Aycock Named UNCP Cross Country Head Coach

PEMBROKE – Athletic department officials at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke announced Thursday afternoon that Gary Aycock will assume the duties of head coach for both the men’s and women’s cross country teams, while also retaining his position as director of compliance and assistant track and field coach.

Larry Rodgers, who has taken on double duties as head coach of both the cross country and track and field programs at UNCP for the past 28 years, will remain as head track and field coach for the Braves. The move was initiated in order to separate the head coaching responsibilities of the two programs and allow the respective coaches to focus on just one athletic program.

“We are excited to appoint Gary Aycock as head men's and women's cross country coach,” said UNCP director of athletics Dan Kenney. “Gary will also server as assistant track and field coach for UNCP. Coach Larry Rodgers has done a great job for the last 28 years of coaching cross country and track and field for both the men and women. The addition of Gary will allow coach Rodgers to focus on the track and field program and receive help with the distance runners.

“Gary proved himself as an outstanding coach at St Andrews and we are glad to have a UNCP grad heading up our cross country programs.”

Aycock joined the UNCP staff in July as director of compliance, assistant cross country and track and field coach and lecturer in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation department.

Prior to assuming his posts in Pembroke, Aycock served as the skipper for the cross country programs at nearby St. Andrews, leading both the men's and women's teams to their most successful era in the program's NCAA Division II history both on the race paths and in the classroom. Aycock, a Scotland county native, served as the Knights' assistant coach in 2001-02. He had also served as the head track and field coach since the inception of the program in 2005 to his departure in 2007.

The 2005 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference & 2006 Southeast Region Coach of the Year at SAPC, Aycock guided the Knights’ cross country teams to countless individual and team milestones in his six seasons at the helm.

On the men's side, Aycock led St. Andrews to its first-ever conference title in 2005 and first-ever Southeast Region crown in 2006. Under his guidance, the men's teams won nine races and had nine other runner-up finishes. Aycock led the Knights to their first-ever No. 1 ranking in the Southeast and qualified the men's team for the NCAA Division II national championships in both 2005 and 2006.

Aycock recruited the CVAC freshman of the year in three consecutive seasons (Chris Miller in 2004, Mitch Cooper in 2005 and Pedro Tapia, Jr. in 2006). He has also coached 15 all-conference, nine all-region, and six conference runners of the week.

On the women's side, Aycock has tutored an impressive 16 conference runners of the week while also building the program into contenders in the region (earning the program's first-ever ranking in the Southeast Region). Aycock-guided women's teams have won two races and finished in the top-three places seven times. He has also coached seven all-conference and three all-region women's honorees.

Aycock has directed 15 individual academic all-Americans and four academic all-American teams including the 2004 women's team being ranked fourth in the nation with a 3.71 team GPA.

An avid runner, Aycock has racing experience on the high school, collegiate and open levels and is a tri-athlete as well. He was a member of Scotland High School’s 1989 and 1990 state NCHSAA Track & Field championship teams and East Carolina University’s 1995 UPA college national championship Ultimate Frisbee team where he was a candidate for the Callahan Award, an honor presented to the UPA national collegiate player of the year.

Aycock earned a bachelor of science in physical education from UNCP in 2003 and a master’s degree in physical education in December, 2007. He completed the NIKE cross-country coaches’ clinic in 2002 and is a certified United States Track & Field Level I coach in all event areas and a certified United States Track & Field Level II endurance coach.

Aycock resides in Laurinburg with his wife, Emily, and two children, Emma Grace and Aaron Douglas.