WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Today William & Mary announced the hiring of Adam Smith as its new Director of Track & Field and Cross Country.  Currently Smith is the Associate Head Coach for Cross Country and Assistant Track & Field Coach for Distance at Ole Miss, where his runners have won numerous team and individual honors.
 
"We are tremendously excited about hiring Adam to lead our Track & Field and Cross Country programs.  From his days as a championship distance runner at the University of North Carolina to coaching title winners at his alma mater, then coaching at Syracuse and finally at Ole Miss, it's obvious that he knows how to win and he has done it at the highest levels," said Brian D. Mann, Director of Athletics. "In talking with Adam it was abundantly clear that he sees the opportunity at William & Mary as a chance to pilot a very strong program with great promise and such talented student-athletes, while taking them to new heights."
 
"William & Mary is an historic place that I've paid a lot of attention to, both as an athlete and a coach," said Smith, "and I'm very happy to have the chance to make Track & Field and Cross Country into a national championship caliber program.  "I want to say thank you to Mr. Mann, Coach Heacock, and the William & Mary administration for putting their trust in me to lead this prestigious program.  Our values and determination to win and do it the right way will lead to a successful future for the programs."
 
Smith began his tenure at Ole Miss in 2022 and his teams have consistently been counted among the country's best programs.  Since his arrival, the cross country team has had three NCAA Top 25 team finishes, three NCAA team berths and 18 NCAA All-South Region runners, plus 13 All-SEC runners and 1 SEC Newcomer of the year, plus two SEC Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
 
The Ole Miss T&F team has had two NCAA Top 25 team finishes, 1 NCAA Outdoor Top 25 team finish and 1 NCAA Indoor Top 25 team finish.  Seven of his runners were named First Team All-Americans; two were NCAA Outdoor First Team All-Americans and five were NCAA Indoor First-Team All-Americans.  He also had 12 SEC medalists, two SEC Champions and two SEC Outdoor Champions.
 
While at Syracuse from 2012-18, Smith helped the Orange cross country team attain eight NCAA Top 25 finishes that resulted in a national title in 2015.  During that time, the school won six consecutive men's conference titles and Smith coached five individual conference champions.  On the track, he had eight ACC Champions and the first conference team title since 1992 with a men's win indoors.
 
Smith begin his coaching career at his alma mater North Carolina in 2010 as a volunteer assistant coach.  He was promoted to an assistant coach for track in 2012 .  During the two-year span, the UNC women finished in 14^th place in the national cross country competition and the 800m women's team won two ACC titles.
 
Outside of college coaching, in 2018 Smith helped found the Reebok Boston Track Club with former Syracuse head coach Chris Fox.  There he coached Olympians Justyn Knight (Canada) and Amy-Eloise Markovc (United Kingdom,) as well as several other notable professional distance runners.
 
Smith is replacing longtime Tribe T&F and Cross Country Director Alex Heacock '09, who recently transitioned into Athletics Advancement as an Assistant Athletics Director.  "Alex is definitely someone I will lean on for guidance and friendship," he said.
 
Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, graduated in 2010 from the University of North Carolina with a bachelor's degree in history with a minor in coaching education. There he competed in cross country and track, twice earning All-ACC scorer honors, first as the ACC runner-up in the 800m and then on the distance medley relay indoors team which claimed the conference title in 2009.  He was team captain during his junior and senior years and a Carolina Leadership Academy 3DL Award Winner.
 
Accompanying Smith to William & Mary will be his wife Brenna and three-year-old daughter Parker.  "We are very much looking forward to living in Williamsburg.  Most of our family will be within four hours of us so our daughter will be able to see her grandparents and cousins more!"
 
Smith begins his tenure at William & Mary July 25.