Judy Wilson
Judy Wilson

Bio

The 2022 season begins Judy Wilson's fifth season at the helm of the men's and women's cross country program.  In all, Wilson has coached or ran in 33 seasons of cross country and has been involved with the sport since the early 1980s.  She is the first coach for cross country for Daytona State and has brought the program into the national spotlight in many ways.  

Since 2018, the men's program has won the Region 8 championship on three occasions, 2018, 2020, and 2021.  In 2020 and 2021, Andy Martinez brought home the individual title as well as a course record.   The women's team has been in the top two of the Region 8 championship every year since 2018 and took home the title in 2020.  Harleigh Bilz Crist took home individual honors in 2020 and 2021 with a course record in 2021.  At the national level, the Falcon men finished fourth in 2020 and second in 2021.  The 2021 squad was within 20 points of the title, running an average 8000 meter team time of 26:23.  Andy Martinez, Sebastian Hernandez, and Christian Ruocco would claim All America honors.  In 2020, Martinez and Adam Mastrobuono became the first ever men's cross country All Americans in program history.   The women have placed in the top 10 each of the last two seasons, eighth in 2020 and tenth in 2021.   Harleigh Bilz Crist has broken into the top 20 in both 2020 and 2021.  

Wilson has been named Region 8 men's Coach of the Year on three occasions, 2018, 2020, and 2021 and the women's Coach of the Year in 2020.  She has been recognized by the US Track and Cross Country Coaches Association with Coach of the Year honors for the Atlantic Region in 2020 and 2021 for men and in 2020 for women.  

Wilson has been credited with building a solid program for young Florida runners.  However, since the NJCAA has no age limit for participation, she is also known for finding runners who might want a second chance at earning a degree and running college cross country.  In 2018, Daytona State College was featured in the Washington Post and Runner's World for having three women over 40 years of age on the team.  Bego Lopez, Kristine Gray, and Jenny Enslin took on a challenge of running against young women many years younger.  

No stranger to running and competing, Wilson is a two time TAC (now USATF) national runner up in the 3k and 10k, placed 10th in the US Cross Country Trials, and set a half marathon record at the 1989 Olympic Festival in Oklahoma City, OK.  She ran at Indiana University, starting out as a walk on and ending her career there in the 1988 Olympic Trials.  She has lifetime bests of 4:48 mile, 9:18 3000m, 16:13 5000m, 52:07 15k, and 1:16:43 in the half marathon.  

Wilson holds bachelor's degrees in Exercise Science and Physical Education from Indiana University. She also earned a master's degree in Kinesiology/Athletic Administration from Indiana, and in 2016 earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Stetson University.  She has USATF Level II Coaching Certifications and has spoken at numerous coaching clinics ranging from training young runners to coaching the psychology of racing.  Still an avid runner and competitive age group triathlete, Wilson can be seen in and around DeLand running with friends in the early morning hours preparing for the next 5k, Boston Marathon, or Ironman triathlon.  She and her husband Mark have one son, Hunter, now a Florida State University student.  

Coaching Highlights and Accomplishments prior to Daytona State College:

Indiana University: 1998-2007
Big Ten Steeplechase Champion
Big Ten 10k Champion
12 All Big Ten Cross Country Individuals
2 NCAA Div 1 Steeplechase All Americans
24 NCAA Div 1 Qualifiers
3 Cross Country All Americans
3 NCAA Cross Country Team Appearances
Big Ten All Academic Team
NCAA Div 1 All Academic Team – top 3
2 Post Graduate Scholarship Award Winners
1 NCAA Woman of the Year Honoree
Assisted with 3 Big Ten Track and Field Team Titles

University of Connecticut: 1996-1998
Coached UConn’s highest place finisher ever in the NCAA Championships
NCAA Div 1 10th place in the 5k
NCAA Div 1 10th place finisher in the 10k

DePauw University:  1992-1996
Coached 1995 team to ICAC conference championship
Coached school record 1500m runner freshman Jake Carpenter
Earned Coach of the Year honors
Grew program from 25-85 student-athletes
Highest team GPA among all sports 

University of South Florida: 1990-1991
Sun Belt Conference Champions
Co-coach of the Year honors 

Bloomington South High School: 1988-1990
First girls’ cross country team to qualify for the state meet
Coached Gwen Thayer to a state championship in the 400m
Coached state qualifiers in the 800m, mile, 2 mile and 4x800
Regional Coach of the Year honors