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Men's Track & Field

Ken O'Brien
Ken O'Brien
  • Title:
    Coach Emeritus

Ken O'Brien served as head coach of the UMass men's track and field and cross country programs for 50 years before transitioning to his new role as Coach Emeritus for men's cross country and track and field in July 2017.

In O'Brien's 50 seasons coaching cross country and track and field at UMass, the Minutemen won 19 conference titles (Yankee, Atlantic 10 and Eastern), four New England crowns, two IC4A titles and had seven All-America performers.

During the 2008 cross country season, O'Brien was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, as the Minutemen finished first in the league. This was the second-ever Minutemen A-10 Cross Country title, the first coming in 1995.

In 1999, O'Brien was named NCAA District 1 Track and Field Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, and the fourth time he won the award in track and field to go along with District 1 Coach of the Year honors for cross country on four different occasions in his 50-year career at UMass.

A long time contributor to the sport of track and field, O'Brien has served numerous regional and national associations. He served as secretary of the NCAA Cross Country Coaches Association from 1975-80, has been president of the IC4A coaches association and was re-selected to the coaching staff of the National Olympic Development Distance Runners Training Center at Lake Placid, N.Y.

O'Brien started his first full-time coaching job at the University of Bridgeport (Conn.) in the fall of 1965. Nine months later he guided the program that had never scored a single point in the Collegiate Track Conference Meet to a second-place team finish. He returned to his alma mater in 1966 and served as an assistant coach for 18 months under Bill Footrick before taking over as head coach in 1968.

While an undergrad at UMass, O'Brien won six letters in cross country and track. He competed as a top performer on a cross country squad that won three consecutive Yankee Conference titles and the 1961 New England championship. An outstanding competitor in track and field, his 1:52:70 conference half-mile record remained unbroken for 10 years.

O'Brien, the co-recipient of the ECAC Merit Award in 1963 to the outstanding student-athlete at UMass, graduated with honors from the school of physical education in the same year.

Upon graduation, he served two years as a graduate assistant coach at Ohio University. He worked under the legendary coach, and member of the Track and Field Hall of Fame, Stan Huntsman, earning his Master's degree in 1964 from the Athens, Ohio, institution.

A native of Foxboro, Mass., O'Brien won 10 letters in football, basketball, baseball and track and captained all four sports his senior year at Foxboro High School.

In his spare time, he is a golf and baseball enthusiast and coached a Little League team in Amherst for 23 years.

