The William & Mary Athletics Department is saddened to announce the recent passing of Hall of Fame cross country and track & field coach Harry Groves. Groves first came to W&M as an assistant coach in 1955, earning promotion to head coach in 1956 and leading the Tribe to national prominence until his departure in 1968. Groves passed away on Sunday, Feb. 23, at the age of 89. Funeral services are pending.
During his 13 years in Williamsburg, Groves helped raise W&M's level in cross country and track & field to one of national significance. The Tribe won its first Southern Conference championship in cross country in his first and only season as assistant coach, 1955, and then won six more in 1956, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1966, and 1967. That 1966 title kicked off a streak of 10-straight conference titles for W&M in cross country. The Green and Gold also swept the Southern Conference indoor and outdoor championships in 1957, before winning the outdoor title again in 1958. After a decade of close finishes but no more championships, W&M began one of the more remarkable streaks in NCAA history with the 1966 indoor championships. That win began a streak of 30-straight Southern Conference Championships across cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field, including nine-straight years of "Triple Crowns," sweeping all three championships in a single school year.
Groves' time in Williamsburg saw him coach several veritable legends. That included his successor as head coach, John Randolph '64, who would go on to a legendary coaching career himself before returning to Williamsburg as the Director of Athletics in 1985. Groves also coached W&M Hall of Famers Warren Joblin '60, Randy Hawthorne '67, Bob DeTombe '59 Terry Donnelly '68, Walt Fillman '58, Jim Johnson '66, and began the careers of Hal Michael '71, Mike Fratkin '71, Juris Luzins '70, and Charles Strode '72. Three teams made the NCAA Championships in cross country, and the Tribe had three more years where an individual represented W&M at the national meet. Indoors, Jim Johnson finished fifth in the mile in 1965 and Terry Donnelly was fourth in that event in 1968, and Juris Luzins was fifth in the 880y run in 1968 as well. Under the rules of the era, however, only the top three finishers earned All-America honors. Outdoors, Donnelly would break through with a silver-medal race in the 3,000m steeplechase in 1968, one of seven men to make the national meet that year. Perhaps one of Groves' most enduring legacy to W&M track & field was the founding of the Colonial Relays in 1963, a meet that continues to this day and will be run April 2-4, at Zable Stadium and the Stimson Throwing Events Area.
After leaving W&M following the 1967-68 school year, Groves went on to Penn State, where he coached the Nittany Lions for 38 years until his retirement in 2006. At Penn State, he was named National Coach of the Year five times and Regional Coach of the Year 26 times. He coached a grand total of 21 national champions, 14 Olympians, and 227 All-Americans, and was also a coach for Team USA for 12 events. That included serving as the alternate head coach for USA Track & Field at the 1992 Olympics, and head coach for the 1995 World Championships team. Among the athletes he coached at Penn State was Stephen Walsh, who would go on to serve as W&M's head distance coach in 2010-11 and Director of Track & Field and Cross Country from 2011-16.
Groves has been inducted into the W&M Hall of Fame, the Drake Relays Hall of Fame, and the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame. The USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year award is named in his honor. Groves was the meet director for the NCAA Indoor Championships from 1987-1993, and has been a member of the USAT&F coaching staff selection committee for the Olympic, World, and Pan-Am Games since 1996.
