Alex Heacock '09 was promoted to W&M's Director of Track & Field and Cross Country in June of 2017, and has continued the Tribe's proud tradition of success. Heacock is the first W&M alumni to hold the leadership of either the men's or women's team since John Randolph '64 was the men's head coach from 1968-76, and the fifth overall joining Randolph, Lou Hoitsma '48 (1949-51), Joseph C. "Scrap" Chandler '24 (1924-41), and Fred Crawford '10 (1909-10).
Heacock moved into the Directorship on an interim basis in the summer of 2016 before his confirmation the following year, and has been on the staff at his alma mater since being hired as the assistant coach for throwing in 2014. Over his five-plus year tenure, he has recruited and coached a bright new generation of Tribe throwers, accounting for seven of the 12 freshman record-holders, eight of 12 school-record holders, and 29 of the 60 total top-five spots in the W&M record books.
Since taking over the leadership role of the whole program, Heacock has wasted no time assembling a staff that is in the process of elevating the Tribe back to a position of leadership in the Colonial Athletic Association and regional and national prominence. W&M has qualified at least nine athletes to the NCAA Eastern Preliminaries each of the last three years, and has had seven NCAA finals qualifiers outdoors in that same span.
W&M has also been among the league leaders in the classroom, earning the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic team honors 13 times since the start of the 2016-17 school year. The men's outdoor track & field team was honored for having the best GPA in the CAA in both 2018 and 2019, while the women's track & field team led the league in both 2017 and 2019. Individually, 140 athletes have earned the W&M Provost's Award over the last four years, given for achieving a GPA over 3.5.
Individual honors in competition abound over the last three-plus years as well. Heacock's charges have combined to win 16 CAA Athlete of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Championships Most Outstanding Athlete Honors, as well as 35 total NCAA Championships qualifications and 33 CAA event championships. The Tribe's athletes have also earned eight All-America honors, 39 All-East honors outdoors, 62 All-East honors indoors, and 36 All-CAA awards in cross country. Under Heacock's supervision, W&M's coaches have added six CAA Cross Country Coach of the Year awards also.
On the team level, W&M's achievements have also been impressive. The cross country squads have combined for six of eight CAA Championships won since the fall of 2016, including all four men's cross country championships. The Tribe men have won 20 consecutive conference titles, the second-longest active streak in the NCAA and one of just four championship-streaks of 20+ years ever in NCAA Division I history. The women's track & field team have finished top-20 at the ECAC Championships (both indoors and outdoors) in five of six seasons, while the men have been top-10 five times in that same span including a program-best third outdoors in both 2018 and 2019.
| W&M All-Americans Under Heacock |
| 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships (Assistant Coach) |
| Bob Smutsky (So.) |
Javelin Throw (2nd Team) |
| 2016 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships (Assistant Coach) |
| Brian Waterfield (Gr.) |
Weight Throw (2nd Team) |
| 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships (Director) |
| Leia Mistowski (Jr.) |
Hammer Throw (HM) |
| Tucker Rizzi (Sr.) |
Javelin Throw (HM) |
| Regan Rome (Jr.) |
10,000m Run (1st Team)
5,000m Run (HM) |
| 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships (Director) |
| Leia Mistowski (Sr.) |
Hammer Throw (2nd Team) |
| 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships (Director) |
| KJ Cook (So.) |
Discus Throw (HM) |
| Ryan McGorty (Sr.) |
1,500m Run (HM) |
| Miles Owens (So.) |
800m Run (HM) |
The short list of Heacock's most successful athletes includes Taylor Frenia, who in 2017 was the CAA Athlete of the Year for men's track & field, and the Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the conference championships. That year, he swept all three of the heavy throws at the conference meet (the shot put, discus, and the hammer throw), becoming just the second thrower to ever achieve that triple and the first since 1992. Frenia graduated as W&M's school record-holder in both the indoor and outdoor shot put and the discus, resetting marks that had stood since the 1970s in all three events. In 2019, KJ Cook became W&M's first outdoor throws All-American in something other than the javelin, advancing to the national finals in the discus and earning Honorable-Mention All-America honors. Just a sophomore, Cook was also the first man in school and CAA history to qualify for the NCAA Championships in three different events in the same season (making the Eastern Semifinals in the shot put, hammer, and the discus), and was named both the CAA Field Athlete of the Year and the Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the Championships.
