Mark Coogan Elevated to Head Women's Cross Country Coach

HANOVER, N.H. — On Friday, Dartmouth announced that Mark Coogan has been elevated to the position of head coach of the women's cross country team. Coogan spent the past season as an assistant coach for cross country and track.

Under Coogan and head women's track and field coach Sandy Ford-Centonze, the Big Green had five distance runners qualify for the NCAA East Regional, and Abbey D'Agostino (Topsfield, Mass.) earned Dartmouth's first All-America honor in women's track in nine years. D'Agostino finished third at the NCAA Championships in the 5,000 meters and was the highest finishing freshman in the event. In cross country, the women's team had its best finish (eighth of 39 teams) since placing fifth in 2004.

Coogan was a professional long-distance runner from 1988 until retiring in 2002, representing the United States in the marathon at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He placed second in the Olympic Trials before taking 41st in the Olympics.

A member of the U.S. World Championship Cross Country team from 1989-94 and '95-97, Coogan spent a year with the U.S. World Championship Track team in 1995, running the 5,000 meters. That same year he won a silver medal for the United States in the marathon at the Pan-American Games. Coogan was a U.S. Road Race Champion in the 5K, 10K and 12K, plus was the first Massachusetts resident to break the four-minute mile.

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