Patrick Cunniff
	Last College: Georgia Position: Head Coach Experience: Fifth Year

Patrick Cunniff begins his fifth season as the head cross-country/assistant track and field coach at Long Beach State. Cunniff's three years have been amongst the most successful in 49er history. With a strong group of returning runners and an outstanding recruiting class, The Beach distance group is poised for great things.

Over Cunniff's four years at LBSU, his athletes have performed remarkably well on the track, cross-country course and in the classroom. Athletes coached by Cunniff have set school records 14 times and currently occupy 66 positions on LBSU All-Time top 10 lists.

The cross country teams have fared well under Cunniff's tutelage, with both men and women finishing all three seasons with West Region top 15 finishes, highlighted by 10th in 2007 and 11th in 2008. During Cunniff's tenure, the cross-country teams have won five meets and have collected three top 3 finishes.

Individually, Sarah Apgar won Santa Clara twice, earned All-Big West with a sixth-place finish in 2007 and had two top-30 finishes at the ultra competitive West Regional meet. Missy Barclay also earned All-Big West honors with a ninth-place finish in 2009. For the men, highlights include a three-year streak winning the Santa Clara Invitational, Dylan Jaedtke placing 13th at the 2007 Big West Championship and placing three men in the top 20 at the Big West Championship in 2009, led by Travis Kuhlman in 11th.

Distance athletes have shone on the track as well in Cunniff's three years at The Beach, highlighted by 12 school record performances, six NCAA Regional qualifiers, two NCAA indoor provisional qualifiers and four NCAA national qualifiers.

In 2008, Alex Freitas finished third in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, anchored the sprint medley to victory in the historic Drake Relays and finished sixth in the NCAA regional meet, barely missing the national meet by 0.11. Several athletes contributed points to the 49ers team Big West Championship.

The 2009 season was highlighted by Freitas (800m), Missy Barclay (mile) and Carly Harris (3000m twice) and the women's DMR all setting school records during indoor track. The Beach carried that momentum outdoors with five NCAA regional qualifiers, two school records and numerous all-time top ten performances. Kristina Wilson, Carly Harris and Alex Freitas earned All-Big West honors with their top three finishes at the conference championships.

The 2010 season saw more of the same with Matt Maldonado's 4:03 mile shattering the previous record and Alex Freitas notching an NCAA provisional mark for the third year in a row during the indoor season. Outdoor opened with a bang as the Stanford Invitational saw Jennifer Rodriguez, Alisia Barajas and Annie Randall work together to all best the previous school record in the 10,000m. Maldonado continued his development by moving to second All-time at 1500m and finishing a close second at the Big West Championships. Alex Freitas wrapped up one of the most decorated careers in Long Beach State history by again finishing in the top three at the Big West Championship and advancing to the second round at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.

All together, The Beach distance squad placed four athletes into the championship and had Jessica Barnard just miss in the steeple with a time that beat the previous regional standard by six seconds and moved her to second on The Beach all-time list.

Cunniff's athletes have also excelled in the classroom and in the community. The women's cross country team has earned USTFCCA National all-academic recognition all three years and four athletes in track have earned individual national all-academic recognition. Numerous distance athletes have won all-academic recognition from the Big West and the MPSF. Missy Barclay was selected to the prestigious CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine District All-Academic Team.

Team members have participated in many community service events including dorm move ins, Long Beach Marathon Water Stop and various projects at local schools. Cunniff, has served as Water Station Captain for the Long Beach marathon for three straight years and participated in several other community service events. Additionally, Cunniff is one of the race director's for the Pyramid 5K Run, held on the LBSU campus each fall, which is quickly becoming a major fundraiser and a cornerstone event in the Homecoming Week.