North Georgia Names Williams Cross Country and Track Head Coach

DAHLONEGA, GA – North Georgia College & State University has announced that Tom Williams has been selected as the new cross-country and track & field head coach for the 2009-10 season.

“We are very fortunate to have Tom Williams accept our head cross country position at North Georgia,” Athletic Director Randy Dunn said. “He has many years of experience, coupled with his knowledge and passion for Cross Country and Track & Field that will benefit our student athletes and our program greatly.”

Williams makes his way to North Georgia from Walton High School where he served as the boys and girls head cross country coach for the last 20 years. Coach Williams’ girls and boys cross country teams have qualified for the State Championships the past 12 and 14 years respectively.

Last season in cross country, the Walton High School boys captured the region championship and finished third in the state, while the girls squad were runner-up in the region and seventh in the state.

" I am excited for the opportunity to coach cross country at North Georgia," Tom Williams said last week. "This is a new challenge for me as a coach, and I am pleased that North Georgia has the confidence in my ability to be successful at this level."

Williams will take over a pair of programs that finished in the top four in the Peach Belt Conference last season. The women finished third at the annual PBC Championships, while the men finished fourth in the league. Williams will coach two PBC All-Conference performers in freshman Katie Vance and junior Emmy Lawalin as the women’s team looks to make a push to the front of the conference. A young men’s team will look to build on late-season success last year and continue to make strides to the front of the league.

The Walton High School legend was named GACA State Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2002, and has earned GACA Region Coach of the Year honors on 12 different occasions, including at the end of last season. Williams has also garnered GACA Region Track & Field Coach of the Year honors 11 different times, while the Marietta Daily Journal has honored the legend with 18 different cross country and track & field awards in the last 20 years.

Williams is a 1967 graduate of Rittman High School in Rittman, Ohio. He was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, and running track. He attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA where he also played football and ran track. He graduated with a BA Degree in Economics, an MBA from Georgia State University and an Eds from Jacksonville State University.

Tom is married to Ginnie Williams and they have one son who is married with two children.