O'Brien's Year-By-Year Head Coaching Record
Cross Country Indoor Track Outdoor Track Season Notes
Year Place Year Place Year Place
Yankee Conference
1967 2nd 1967-68 3rd 1967-68 3rd --
1968 2nd 1968-69 1st 1968-69 1st YC Indoor Champions, Outdoor Champions
1969 2nd 1969-70 2nd 1969-70 2nd --
1970 1st 1970-71 2nd 1970-71 1st YC XC Champions, Outdoor Champions
1971 1st 1971-72 1st 1971-72 1st YC XC, Indoor & Outdoor Champions
1972 1st 1972-73 3rd 1972-73 2nd YC XC Champions
1973 1st 1973-74 3rd 1973-74 2nd YC XC Champions, NE Outdoor Champions
1974 1st 1974-75 1st 1974-75 2nd YC XC & Outdoor Champs, NE XC Champs
1975 1st 1975-76 2nd 1975-76 2nd YC XC Champions, IC4A XC Champions
1976 1st 1976-77 2nd 1976-77 2nd YC XC Champions
1977 1st 1977-78 3rd 1977-78 2nd YC XC Champions
1978 1st 1978-79 5th 1978-79 3rd YC XC Champions, IC4A XC Champions
1979 3rd 1979-80 4th 1979-80 4th --
1980 -- 1980-81 -- 1980-81 -- --
Eastern Conference
1981 1st 1981-82 -- 1981-82 -- EIAA XC Champions
1982 2nd 1982-83 2nd 1982-83 1st EIAA Outdoor Champions
1983 7th 1983-84 3rd 1983-84 3rd --
1984 5th 1984-85 5th 1984-85 3rd --
1985 3rd 1985-86 2nd 1985-86 2nd --
1986 3rd 1986-87 2nd 1986-87 2nd --
1987 3rd 1987-88 2nd 1987-88 2nd New England XC Champions
1988 4th 1988-89 3rd 1988-89 5th --
1989 1st 1989-90 3rd 1989-90 3rd EIAA XC Champions
1990 4th 1990-91 3rd 1990-91 3rd --
1991 2nd 1991-92 3rd 1991-92 3rd --
1992 6th 1992-93 -- 1992-93 3rd --
1993 2nd 1993-94 -- 1993-94 -- --
Atlantic 10 Conference
1978 4th 1978-79 -- 1978-79 -- --
1979 4th 1979-80 -- 1979-80 -- --
1980 2nd 1980-81 -- 1980-81 -- --
1981 3rd 1981-82 -- 1981-82 -- --
1982 5th 1982-83 -- 1982-83 -- --
1983 T-4th 1983-84 -- 1983-84 -- --
1984 4th 1984-85 -- 1984-85 -- --
1985 3rd 1985-86 -- 1985-86 -- --
1986 3rd 1986-87 -- 1986-87 -- --
1987 2nd 1987-88 -- 1987-88 -- --
1988 2nd 1988-89 -- 1988-89 -- --
1989 3rd 1989-90 -- 1989-90 -- --
1990 3rd 1990-91 -- 1990-91 -- --
1991 2nd 1991-92 -- 1991-92 -- --
1992 3rd 1992-93 6th 1992-93 -- --
1993 3rd 1993-94 -- 1993-94 -- --
1994 2nd 1994-95 4th 1994-95 -- --
1995 1st 1995-96 3rd 1995-96 -- A-10 XC Champions, COTY (XC)
1996 3rd 1996-97 4th 1996-97 2nd --
1997 5th 1997-98 5th 1997-98 2nd --
1998 5th 1998-99 3rd 1998-99 2nd --
1999 4th 1999-00 2nd 1999-00 2nd --
2000 4th 2000-01 4th 2000-01 2nd --
2001 3rd 2001-02 4th 2001-02 2nd --
2002 6th 2002-03 -- 2002-03 3rd --
2003 7th 2003-04 5th 2003-04 3rd --
2004 5th 2004-05 5th 2004-05 6th --
2005 6th 2005-06 5th 2005-06 7th --
2006 3rd 2006-07 4th 2006-07 8th --
2007 T-3rd 2007-08 5th 2007-08 4th --
2008 1st 2008-09 7th 2008-09 10th A-10 Champions, COTY (XC)
2009 2nd 2009-10 5th 2009-10 4th --
2010 3rd 2010-11 4th 2010-11 4th --
2011 5th 2011-12 8th 2011-12 8th --
2012 T-8th 2012-13 9th 2012-13 9th --
2013 4th 2013-14 6th 2013-14 6th --
2014 7th 2014-15 6th 2014-15 5th --
2015 2nd 2015-16 3rd 2015-16 5th --
2016 9th 2016-17 3rd 2016-17 3rd --
19 Conference Championships 
(2 Atlantic 10 Championships - Cross Country: 1995 & 2008)
(2 Eastern Conference Championships - Cross Country: 1981 | Outdoor Track: 1981-82)
(15 Yankee Conference Championships - Cross Country (9): 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 | Indoor Track (3): 1968-69, 1971-72, 1974-75 | Outdoor Track (3): 1968-69, 1970-71, 1971-72)

Atlantic 10 Cross Country Coach of the Year - 1995 & 2008

3 New England Championships
(Cross Country: 1973 & 1987 | Outdoor Track: 1981-82)

2 IC4A Championships
(Cross Country: 1974 & 1977)