Ricardo Santos Named Iona Cross Country/Track and Field Head Coach

Ricardo Santos Named Iona Cross Country/Track and Field Head Coach

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MAAC Sports

New Rochelle, N.Y. - Iona College Director of Athletics Patrick Lyons appointed Ricardo Santos as men's and women's cross country/track and field head coach.  Santos returns to his alma mater after serving as an assistant coach at Harvard University since 2005.

"We're very excited to have Ricardo return home to Iona and lead the nationally prominent cross country and track and field programs," said Lyons.  "I'm confident that Ricardo can keep the 'Rich Tradition of Excellence' that has been instilled in the program."

"I want to thank Pat Lyons for giving me this great opportunity to continue the tradition that my former coach and mentor Mick Byrne has started," said an elated Santos. "It is extremely exciting to come back to a program that I was a part of for five years as a competitor and four more years as an assistant."

"I've had a special relationship with Mick since my arrival on campus as a freshman in 1995. He continues to be a father figure to me and I'm excited to for the chance to elevate the program to our goal of getting to the top of the podium at the NCAA Championship," he added.  "Mick's passion and dedication put Iona College on the map and I will look to add the same energy and spirit to both the men's and women's programs."

"The women's program is a relatively young one having began in 1990 and I hope to build on the foundation that has begun with an NCAA appearance two years ago and three straight MAAC Championships," said Santos. "Our goal with the women's team will be to get back to the national championship and get there on a regular basis."

"Because I was mentored by Mick Byrne, I'm looking forward to a smooth transition as our training philosophies are very similar."

The Gaels rise on the national level can be directly correlated to Santos arrival on the New Rochelle campus in 1995.  By the time of his senior season in 1998, the Maroon & Gold had reached the NCAA Championship in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.  As a freshman, the squad earned a fourth place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regionals, just missing an at-large bid to the NCAAs.  After the 1996 squad was forced out of competition at regionals due to injuries and illness, the 1997 squad finished second in the Northeast and 13th at the national championship.  In his senior year, Santos led the Gaels by finishing second overall in the Northeast event en route to a third place finish and an at-large bid to nationals.  In 1998, he earned the second of nine Iona Cross Country All-American honors in its history as the team finished 23rd overall at the NCAA Championship. Since that season, the Gaels have earned an automatic bid with a first or second place finish at regionals in all eight seasons which it competed in the event.

Santos' cross country team earned four straight MAAC championships while he took home two individual titles in 1996 and 1998.  He is one of six competitors to win multiple MAAC Championships, all of them being fellow Gaels.  In 1999, the three-time team captain earned the Joseph O’Connell Award as Iona College’s top senior student-athlete.  In addition to his prominence in cross country, Santos earned nine individual MAAC Championships in indoor and outdoor track, three IC4A Championships and was a nine-time All-East selection.  His IC4A titles came in the indoor 5k in '97, and the indoor 3k and outdoor 5k in 1998.

Upon the completion of his eligibility in the 2000 outdoor track season, Santos became a part-time assistant coach at Iona where he worked with the both the cross country and track programs.  During the four years Santos coached at Iona, the Gaels consistently finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships including a fourth-place performance in 2003.  This marked the first national team trophy in school history for any sport.  He worked directly with head coach Mick Byrne, 1999, 2002 and 2003 Northeast Coach of the Year, and assisted coaching the men’s cross country team to their 14th-consecutive MAAC Championship and the women’s cross country team to their first ever conference championship.  During his tenure at Iona, he helped coach 16 individual qualifiers to the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships and was part of 11 All-America performances in the distance events.

In addition to his role at Iona, Santos continued to compete and finished in the top-12 at the Canadian Cross Country Nationals twice. He also worked at All Hallows High School as a guidance counselor and earned a Master’s of Social Work from Columbia University in 2001.

Santos joined the Harvard cross country and track and field program in 2005 as a coaching assistant and worked primarily with the distance squad.  In July of 2006, he was elevated to a full time position working directly under new Crimson head coach and former Iona assistant, Jason Saretsky with the middle distance and distance squads.  Santos also served as the primary recruiting coordinator for the Harvard squads.

Last fall, the Crimson defeated arch-rival Yale for the first time this decade. The men finished fifth at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships for its best finish in six years. The women also finished fifth, their best performance since 1999. The top five finishers for the women were freshman.  Two of his recruits went on to earn all-region honors with top-25 finishes at the NCAA Northeast Regional. Harvard’s distance squad under Santos and Saretsky, posted 17 ECAC/IC4A qualifying marks indoors and six outdoor during the 2007-08 season, almost doubling the qualifiers from the previous season.
 
Santos is a 2000 graduate of Iona College where he earned All-America honors in cross country. Santos was a three-time IC4A Champion, a nine time All-East honoree and an 11-time MAAC Champion and All-MAAC recipient. He was also an All-MAAC academic team member.

Santos is a certified USA Track and Field Level I coach.  He holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work from Iona in 2000 along with his master's degree from Columbia.