Iona University Athletics

Santos Standards
Coach of the Year Honors: 17
	Cross Country Honors
2017	MAAC (Men & Women)
2016	MAAC (Women)
2014	NCAA Northeast Regional (Women)
2013	MAAC (Women)
2012	NCAA Northeast Regional (Men)
	MAAC (Men & Women)
2011	MAAC (Men & Women)
2010	MAAC (Men & Women)
2009	MAAC (Men & Women)
2008	NCAA Northeast Regional (Men)
	MAAC (Men & Women)
Cross Country Championships
Nine NCAA XC Championships Top 10 Finishes (Men - Eight; Women - One) Two Men's Northeast Regional XC Championships  One Women's Northeast Regional XC Championships 10 MAAC XC Championships (Men) Nine MAAC XC Championships (Women)
Individual Awards
38 All-America Honors Three Individual NCAA Champions Leonard Korir - 2011 Indoor 5k Leonard Korir - 2011 Outdoor 10k Kate Avery - 2014 XC 124 MAAC Individual Champions 148 NCAA Qualifiers in Cross Country & Track Five Honorable Mention All-Americans 95 All-East Performers Three former student-athletes as Olympians Anna Baumeister - Team Denmark (2016) Leonard Korir - Team USA (2016) Maya Rehberg - Team Germany (2016)
Program Records Set
Men's Indoor 5000m Men's Outdoor 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10000m Women's Indoor 800m, 1000m, Mile, 3000m Women's Outdoor 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10000m, 3000m Steeplechase
Career Awards
1998 NCAA Division I XC All-American 1996 and 1998 MAAC Cross Country Champion 1998 New York State Collegiate Runner of the Year (voted by New England Runner) 1999 Joseph O'Connell Award Winner 2003 Connecticut Runner of the Year Nine-time All-East Selection 11 MAAC Championship Titles Three-time IC4A Champion 11-time All-MAAC Selection MAAC All-Academic Team 1997-2000

Following his ninth season as head coach of the Iona College men's and women's cross country and track & field programs, Ricardo Santos '00 has continued to lead his alma mater to its "Rich Tradition of Excellence". The former All-American cross country performer for the Maroon & Gold has added to the legacy as its leader, guiding both programs to success at the conference, regional and national levels.

In July 2017, Santos was elevated to the Director of Cross Country and Track & Field for the Maroon & Gold, as announced by Vice President for Athletic Administration Rick Cole. The announcement comes following another successful cross country season in 2016 as well as three All-Americans throughout both indoor and outdoor track & field season.

At the top of the list of accolades for the Gaels under Santos include seven top 10 finishes at the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships. In his first season, Iona was the national runner up in Terre Haute with a second place finish. Following eighth place finishes in 2009 and 2010, a ninth place finish in 2011, a sixth place mark in 2013, fifth in 2015, the Maroon & Gold finished 10th at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

Santos has led the men's program to nine MAAC Championships in cross country and extended the nation's longest active streak to 26 straight, a stretch which also includes his time as a student-athlete. The Gaels won two NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships in 2008 and 2012, earning Santos Regional Coach of the Year honors.

In 2010-11, Iona had one of its most successful campaigns across the cross country, and indoor & outdoor track seasons. Santos led the program to a sixth place finish in the John McDonnell Program of the Year Award standings, honoring the top Division I program in the country.

In addition, the Maroon & Gold was honored as the national team champions in NCAA Division I-AAA cross country in 2009 and 2010 and both indoor track and outdoor track & field in 2011.

The women's program has also seen great success and also won eight MAAC Cross Country Championships in nine seasons under Santos. The program held Division I's longest active conference title streak with 10 straight from 2005-2014 before returning the title to New Rochelle this past fall. The women’s program also reached the top at the 2014 NCAA Northeast Regional on the way to a ninth place finish at the NCAA Championships.

In total, Santos has been responsible for coaching 36 All-Americans, three individual national championship titles (Korir - 2/Avery -1), six IC4A/ECAC champions, 95 All-East performers, 122 MAAC individual champions, a total of 140 NCAA qualifiers in cross country and indoor/outdoor track & field and five honorable mention All-Americans.

Additionally, Santos's programs have had immense success in winning the DI-AAA National Title.  Iona's men cross country program has taken the title in 2009-10, 2010-11, 2013-14, 2015-16, and 2016-17.  The women's cross country team earned the mark in 2014-15.  The Gael men's indoor track & field program earned recognition in 2010-11, and the outdoor team claimed honors in 2010-11 and 2016-17.

Among the many great student-athletes recruited and coached by Santos include:

• Chartt Miller
  • 2017 NCAA Outdoor All-American with a sixth place finish at in the 5,000m.
  • Two-time MAAC Male Student-Athlete of the Year

