Bill Morgan Position: Head Coach Experience: 29 Years

Bill Morganenters his 30th year of coaching at the University of Connecticut and his seventh season as head coach of the UConn women's cross country/track and field programs, after serving as an assistant coach for 22 years and as interim head coach in 2003-04.

Morgan has been a part of all 39 track and field championships at UConn. He specializes in coaching field events and multi-events, for which he has gained a national reputation for excellence after guiding numerous UConn athletes to collegiate, national and Olympic Trials successes. His total of 192 conference champions includes the programs two NCAA Regional Champions, 40 ECAC, 91 New England, 61 BIG EAST titles and 26 All-American titles. Morgan's programs have earned numerous team titles, highlighted by the recent outdoor ECAC Championship three-peat from 2008 to 2010, and three-straight indoor ECAC titles from 2007-2010 (UConn did not enter the 2009 competition). The team has earned BIG EAST Championship titles in 1986, 1995 and 2008. The Huskies have been the BIG EAST Championship runner-up a total of nine times, four in indoor and five in outdoor competition.

The past four seasons have garnered the most recognition and accomplishments in program history, as Morgan led the Huskies to numerous team records and championships. The program has consistently out-paced itself, year after year over the past few seasons.

The 2009-10 season was another successful campaign for the Huskies as Marshall led the squad to its third-straight ECAC outdoor and indoor titles. UConn dominated the New England Indoor Championships for the fifth-straight year (29^th overall) and the squad placed second at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships. The program celebrated eight individual BIG EAST Titles and 10 individual ECAC Titles. In honor of the incredible season, Morgan was named Northeast Region Coach of the Year for the fourth-straight season after leading sophomore Victoria Flowers and junior Trisha-Ann Hawthorne to All-America status in the weight through and the 100m dash, respectively.

Hawthorne's seventh-place finish in the outdoor 100m at the NCAA Championships garnered UConn's first-ever NCAA Outdoor All-American. Morgan and his staff guided seven student-athletes to NCAA Qualifying marks. Coach Morgan also helped lead Hawthorne to a silver-medal finish in the 4x100m relay with Jamaica at the 2010 NACAC U-23 Championships.

In 2008-09, UConn recorded its second consecutive BIG EAST Indoor title as well as the ECAC Outdoor Championship crown and its 28th New England Indoor title. In combination with an outdoor BIG EAST Runner-Up trophy, the team recorded another superlative season. Recognized with a No. 13 indoor National ranking and its seventh place showing at the NCAA East Regional, the program placed an exclamation point to its year. Within the team context, Morgan coached Carin Knight to two more All-American titles adding to her remarkable career along with freshman Victoria Flowers, who earned her first All-American title as the top freshman in the country. In addition, eight athletes were named to the All-East Regional Team for finishing in the top five at the East Regional. Morgan was honored as the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the year

In 2007-08, UConn recorded three consecutive team titles, winning the BIG EAST, ECAC and New England Indoor Championships in a two week period. The BIG EAST title was the team's first ever indoor crown after registering four runner-up trophies as a program. Morgan's charges then captured the New England title as he was honored as the New England Indoor Coach of the Year along with freshman phenom, Trisha-Ann Hawthorne, who won the Athlete of the Meet honors.

Morgan's team continued its surge and was spectacular in winning the ECAC Indoor crown to defend their title from the previous season, becoming only the ninth program to win in the 30-year meet history. Morgan was further acknowledged by being named the year's NCAA Division I Northeast Region Women's Coach of the Year.

Morgan led former triple jumper, Tamara Highsmith, and high jumper, Carin Knight, to national level performances as Highsmith beat Miami's Tabia Charles' record at the BIG EAST Championship with a jump of 44' 1.25", dominated the ECAC competition and concluded with a seventh place finish at the national championship to become an All-American. Knight joined her with BIG EAST and New England titles while earning the All-American status with a sixth place finish in the high jump.

