th place finish. The women's cross country squad earned a MAAC title and finished fourth overall at the Northeast Regionals, the second highest finish in program history. Anna Holm-Joergensen earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship race with her third place individual finish at Regionals. On the track in the winter and spring, Heidi Gregson earned a bid into the NCAA Championships in the indoor mile and the outdoor 1,500-meter events. She advanced to the finals in the mile in Fayetteville, AR and competed in the semifinals of the 1500 in Eugene, OR.
This past season was a banner year for the Gaels as the program finished sixth overall in the 2010-11 USTFCCCA Division I Program of the Year standings. The men’s cross country team ran its streak to nine straight Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championship. Junior Leonard Korir was fourth in the event individually, earning the second highest finish in school history. En route to nationals, Iona earned its 20th straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, extending the nation’s second longest active streak in NCAA Division I. The squad also earned its ninth straight Top 2 finish at the NCAA North East Regional Championship. The women’s cross country program earned its conference record sixth-straight MAAC title with Gregson taking the individual crown. The indoor track season was highlighted by a 16th place team finish at nationals spurred on by Korir’s NCAA Championship in the 5k. He broke the NCAA meet record with his time of 13:26.01. It was the first time an Iona College student-athlete earned a national championship. Korir continued his success in the outdoor season shattering Iona’s 10k record 27:29.40 during the regular season at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational en route to his second NCAA championship of the year in the outdoor 10k. Less than 24 hours later he earned his Iona record fifth All-American honor with a third place performance in the 5k event. As a team, the Gaels matched their indoor performance in 16th place. Iona was one of 15 Division I programs to score at all three NCAA Championships in 2010-11/.
Kennedy came to Iona with an extensive background as both a distance performer and an assistant coach, having served in both capacities at his alma mater DePaul. He was also an assistant at Northwestern University and Saint Louis.
Kennedy joined the staff at Saint Louis after the 2007 cross country season and worked primarily with the men's and women's distance and middle distance track athletes. Before his one-year stint with the Northwestern women's cross country squad, Kennedy coached for two seasons at DePaul, his alma mater. His experience with the Blue Demons included assisting with travel, community service and training. Kennedy coached DePaul's Jakub Kolacz to the top junior 10K time in the nation in 2007.
During his time as an undergrad at DePaul, Kennedy served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and on the DePaul University Captains' Council. Kennedy broke the two oldest records in DePaul history in the events of indoor mile and outdoor 1,500 meters. For his efforts, Kennedy was named MVP of the men's indoor track team in both 2004 and 2005 and was named to the all-conference team in all four of his years on the team.
As a student-athlete at DePaul, Kennedy effectively balanced academics with athletics. He broke the school's two oldest records in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500 meters. Kennedy twice earned the team's indoor track MVP award, and he was on All-Conference USA teams for track and cross country. In addition, he was named to Conference USA's All-Academic Team in 2005 and the BIG EAST's All-Academic squad as a senior in 2006.
As a competitor on the professional track and field circuit, Kennedy has been ranked in the top 15 in his native Ireland in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500 meters. In 2004 he ranked No. 5 for the indoor mile, improving the standing to No. 4 the following year.
Kennedy earned a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from DePaul in 2006 and will pursue a Master's Degree in Higher Education Administration at Iona. Kennedy is a USTFCCA certified endurance coach.
