Justin Wood begins his sixth season as head coach of all six Stevens Institute of Technology track & field and cross country programs in 2017-18.
In 2016-17, Wood coached Amy Regan to a second national title in cross country and led the women's cross-country team to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA's, where the Ducks finished 26th as a team. Mary Visca earned her first All-American honors with a 20th place finish. In women's track & field, freshman Gina Dello Russo qualified for both the Indoor and Outdoor NCAA championships in the 400m. Regan took second in both the outdoor 5k and 10k events to earn her 13th & 14th career NCAA DIII All-American honor. For the men, the record boards were re-written with 14 new school records, and the Ducks were just 17 points shy of winning their first Empire 8 title as a team during the outdoor season.
In 2015-16, Wood coached Amy Regan to a pair of National Championships during the indoor season (5,000-meter and 3,000-meter) while also seeing Gladys Njoku win her second-straight High Jump Indoor National title. The “perfect” championship of Regan’s two national titles and Njoku’s high jump title resulted in 30 points and a 4th place team finish, the highest in program history.
During the outdoor season, Amy won another two nationals titles in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs. Njoku also claimed All-American honors during the outdoor campaign, placing second in the high jump. Freshman Mary Visca and sophomore Greg Arabagian each became the second student-athletes to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November, while Visca was named Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Year during both the Cross Country and Outdoor seasons. Regan was named USTFCCCA Track Athlete of the Year during both the Indoor and Outdoor seasons, and Visca was named to USTFCCCA All-Academic team.
During the 2014-15 campaign, Wood saw two student-athletes (Amy Regan-Cross Country and Gladys Njoku-High Jump) take home NCAA Division III individual national titles. The indoor season was highlighted by the women's ninth-place team finish, marking the then-highest national finish in program history. Several Stevens student-athletes earned major awards including; Amy Regan (USTFCCCA DIII Cross Country National Runner of the Year, USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and the DIII Honda Award Cross Country nomintation); Gladys Njoku (USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and Empire 8 Indoor Field Athlete of the Year); and Nick Zickgraf (Empire 8 Indoor Track Athlete of the Year).
The 2013-14 school year was a special one in Stevens cross country/track & field history. Wood was named Coach of the Year for women’s cross country and indoor track & field, and nine of his student-athletes claimed Empire 8 Athlete/Runner of the Year or Athlete/Runner of the Meet honors. At the conference meets throughout all three seasons, Stevens posted 16 first-place performances. The women’s indoor team produced a program-first, as they ranked as high as No. 10 in the USTFCCCA Top 25 Rankings and went on to finish 10th in the NCAA Indoor Championships in Lincoln, Neb. Wood mentored his student-athletes to nine NCAA-qualifying marks and six All-American showings, including four from Amy Regan (cross country, two in indoor and outdoor). Amira Dardir and Gladys Njoku also garnered All-America status at Indoor Nationals. Michael Cahill was the first-ever men’s cross country runner to compete at nationals and Robert Pinto competed in the high jump at indoors.
During his first year at the helm, all three seasons experienced tremendous success under the guidance of Wood. In the fall, the men’s cross country team placed second and the women took fourth at the Empire 8 Championships. Amy Regan paced the meet with a first place finish and was named the Empire 8 Runner and Rookie of the Year for her performance. Regan went on to participate as the first-ever Stevens runner in the NCAA Championship where she finished 40th of 277. During the indoor track & field season, both squads recorded runner-up finishes at Empire 8’s and Alina Duran became the first All-American in school history in the weight throw. The outdoor teams were equally as impressive with a second place finish from the women and third from the men in the conference meet. Regan qualified to run in NCAA’s and placed 10th overall in the 5,000-meter run. In total, 26 new school records were set between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Stevens Cross Country/Track & Field Program Highlights 2012 – 2017:
- 60 new Stevens track & field program records
- 37 NCAA DIII national meet qualifiers
- 22 NCAA DIII All-Americans
- Eight NCAA DIII National Champions
- 2016 NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Championship team qualifier (26th place)
- Four top ten team finishes at NCAA DIII Track & Field Championships (4th, 7th, 9th & 10th)
- Two-time Empire 8 Coach of the Year
Prior to Stevens
Wood served as the Head Coach for Men’s & Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field at SUNY Delhi from 2008 – 2012. He coached the Broncos to 121 NJCAA All-American honors, 23 individual national champions, 7 national runner-up team finishes and two national cross country titles. The men’s cross country team set a meet record of 22 points at NJCAA DIII Cross Country Championships with six All-Americans. That meet record still stands.
Prior to SUNY Delhi, Coach Wood served as the Assistant Coach for Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field at Southern Connecticut State University.
Personal
An alum of SUNY Delhi himself, Wood won four individual national titles for the Broncos and is still the school-record holder in the 800-meters, 1,000-meters, 1,500-m, indoor mile and 3,000-m. Wood finished his junior college career undefeated against NJCAA DIII runners on the track earning nine NJCAA All-American honors between indoors and outdoors. He went on to complete his bachelor’s degree at Seton Hall University, where he earned several All-Big East honors and IC4A honors.
With eligibility remaining as he began graduate school, Wood competed at Southern Connecticut State University and finished 10th at the 2007 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the final of the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Coach Wood is an NJCAA DIII Cross Country/Track & Field Hall of Fame Inductee (2010) and a SUNY Delhi Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee (2016).
