Brian Falk enters his second season as Elizabethtown College's Director of Cross County and Track & Field in 2012-13. Within his position overseeing the entire program, Falk serves as the head coach for the men's and women's cross country teams. He is embarking on his fifth season with the women's cross country team and second with the men's team.
Elizabethtown is 4-for-4 in Middle Atlantic Conference Women's Cross Country Championships since Falk's arrival back in 2008, and is in the midst of an unparalleled run of success. Falk also led the men's team to a MAC Championship in his first season with them.
Elizabethtown owns four MAC Cross Country Championships sweeps by its men and women, with the first coming in 2004 and the most recent in 2011. Last year's sweep was the College's third in a row, a streak that began in 2009.
Despite an injury to one of its top runners for most of the season, the women fought through the adversity to peak at the right time again in 2011.
When postseason meets rolled around, the Blue Jays were ready. At MACs, they shrugged off blizzard-like conditions to take their fifth straight league title. New program records for All-MAC selections (nine) and points (22) were set. Traci Tempone won the conference meet, making her the first female winner from E-town since 2009 (Megan VanDenHengel) and third overall.
The Jays third-place performance at the NCAA DIII Mideast Regional made them a near lock for nationals. After receiving the news that they were in fact headed back to NCAAs for a second straight year, the women justified their spot with a 22nd-place finish.
In 2010, the Elizabethtown women had a milestone moment with an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships in Waverly, Iowa. It was the program's best-ever finish on a national stage. Entering the national meet, the Blue Jays were ranked 29th in the nation. They ascended an impressive 18-positions to close the season as the nation's 11th-ranked team.
Falk, a 1988 graduate of Temple University has paid his dues within the Elizabethtown family. His first year with the program came in 2007 as an assistant coach, a season in which the Blue Jays won a MAC Championship, took fourth at the NCAA Mideast Regional and finished tied for 23rd at the NCAA Division III Championships.
His experience has been pivotal to the recent success of not only the women's cross country team, but the entire cross country/track & field program, making him a natural fit. Falk assisted with coaching duties on the men's cross country team up until 2011, when he took over as head coach. He continues to oversee the distance runners on the track & field side.
Since coming to Elizabethtown, Falk has coached a pair of All-Americans in Reichert (cross country, 2011) and Matt Rever (outdoor 800-meter run, 2012). Combined with the seven All-Americans he mentored at Dickinson, Falk now touts nine All-Americans to his resumé.
Elizabethtown is Falk’s second head coaching stint at the collegiate level. He spent a season as the men’s and women’s cross country coach at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, leading the Blugold women to a 12th place finish at the 2006 NCAA Division III Championships in Wilmington, Ohio. Falk assisted with the track and field programs at UW-Eau Claire as well, overseeing individual qualifiers for both the 2007 NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
Falk earned his bachelor of science in physical education and a Pennsylvania teacher certification from Temple, before obtaining a master of science in exercise science from McDaniel College in 2003. His UW-Eau Claire men’s and women’s cross country teams were named 2006-07 Academic All-Americans by the USTFCCCA for maintaining a team GPA over 3.10.
Prior to his time at UW-Eau Claire, he was an assistant coach with the cross country and track & field programs at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. He planned training programs for all distance-event athletes in the track and field program, and 11 of those athletes became individual champions within the Centennial Conference. Falk also had a hand in molding nine NCAA Division III Track and Field Championship qualifiers and seven All-Americans.
While at Dickinson, Falk also coached the cross country team at nearby Susquehanna Township High School. The veteran coach started at Susquehanna Township in 1991 and spent 10 seasons there. Falk has been in coaching for over 25 years. He built the Susquehanna program from three returnees in 1991 to over 50 athletes by his departure.
Under Falk’s tutelage, numerous Elizabethtown runners have excelled on the national level in both cross country and track. His list of NCAA qualifiers includes Dylan Rulander, Matt Rever and the 2011-12 distance medley relay team members Rever, Russell Speiden and Mark Weber on the men's side, as well as Eileen Cody, Tiffany Kulp, Traci Tempone and Megan VanDenHengel on the women's side.
Competitively, Falk placed second in the Harrisburg Marathon in 2003 and took third in the God's Country Marathon the same year. He has U.S. Track & Field Level 2 Certification in endurance, jumps and sprints/hurdles/relays.
Falk currently resides in Hummelstown with his wife, Amy, and the their three sons, Patrick, Owen and Clayton.