• Liam Dee
  • Joined his father to become the ninth father/son combination to both run sub-four-minute miles in world history.
  • Earned All-American status during the NCAA Indoor Championships with a seventh place finish in the mile.
• Gilbert Kirui
  • 2017 NCAA Outdoor All-American with a sixth place finish at in the 10,000m at the championship meet.
  • 2015 NCAA Cross Country All-American behind a 20th place finish at the 10k championship course. 
• Leonard Korir
  • Olympic qualifier in 2016, finishing 14th in the 10,000m at the Rio Games. 
  • A two-time NCAA champion and Iona's first-ever national champion
  • Korir Won the 2011 NCAA Indoor 5k event in an Iona record time of 13:26.01 and the 2011 NCAA Outdoor 10k event.
  • An eight-time All-American, he finished sixth and eighth in the indoor 3k in 2011 and 2012, sixth in the indoor 5k in 2012 and third in the outdoor 5k in 2011.
  • Korir is Iona's record holder in the outdoor 10k with his time of 27:29.40.
  • In cross country, he finished fourth and third in back-to-back events in 2010 and 2011 at the NCAA Championship.
• Rosie Clark
  • School record holder in the indoor 800m and mile as well as the outdoor 1500m.
  • Finished fourth in the mile at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships as well as 13th in the 1500m.
• Kate Avery
  • In 2014, Avery reached the highest honor ever achieved by a Iona female runner by claiming the NCAA Championship Individual Title at the Cross Country Championships. 
  • In her first season with Iona, Avery finished third at the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the highest finish at that point for a women's performer at Iona.
  • Shattered Iona records in the indoor mile and 3k, and outdoor 5k and 10k.
  • Avery placed ninth in the 3k at the NCAA Indoor Championships and eighth in the 5k NCAA Outdoor Championships to become the first Iona women's athlete to earn three All-American honors in a single year.
  • Two-time MAAC Champion in 2013 and 2014 and set a meet record with her time in the 2014 event.
  • The first-ever Iona performer to be named the MAAC Female Student-Athlete of the Yea
• Andrew Ledwith
  • Led with finished third at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
  • He was first at the 2009 IC4A Championship 10k in meet record time and went on to finish fifth at the 2009 Outdoor NCAA Championship at the same distance. Mohamed Khadraoui
  • Earned a sixth place finish at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championship and was the NCAA Northeast Regional champion in the same year, earning Northeast Regional Athlete of the Year.
  • He was the 2009 Indoor IC4A 5k champion.
• Heidi Gregson
  • Finished 10th in the NCAA indoor mile and qualified for the outdoor 1,500m in 2010 while also qualifying for the indoor mile in 2012
  • Gregson owns the Iona record in the outdoor 800m, 1,500m, and mile.
• Mitch Goose
  • A four-time All-American and school record holder in the outdoor 5k with a time of 13:34.41.
• Anna Holm-Jorgensen
  • Qualified individually for the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
  • Competed for Team Belgium in the 2016 Rio Olympics
• Hollie Rowland
  • Qualified individually for the 2011 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
• Maya Rehberg
  • 2014 outdoor NCAA All-American in 3000m steeplechase, placing in ninth place
  • Is the school record holder in the 3000m steeplechase

The Gaels rise on the national level is directly correlated to Santos arrival on the New Rochelle campus in 1995 under the direction of former head coach Mick Byrne. By the time of his senior season in 1998, the Maroon & Gold had reached the NCAA Championship in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. As a freshman, the squad earned a fourth place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regionals, just missing an at-large bid to the NCAAs. After the 1996 squad was forced out of competition at regionals due to injuries and illness, the 1997 squad finished second in the Northeast and 13th at the national championship. In his senior year, Santos led the Gaels by finishing second overall in the Northeast event en route to a third place finish and an at-large bid to nationals. In 1998, he earned the second of 21 Iona Cross Country All-American honors in its history as the team finished 23rd overall at the NCAA Championship. Since that season, the Gaels have earned an automatic bid with a first or second place finish at regionals in all 13 of 14 seasons which it competed in the event.

Santos' cross country team earned four straight MAAC Championships while he took home two individual titles in 1996 and 1998. He is one of six competitors to win multiple MAAC Championships, all of them being fellow Gaels. In 1999, the three-time team captain earned the Joseph O’Connell Award as Iona College’s top senior student-athlete. In addition to his prominence in cross country, Santos earned nine individual MAAC Championships in indoor and outdoor track, three IC4A Championships and was a nine-time All-East selection. His IC4A titles came in the indoor 5k in '97, and the indoor 3k and outdoor 5k in 1998.

Upon the completion of his eligibility in the 2000 outdoor track season, Santos became a part-time assistant coach at Iona where he worked with the both the cross country and track programs. During the four years Santos coached at Iona, the Gaels consistently finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships including a fourth-place performance in 2003. It marked the first national team trophy in school history for any sport. He worked directly with coach Byrne, the 1999, 2002 and 2003 Northeast Coach of the Year, and assisted coaching the men’s cross country team to their 14th-consecutive MAAC Championship and the women’s cross country team to their first ever conference championship. During his tenure at Iona, he helped coach 16 individual qualifiers to the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships and was part of 11 All-America performances in the distance events.

In addition to his role at Iona, Santos continued to compete and finished in the Top 12 at the Canadian Cross Country Nationals twice. He also worked at All Hallows High School as a guidance counselor and earned a Master’s of Social Work from Columbia University in 2001.

Santos returned to his alma mater in August 2008 after serving as an assistant coach at Harvard University. Santos joined the Harvard cross country and track and field program in 2005 as a coaching assistant and worked primarily with the distance squad. In July of 2006, he was elevated to a full time position working directly under Crimson head coach and former Iona assistant, Jason Saretsky with the middle distance and distance squads. Santos also served as the primary recruiting coordinator for the Harvard squads. In Cambridge, two of his recruits went on to earn All-Region honors with Top 25 finishes at the NCAA Northeast Regional. Harvard’s distance squad under Santos and Saretsky, posted 17 ECAC/IC4A qualifying marks indoors and six outdoor during the 2007-08 season, almost doubling the qualifiers from the previous season.

Santos is a 2000 graduate of Iona College where he earned All-America honors in cross country. Santos was a three-time IC4A Champion, a nine time All-East honoree and an 11-time MAAC Champion and All-MAAC recipient. He was also an All-MAAC academic team member.

Santos is a certified USA Track and Field Level I coach. He holds a bachelor’s of science in social work from Iona in 2000 along with his master's degree from Columbia in which he earned in 2001.

Updated 12/4/17