Middle Distance Coach Tim Springfield

The 2005 season will mark the eighth year Tim Springfield will serve as assistant coach for the men’s middle distance events. Springfield, a native of Virginia, brings a wealth of experience in both track and cross-country. Springfield competed for the University of Virginia (1981-1985) and earned NCAA Division I All-American honors in cross-country. Springfield competed internationally for the USA junior national track team and later in his career he set track PR’s of 3:50 for 1500m 13:50 for 5000m and 29:10 for 10,000m.  As a post-collegiate, he raced to a top 10 finish at the TAC (now USTAF) National Cross-Country Championships.

After completing his degree at Virginia, Springfield began his coaching career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison serving as assistant coach to Martin Smith (now the Head Track/Cross Country Coach at the University of Oregon).  Wisconsin won the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship during Springfield’s years there, and the program has been recognized as one of the top Division I track/cross-country programs in the nation.  The experience of working with Smith has positively shaped Springfield’s coaching talents.

St. Thomas athletes deeply respect Springfield’s experience and knowledge of distance/middle distance running and his coaching talents were immediately recognized when he joined the Tommie staff. Along with his role as the assistant cross country coach for the men, Springfield coaches both the men’s and women’s middle distance runners during the track season.

On the men’s side, in the 2004 outdoor season, St. Thomas placed four 800m runners into the finals at the MIAC Championship (placing 2^nd, 3^rd, 6^th, and 9^th overall) and won the 4x800m relay.  Overall, Springfield has coached four athletes to times of 1:53 or better in the 800m, including current Tommie Bryce Beckman, who improved his PR last season to 1:51.67.  St. Thomas also owns the conference record in the 4x800M relay (7:38.11), set while winning the event at the 1998 MIAC Championships.

All told, in men’s and women’s events, Springfield has coached 34 different athletes to All-MIAC (top 3) honors, 8 athletes to NCAA National Championship Meets, and 4 athletes to All-American status.  Most importantly, the athletes he works with show a consistent pattern of improvement.  For example, the current squad has seen big improvement across the board: Bryce Beckman (1:56 in high school, 1:51 last season), Cory Fusco (1:58 in high school, 1:53 last season), Bryan Limmer (2:02 in high school, 1:56 last season).

Coach Wareham comments: "Tim is a tremendous addition to our program. He has experienced the sport at the highest levels as both an athlete and coach. His Division I background as an athlete and coach is very valuable in that he adds a perspective that our top athletes truly appreciate. However, the best part about Tim is that he knows how to coach all of our athletes towards getting the most out of themselves. The athletes all have a great level of respect for Tim and this translates into a positive coach/athlete relationship and a positive running experience. A big part of Tim’s philosophy revolves around athletes making steady progress over periods of time and the results show this happening".

In addition to his coaching duties at St. Thomas Springfield also teaches in the University’s English department. Tim lives in St. Paul with his wife, Mary Heather.