Emerson brings head coaching experience after guiding the NEC program the previous year                                      

RINDGE, N.H. (October 13, 2011) – Franklin Pierce University Vice President/Director of Athletics Bruce Kirsh announced on Thursday that Zach Emerson has been named the new head coach of the men's and women's track & field and cross country programs. Emerson will officially begin his duties on Oct. 24.

Franklin Pierce is sponsoring the sport of track & field for the first time in school history, while also reinstituting the sport of men's cross country to compete alongside the current women's cross country program. The Ravens will begin competition during the 2012-13 season and will practice outdoor track at the Conant High School track facility (approx. 5 miles north of campus in Jaffrey). The team will practice indoors at the Northfield Activities Center on the Rindge campus.

"I believe Zach Emerson will do a great job in building our track & field and cross country programs here at Franklin Pierce," Kirsh said. "He has head coaching experience at both the high school and college levels and has produced outstanding results during that time. I think he will do a great job in relating to our student-athletes and will help make their educational experience a great one here at Franklin Pierce."

Emerson comes to Franklin Pierce after spending the previous season in the same capacity at New England College. Last season Emerson led the men's cross country program to a fifth place finish in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Championship meet and guided two individuals to TCCC All-Conference honors in the process. The women's team competed in five races, highlighted by a fifth place showing in the Williams College Meet. The 2010 cross-country team also produced five TCCC All-Academic award winners and had the second highest GPA of any team at New England College for the entire school year.

The men's outdoor track and field team finished with a third place showing at the TCCC Championship Meet with eleven top-three individual finishers, as well as individual conference titles in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m runs.

Emerson came to NEC after serving three seasons as the head coach of both the boy's cross-country and track programs at Concord High School.  Emerson made a tremendous impact while at Concord High School leading the cross-country team to the 2009 Manchester Invitational Championship large school division and qualifying for the New England Championships in 2009.  In addition to his success in cross-country Zach led the Tide to back-to-back state championships in the 4x800m relay, as well as individual class state champions and medalists in every event from the 400m and up.

"I'm really looking forward to the opportunity and challenge of building a track & field program from the ground up here at Franklin Pierce," Emerson said. "Franklin Pierce has so much to offer to a prospective student-athlete and I really believe that this will be a program that young people everywhere will want to be a part of both academically and athletically."

Emerson was a four-year member of both the cross-country and track teams at Division I Mount St. Mary's University.  While at Mount St. Mary's, Zach was a multiple conference champion and qualified for the NCAA Regional in the steeplechase.  Zach finished his career leaving a mark on the school's all-time record list in the 3000m, 5000m, distance medley relay and the 3000m steeplechase. Emerson graduated from the school in 2007 with a degree in Science Information Systems and is a USATF level 1 certified coach and appears on the USATF coaches' registry list.

For more information on Franklin Pierce track & field and cross country, please visit those teams' pages at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the programs even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).