Cross Country

Jim Jones is serving in his eighth year as Salisbury's head coach for track and field and cross country, having joined the staff in July 1999. Jones oversees the men's and women's teams in both sports.

Jones led Salisbury to another successful campaign in 2006-07, winning the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) championship in men's track and field, women's cross country and men's cross country. This was the fourth straight conference title for men's track and field, third straight for women's cross country and the second straight year for the men's cross country team. The women's track and field program won it's first-ever title by claiming the 2007 Mason-Dixon Outdoor Championship.

Salisbury won a combined 18 events out of a possible 38 events at the CAC track and field championships. The Sea Gulls placed 31 individuals on the 2007 All-CAC team (a first- or second-place finish in an event) along with three relay teams. Salisbury set three new conference championship records. Jones was selected by his peers for the fourth consecutive year as the CAC Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year. SU swept the men's postseason honors and garnered one women's award. Junior Samuel Singleton was named the 2007 CAC Men's Track and Field Athlete of the Year while freshman Quentin Briscoe was selected as the 2007 CAC Men's Track and Field Rookie of the Year. Freshman Victoria Lawson was selected as the 2007 CAC Women's Track and Field Rookie of the Year.

Track and field awards are nothing new for Jones and the program. This was the fourth year in a row that a men's or women's CAC Rookie of the Year came from Salisbury (Victoria Lawson - 2007, Quentin Briscoe - 2007, Josh Michael - 2006, Casey McInerny - 2005, Marcus Tines - 2004, Ruth Hedrick - 2004). Under his guidance, the Gulls have produced two of the past three CAC Men's Track and Field Athletes of the Year (Samuel Singleton - 2007, Derrick Washington - 2005).

In the past seven track and field seasons (2000-2007), under Jones's tenure, Salisbury has had 182 All-CAC track and field performers, this includes 86 CAC individual champions. Under Jones reign Salisbury has broken 23 outdoor track and field school records, 14 athletes have met provisional qualifying standards for the NCAA National Championships and three athletes have earned All-American status. Most recently, Lawson and Delannie Spriggs earned All-American honors at the 2007 NCAA national championships.

In cross country, sophomore Kelly Sullivan from the women's team was named CAC Runner of the Year. The Sea Gulls placed 11 runners on the 2006 All-CAC teams (six on the men's teams and five on the women's teams).  At the 2006 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, sophomores Kelly and Glenna Sullivan, junior Eric Graves and junior Buck Stokes earned all-regional honors. In addition, Bill Nastasiak was also named to the freshman all-regional team by placing among the top seven freshmen in the meet. Kelly and Glenna Sullivan went on to represent Salisbury University at the 2006 NCAA National Championships in Wilmington, OH, placing 71st and 185th, respectively.

Cross country awards are nothing new for Jones who has been named as the CAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year five times (2000, '02, '03, '05, '06) and CAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year twice (2004, '05). Under his guidance, Salisbury has produced six CAC Runner of the Year recipients: Suzy McCulloch (1999, 2000), Tristan Gilbert (2003), Glenna Sullivan (2005), Scott Koehler (2005) and Kelly Sullivan (2006). SU also has earned the CAC Rookie of the Year four times: Jeremy Beall (1999), Will Murdoch (2002), Laura Ulmer (2004) and Kelly Sullivan (2005). Jones has also piloted the men to the CAC title five times in 2000, '02, '03, '05 and '06 and the women to the CAC title three times in 2004, '05 and '06. During Jones' tenure Salisbury has had 47 men and 27 women recognized as All-CAC performers. Additionally, Suzy McCulloch won the 1999 NCAA Mideast Regional Championship earning the honor as the NCAA Mideast Athlete of the Year and finished 48th at the 1999 NCAA National Cross Country Championships with a time of 17:48.2 for 5,000 meters during Jones' first season. 

Jones came to Salisbury after serving for five years as the head coach for both cross country and track and field at NCAA Division III Muskingum College in New Concord, OH. Prior to that, Jones spent four years as an assistant cross country and track coach, with two-year stints at Otterbein (OH) College as well as his alma mater, Mount Union (OH) College. Jones served on the NCAA National Track and Field Committee from 2001-2005 and as the committees chair from 2004-2005.

A native of Coshocton, OH, Jones is a 1991 graduate of Mount Union, where he was a four-year member of both the cross country and track and field teams. Jones served as team captain of the cross country squad for three seasons and was an NCAA national qualifier in cross country. He and his wife Amy have a daughter, Hope, and a son, Ethan, and reside in Salisbury.