Brett Hull is in his 22nd season as head coach of the Hamilton College men's cross country and track & field programs. Hull guided Peter Kosgei '11 to eight NCAA individual titles and eight All-America awards in track & field from 2007 to 2009. In 2009, Kosgei defended his 2008 victory in the mile at the NCAA indoor meet, and repeated his wins in the steeplechase and 5,000-meter run at the outdoor championships. He also won the steeplechase in 2007 and the indoor 800 meters in 2008. Kosgei was selected the Division III men's outdoor track athlete of the year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in 2008 and 2009. TiDelco Ductan '09 qualified for the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships in the triple jump.
Sixteen of Hull's athletes have earned a total of 31 NESCAC all-conference outdoor honors based on their performance at the conference championship meet since 2001. Kosgei was voted the most outstanding male performer at the 2008 and 2009 NESCAC Championships. James Russell '09 won four straight NESCAC titles in the pole vault from 2006 to 2009. Olamide Harrison '05 collected five all-NESCAC awards in sprints and relays. Graham Sadler '14 made the NESCAC all-conference team for finishing first in the high jump at the 2012 conference championships. Scott Bickard '11 was NESCAC all-conference for finishing second in the 10,000-meter run at the 2011 meet.
Hull's track and field athletes earned four New York State Collegiate Track Conference (NYSCTC) all-conference honors and Sadler was Eastern College Athletic Conference indoor all-conference for the high jump in 2012. Hull has guided 90 indoor and outdoor individual conference champions at Hamilton. A total of 32 school records have been broken or tied since Hull arrived in 1991.
Academic excellence is also important to Hull. Seven student-athletes made the NESCAC winter and spring all-academic teams last season. Each honoree has a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.35 and must have reached sophomore academic standing at his institution.
Hull is a USATF Level I and Level II certified coach. Overall, he has developed 15 All-Americans, including national champions in the 800, 1,500 and 5,000 meters, the mile and the steeplechase. Hull was the head cross country and track & field coach at SUNY Cortland and SUNY Plattsburgh before he arrived at Hamilton. He was named the SUNYAC coach of the year while at Cortland in 1985-86.
Hull received bachelor's and master's degrees from Frostburg State University in Maryland. He resides in New Hartford with his wife Ellen, who is Hamilton's head women's cross country and track & field coach. They have two daughters -- Emily and Juliet.
Steve Bellona is in his 16th season as an assistant coach at Hamilton College. Bellona was a middle distance coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy prior to arriving at Hamilton. He was inducted into the Coast Guard Academy Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.
Bellona coaches the men's middle-distance and distance runners. Peter Kosgei '11 finished first eight times at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships and earned eight All-America awards in track and field under Bellona's guidance. Kosgei won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Division III Outdoor Championships. He added titles in the 5,000-meter run in 2008 and 2009. At the 2008 indoor national meet, Kosgei captured first place in the mile and 800-meter run in a matter of about 90 minutes. He won the mile again in 2009.
Kosgei finished first in the 800 and 1,500-meter run at the 2009 NESCAC Championships, and was named the most outstanding male performer of the meet. He finished first in the same events at the 2008 NESCAC meet, and won the steeplechase at the 2007 NESCAC Championships.
In 2012, James Grebey '12 earned New York State Collegiate Track Conference (NYSCTC) indoor all-conference honors for the 3,000 meters under Bellona's tutelege. Grebey made the NYSCTC all-conference outdoor team for the 1,500 meters for the third straight year, and Hashem Zikry '13 joined him for the 5,000 meters for the first time.
Bellona helped Hamilton finish first in the distance medley relay at the 2009 NYSCTC Indoor Championships, and the Continentals won the 3,200-meter relay at the 2009 outdoor state meet. Indoor program records have fallen in the 800, 1,000, mile, 3,000 and 5,000 meters since Bellona arrived at Hamilton. Outdoor team records have been broken in the 800, 1,500, steeplechase, 5,000 and 10,000 meters since 2008.
John Ostler is in his second season as an assistant coach for the Hamilton College cross country and track & field teams. Ostler coaches the hurdlers for the outdoor track and field teams.
Ostler was an assistant cross country and track & field coach at U-32 High School in Montpelier, Vermont, from 2009 to 2011. He trained 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays that qualified for the 2010 New England Championship.
Ostler was a four-year member of the cross country and track & field teams at St. Lawrence University. He was an NCAA Atlantic Region all-region and New York State Collegiate Track Conference all-conference performer for cross country in 2007. He set the Liberty League outdoor championship meet record for the 5,000-meter run in 2007 with a time of 15:08.29 -- a record that still stands. He was a captain for both the cross country and track & field teams as a junior and a senior.
Ostler graduated with a degree in English with a minor in educational studies in 2008.
Jerry Tine is in his 11th season as an assistant track and field coach at Hamilton College. Tine coaches the pole vault and horizontal jumps. Akilah Bond '09 earned All-America honors in the triple jump as she finished seventh at the 2007 and 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships under Tine's guidance. Bond qualified for the indoor and outdoor NCAA meets in the triple jump in 2008.
Tine coached James Russell '09 to four NESCAC outdoor pole vault titles at the conference championships. Muriel Schwinn '13 was all-NESCAC for the outdoor long jump in 2010 and made the 2012 New York State Collegiate Track Conference (NYSCTC) Indoor All-Conference team for the long jump. Hannah Jaiven '14 was all-NYSCTC for the outdoor pole vault in 2011.
Since Tine joined the coaching staff in 2002, school indoor and outdoor pole vault records, and an indoor triple jump mark have fallen on the men's side. All indoor and outdoor pole vault, long jump and triple jump school records on the women's side have been broken since 2007.
Tine has more than 20 years of collegiate and high school coaching experience. He is an accredited USA Track and Field Level I coach and serves as the New York State coach for the USATF Olympic Pole Vault Development Committee.
Jake Tyksinski is in his fourth season as an assistant coach for the Hamilton College track and field teams. Josh Orndorff '11 finished first in the shot put at the 2010 Liberty League Indoor Championships under Tyksinski's guidance. Orndorff earned all-league honors for the shot in 2010 and the weight throw in 2011, and made the 2010 New York State Collegiate Track Conference (NYSCTC) Indoor All-Conference team for the shot put.
Tyksinski was a four-year letter winner in indoor and outdoor track & field at the University of Rochester. He was a volunteer throws coach at Clinton Central School, where he went to high school, during the 2007-08 indoor and outdoor seasons.
Tyksinski competed in the javelin, shot put, hammer throw and discus at Rochester. He qualified for either the indoor or outdoor NYSCTC championship meet five times. He was a team captain as a senior, and earned a degree in economics in 2006.
At Clinton, Tyksinski recorded some of the top performances in school history in the 100- and 200-meter dash, and the shot put. He competed in indoor and outdoor track & field for three years, and was named the team's most improved performer after his junior indoor season. He finished third in the shot put in New York State's Section III that season. As a senior, he was part of a 400-meter relay that set a Tri-Valley League record, and finished fourth in the state championships. He qualified for the sectional championships in both the shot put and discus.
Brett Hull - Head Coach
bhull@hamilton.edu
315-859-4759
315-859-4117 (fax)
