Matt Gutridge begins his sixth year with the Tribe cross country and track and field programs in 2016-17, and has been responsible for a renaissance of the long sprint and middle distance groups. In addition to helping coach the cross country teams and handle travel arrangements for all teams, Gutridge is also primarily responsible for coaching athletes between the distances of 400m (including hurdles) and 1,000m.
Over the last six years, W&M has seen significant progress in both the hurdles and the relays, corresponding to a rise in the team's fortunes at CAA and IC4A/ECAC Championships. In 2016, Dylan Anderson was the surprise winner in the CAA 400m hurdles, a first for the Tribe men since 2000, and earlier in the year he also became the first hurdler since 1999 to break 15 seconds in the 110m hurdles. As a freshman in 2015, Anderson also broke W&M's freshman record in the 60m hurdles indoors. The men's 4x400m relay, which included Troy Sevachko and Jomar Aryee, ran 3:21.87 in 2016, the fastest performance since 2003.
On the women's side, in 2015 the Tribe won its first-ever ECAC relay, taking the indoor DMR with a school-record time of 11:38.50. That's been matched by a chipping-away at the 4x400m records, which saw two of the three fastest times ever at successive CAA Championships in 2015 and 2016. Individually, Breanna Brukalo and Ashley Woodards have both tied for the school record in the 400m hurdles at 1:01.11, with Woodards adding a CAA title in the event in 2014 and a runner-up finish in 2015. Claire Tito followed up a spectacular 500m dash indoors in 2014 with consecutive all-conference finishes outdoors at 800m in 2014 and 2015, and Kacey Wheeler has gotten her career off to a strong start, and already ranks as the third-fastest woman in school history in the 400m dash.
Before coming to W&M, Gutridge spent three years coaching cross country and track and field and teaching English at Grafton High School in nearby Yorktown, Virginia, leading the Clippers to the VHSL Boys AA State Championship in 2011, the first state title in any boys sport for the school. Gutridge directly trained the distance, middle-distance, and hurdling athletes, and his charges responding by earning four individual and one relay state title during his tenure. In 2010, Grafton's distance medley relay ran 10:09.40 to take seventh at the Nike Indoor Nationals, and 10:15.38 that spring to finish fourth at the world-renowned Penn Relays.
Gutridge graduated from Virginia in 2007 with a degree in English, and also completed his Masters of Teaching degree that same year from UVA's Curry School of Education. With the Cavaliers, he ran under former W&M great Jason Dunn '96 and helped UVA to a pair of ACC Championships in cross country and three NCAA Championships appearances. On the track, Gutridge was a regular on Virginia's ACC meet squad in the distance races, and qualified for the IC4A Championships as well. Gutridge lives in Williamsburg with his wife, Melissa, and son, Henry.
