Craig Hunt joined the Mountaineer cross country and track & field programs as an assistant coach in August 2015.
Hunt comes to Western after spending the 2014-15 season as a volunteer assistant coach at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. While with the Antelopes, Hunt helped guide the women’s track & field squad to a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Indoor Championship and the cross country teams to their highest conference finish in program history.
In his short time at GCU, Hunt helped the Lopes record 58 top-10 all-time performances, 19 Academic All-WAC student-athletes, four school records and three all-conference honorees. The men’s and women’s teams also achieved the highest GPA’s at GCU during the 2014-15 academic year.
“What impresses me most about Craig is his enthusiasm and passion for the sport,” said head cross country coach Jennifer Michel. “He has a lot of energy but he’s very mature for being a young coach. He was a volunteer at Grand Canyon and was doing a lot of things above and beyond of what they expected. They were very much appreciative of him and recommended him. When he came up to visit campus, he just impressed everybody he met. He seemed to be a good fit instantly with what we were looking for, and I’m excited to have him join us.”
In the summer of 2013, Hunt completed an internship with STRIVE Trips in Písac, Peru. During his internship, he organized and directed training sessions, plyometric drills, strength and conditioning workouts, injury prevention exercises and informational lectures to American high school athletes. He also volunteered in the local schools and fundraised and constructed a new track surface for the village’s athletic fields.
Hunt was a six-time Northeast Conference (NEC) individual champion and two-time NCAA qualifier while competing for Central Connecticut State University (NCAA Division I) in New Britain. He was a nine-time First Team All-NEC selection and seven-time NEC Athlete of the Week. In his time with the Blue Devils, Hunt was named the 2013 NEC Outstanding Track Performer of the Year during the indoor season and was later tabbed the 2013 NEC Outstanding Performer of the Year in cross country, helping CCSU to their fifth-straight league title. He was also named All-Northeast Region in cross country in 2013.
Hunt also excelled in the classroom, earning NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors for the 2013 cross country season. He was a four-time Dean’s List recipient and three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Team selection.
During his time as a student-athlete, Hunt spent five years working for Fast Track Timing LLC as an assistant timer where he traveled around the East Coast timing and scoring triathlons, road races, cross country and track & field competitions. He also served as a physical education student teacher during the spring of 2014 for Flanders and Hatton Elementary Schools and the Middle School of Plainville.
Hunt earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Central Connecticut State in May 2014.