On the women's side, Leia Mistowski finished her four years as one of the all-time greatest athletes not just at W&M, but in conference history. She was the CAA Champion in the hammer throw all four years, setting conference records both as a junior and a senior, and was a two-time All-American, improving from 22nd in the nation as a junior to 12th as a senior. Mistowski was the CAA Athlete of the Year and Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the Championships as a senior, and graduated as W&M's school record-holder in both the hammer throw and the weight throw. In 2019, Chelsea Wallace broke out as a freshman to break W&M's all-time record in the discus, qualifying for the NCAA Semifinals and finishing second both at the CAA Championships and the ECAc Championships in that event. She went on to finish third at the USAT&F U20 Junior National Championships that summer as well.
Heacock had been W&M's assistant coach for throws from 2014-16, helping lead that portion of the program to its highest level in school history. As a result of his efforts, in 2016 he was named the USTFCCCA Men's Indoor Assistant of the Year for the Southeast Region. That season, he coached Brian Waterfield '15 to second-team All-America honors in the weight throw, the first time a Tribe men's thrower had ever qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
In 2014-15, his athletes won six of the eight throwing titles at the CAA Championships, including a sweep of all four men's throws. Derek Trott was named the CAA Rookie of the Year after winning the conference title in the javelin, and Bob Smutsky went on to finish 15th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the javelin for second-team All-America honors. The following year, 2015-16, in addition to Waterfield's heroics in the weight throw indoors, the Tribe won four CAA titles outdoors, sweeping the men's and women's hammer throw for the second year in a row. Waterfield would also win the IC4A Championship in the hammer and was named a Third-Team Academic All-America and the CAA Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year across every sport.
Heacock returned to Williamsburg in 2014 after five years of coaching in Division III. His last two years he'd been an assistant coach at Christopher Newport University, where he helped lead his Captains to six conference team titles out of eight possible. Heacock's throwers combined for 12 indoor and 19 outdoor all-conference honors, and 17 new entries in the school's all-time top-10 lists. Heacock also helped coach the team's multi-athletes, including NCAA decathlon champion Richard Roethel.
Before coming to Virginia, Heacock spent three years coaching in the Chicago area. Right after graduating he spent the 2009-10 season at North Park University, coaching athletes to four school records in just one year. His athletes included a conference-champion and NCAA All-American in the men's javelin, as well as NCAA provisional qualifiers in the men's discus and the heptathlon. He also helped in the academic support office, overseeing study halls and the academic progress of the student-athletes.
From 2010-12, Heacock was an assistant coach at Benedictine University, and was also the athletics facilities manager his second year. Heacock's athletes won seven conference titles and two NCAA provisional qualifications, and also earned three NAC Conference Field Athlete of the Championships awards. While coaching and managing the university's outdoor sports complex, he also founded the Chicagoland Summer Throws Series in 2011, a series of three "throws-only" track and field meets that attracts athletes from high school all the way up to professionals.
Heacock was a member of the Tribe track and field teams from 2005-09, and won the CAA javelin title in 2007. He was also the runner-up in 2008 and third as a freshman. He qualified for the IC4A Championships in both 2007 and 2008, and was an NCAA East Region qualifier in 2007. He was the seventh-ranked javelin thrower in school history when he graduated in 2009 with a degree in kinesiology, and still ranks 10th all-time.
Heacock is certified as a USATF Level I coach, and was invited to the 2011 Emerging Elites Coaches' Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. He is also holds a Throws Coach Certification from the World Athletics Center. Heacock is married to his wife, Ashley, a 2008 graduate of W&M who works a campaign manager and fundraiser for a member of the U.S. Congress. The two live in Williamsburg with their three daughters, Hannah, Sarah, and Mary Grace.
