Track & Field Coaches

Ned Bishop Head Coach 15th Year-Women Second Year-Men

Ned Bishop took the reins of the men's track & field program for the first time during the past year, and the team earned its highest finish ever in the New England Division III Indoor Championship in February. He also returned to the helm of the women's team in 2007, a position he previously held from 1986 through 1998. He has been the head coach of the Camels' highly successful women’s cross country squad for the last 22 years. Under Bishop's direction this past spring, the track & field squads broke eight school records and had 31 athletes qualify for post-season championship meets.

Bishop guided the Connecticut College women's team to the 1989 New England Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship title, and he has 29 NCAA national qualifiers to his credit in events ranging from the 100 meters to the 10,000 meters. He has coached 25 NESCAC, New England and ECAC Division III champions and two of his former runners qualified for the 2004 Olympic Trials in the marathon. Bishop directs the men and women sprinters and hurdlers in addition to coaching the women distance runners.

Bishop graduated from Connecticut College in 1984 after a four-year cross country and track career. He served as the team captain and was named the Most Valuable Runner of the cross country squad in his senior year. He ran the first leg on a school-record distance medley relay team and owns a personal best time of 15:47 for 5000 meters. Bishop is currently a member of the NCAA Division III Track & Field and Cross Country Committee.

Jim Butler Assistant Head Coach

Jim Butler has been the head coach of the men’s cross country program at Connecticut College for the past 20 years. He has coached several NCAA qualifiers and his 2002 team advanced to the national championship meet. He earned New England Coach of the Year honors that year and NESCAC Coach of the Year honors in 2004. Butler works with the men distance runners for the track program, and under his tutelage Brian Murtagh '09 has won New England Division III titles in the 3000 meters (indoors '07) and the steeplechase (outdoors '06). Butler was a standout cross country and marathon runner at Rutgers University and he has run times of 15:28, 25:48 and 2:36 for 5000 meters, five miles and the marathon respectively.

Tessa Donoghue Assistant Coach

Tessa Donoghue joined the Camel coaching staff a year ago to work with the jumpers, sprinters and multi-event athletes. She promptly guided Alex Samma to the school record and an NCAA-qualifying performance in the triple jump. As an undergraduate at Wheaton College and Westfield State College, Donoghue won an NCAA title in the long jump and ran on three 4x400 meter relay title teams. She earned distinction as a 14-time All-American. Her PR's include 5'6" in the high jump, 19'6.5" in the long jump, 40'7" in the triple jump, 24.86 seconds in the 200 meters and 56.80 seconds in the 400 meters.

Carl Reichard Assistant Coach

Carl Reichard is a nationally recognized thrower and brings tremendous coaching experience to the Camel track & field program. He has coached at local high schools for over 30 years, where his teams have won ten league and five state titles. He has coached four high school All-Americans and three NCAA Division III All-Americans. Reichard was a standout football player and a three-time national qualifying thrower at Amherst College. He owns a personal best of 171'11" in the hammer and has been the top American finisher in that event three times at the Master's World Championships.

Adam Fitzgerald Assistant Coach

Adam Fitzgerald earned All-America honors in cross country and won NESCAC, New England Division III and All-New England titles in the 10,000 meters while an undergrad at Connecticut College. He holds the 10k school record and has a lifetime best of 30:45. He has also run 14:53 for 5000 meters, 24:32 for five miles and 2:26 for the marathon. Fitzgerald works with the team’s running events and has also served as an assistant coach for the men’s cross country program since his graduation in 2003.

Amy Parulis Assistant Coach

John Riley was a new addition to the track & field coaching staff in 2007. He handles the pole vault coaching duties. Riley has coached track & field locally for many years, most recently as the head boys' and girls' indoor coach and girls' outdoor coach at St.
Bernard High School in Uncasville. Riley was the 2nd-place finisher in the pole vault in the Connecticut State Open Championship in his own high school days.