UConn followed the indoor season with their first ECAC Outdoor title, displaying the magnitude of such a dominating year. With nine athletes continuing to the NCAA Regionals, four made the All-Regional Team and went on to the national championship where Highsmith mirrored her indoor performance with another All-American title. The team was not finished as Knight, Highsmith and alumni Deirdre Mullen (five-time All-American), Bethany Hart (two-time All-American) and current volunteer coach, April Garner, participated in the teams' fifth consecutive Olympic Trials. Mullen climaxed a stellar season by finishing fourth (6-3.25) and positioning herself for the 2012 Trials. The brilliant season was capped with members making their respective national teams as Highsmith made the USA Under-23 team and Hawthorne made the Jamaica Junior National team, while Phylicia George made the Under-23 Canadian team.

In 2007, Morgan's program produced its first NCAA Regional Champion in freshman high jumper Carin Knight along with four BIG EAST Champions. His team placed fourth at the BIG EAST Championships, their best outdoor finish in 12 years. The program produced 11 NCAA Regional qualifiers along with two ECAC Athletes of the Week in Amanda Martin and Jillian Sullivan. Again, Morgan's team made history, marking seven new program records in their outdoor performances. Jillian Sullivan became UConn's first ever All-American for the women's cross country, as she picked up Academic All-American status as well. Both cross country and track and field earned All Academic teams honors after both the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

During his tenure at Connecticut, Morgan has coached athletes to 27 All-American titles, the most recent being Knight and Flowers in 2009 and Flowers and Hawthorne in 2010. Morgan also coached Tamara Highsmith, Deirdre Mullen, Nicole Toney and Tamika Toppin to the All American status. He coached Toppin in the high jump (1998 and 1999), Bethany Hart (1999 and 2000) and Wendy Berutto (1997) in the hammer throw, long jumpers Carol Galloway (1985) and Cheryl Brantle (1992), Terry Roy in 1992, 1993 and 1995, and high jumper Ronna Deffer, an NCAA National Outdoor Championship finalist in 1992.

In July of 2000, he accompanied Hart and Toppin to the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento where Hart was the top collegian in the competition. The two were his fourth and fifth student-athletes to qualify for the trials. He also coached Roy, Brantle and Berutto to the U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta in June of 1996, Roy to the 1992 trials in New Orleans and Mullen to the trials in Sacramento, Calif. in 2004.

In 2004, Mullen became his second national team member as she earned a bronze medal at the NACAC Under-23 Championship in Sherbrooke, Canada. One of Morgan's former athletes, three time All-American Terry Roy, also became the Junior National Champion in the heptathlon and participated in the World Junior Championship in Korea.

Morgan continued the team's progress toward national recognition as he coached Mullen to a conference record-breaking performance in the high jump. Mullen cleared 1.83m (6') to capture first in the high jump and set a BIG EAST Championship record while following that performance with a 1.88 (6-2.00) jump at the regional championship. As impressive has been alumnus Hart who became UConn's first Winter Olympian during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy - 3 months after competing on our USA World Team as the country's second ranked hammer thrower in Helsinki, Finland.

As interim head coach in 2003-2004, Morgan's cross country team placed 4th of 41 teams at the New England Championship for its best finish in nine years. His indoor squad captured the New England Championship while placing sixth out of 44 teams at the ECAC Championships. Morgan coached Garner to the New England and ECAC Championship in the hurdles as the season concluded with six individual conference champions, two school records and an All-American.

Morgan has taken part in the USA Track and Field Women's Junior Elite Throws Camp in San Diego as well as the USA Track and Field Women's Elite Heptathlon Summit in Tucson, Arizona. He has also written published articles on topics related to imagery in sport. In 2002, Morgan was acknowledged as an AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year for distinguished service at the University of Connecticut.

Morgan has been a part of many memorable program highlights since taking the helm of the women's track and field program - none more significant than his team's status as an All-Academic Team. Continuing the decorated academic success at Connecticut, the 2009 cross country team was named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for the seventh year in a row. The track team was also honored in 2010 as an All-Academic Team. Phylicia George ('10) and Sara Leslie ('10) were both honored as BIG EAST Scholar Athlete's of the Year.

Morgan presently resides in Coventry. He retired after 30 years of public school teaching; 29 of those in the Columbia School District as a physical education instructor. Morgan was an undefeated track and field coach at Porter for five years, going 51-0 in dual meets. Among the many age-group athletes he has coached, Morgan developed three national champions in the shot put, discus and pentathlon.

Morgan received his Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1972 and his master's degree from SCSU in the same field of study in 1973. In 1986, he received an advanced degree in sport biomechanics from UConn.