Dolan relieves departed m. track, cross-country coach Brady

It would take a nationwide search over almost the entire summer, but the man who was to take the helm of men's cross country from former head coach Mike Brady would be found just a few miles down the road at the College of New Jersey, in the form of new assistant coach for men's track and cross country Steve Dolan.

Brady, who retired following the end of the spring outdoor track season, had been a fixture in Princeton for 13 years. Like Dolan, Brady came to Old Nassau from a local school, having coached for years at his alma mater, Rider.

Princeton distance runners, including several All-Americans under Brady, established a reputation for excellence in the '90s. In 1999, the year he was officially promoted to head coach, the Tigers won their third consecutive Heps title and first ever at-large bid to the NCAA championships. In announcing his retirement, Brady cited looking forward to "the next chapter of my life."

Dolan had an amazing record of success in his 12 years at TCNJ, a Division-III program in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). He had been the head coach of both the women's and men's cross country and track programs since 1993, and built the program up to be a dominant force at the D-III level. In 2003-04, the Lions swept the NJAC men's and women's cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field championships — for the seventh year in a row. The TCNJ program has also achieved national success, placing each team in the top 20 at the NCAA championships for six straight seasons. Additionally, over five dozen runners under Dolan have been All-Americans.

Despite all that success, in 12 years Dolan had never applied for a position at another school.

"I really enjoyed my time there, and had great relationships and a good rapport with my staff," Dolan said. "But this is just a special opportunity that I didn't want to pass on."

Dolan is originally from outside of Minneapolis, Minn., and graduated from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in 1992. At St. Thomas, he set numerous school records in track and field, and was the D-III national champion in the decathlon in his senior year, when he led his team to a third place finish at the NCAA championships.

The father of two young children, he says that despite most of his family still living in his native Minnesota, he has "found a home in New Jersey," the state where his wife, Nicole, is from.

Though he is in charge of all the day-today training and coaching of the cross country team, Dolan is officially the assistant coach. Fred Samara is the head coach for all men's cross country and track, but has delegated most of the middle distance and distance work to Dolan.

Since his hiring was announced on Aug. 18, Dolan has had to deal with a strong roster of veteran runners who had all been recruited and trained for years by Brady. This challenge has been met with little difficulty.

"I think we're off to a great start. I'm very impressed with the leadership of the upperclassmen. Everybody is working hard, and they seem open to new ideas. At the same time I honor certain traditions that the team has."

Dolan admits that there has been little change for the team, or even for himself. He notes that despite what some would perceive as a major culture change between Princeton and TCNJ, the athletes have "more similarities than differences."

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The training techniques that Dolan has imported aren't radically different, either, and in fact bear much resemblance to that done under Brady. Indeed, Dolan has joked with the team that one of the biggest changes has been the loss of Brady's deep and commanding voice. As he says, "I'm not quite at that level."

For this season, Dolan is optimistic that it can be more than a rebuilding year. The Tigers are coming off of a season in which they posted their lowest team Heps finish in 10 years.

"We've got a very talented freshman class, and I think we can chase the Heptagonal title this year," he said.