Feb. 1, 2000

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Noel Ruebel, the interim men's track and field coach at Wake Forest for the last four months, has been officially named the Demon Deacons' head men's track & field coach on a full-time basis, director of athletics Ron Wellman announced today.

Additionally, Ruebel has tagged olympic decathlete Chris Huffins, who joined Ruebel at Wake Forest in 1996, as an assistant coach.

A 17-year veteran of coaching on the collegiate level, Ruebel has spent the last three years developing the Wake Forest field and technical event program into one of the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Under his direction, the Demon Deacons broke four school records in various field events during the 1999 season alone. Prior to joining the Wake Forest program, Ruebel was an assistant coach at Purdue for 13 years and Ohio State for one year. While at Purdue, Ruebel coached ten All-Americans, 21 Big Ten champions and 35 NCAA qualifiers. His athletes broke every field event in the Purdue recordbook.

"It's extremely exciting to take over this position," Ruebel said. "I'm definitely looking forward to directing the track & field program to a diversity and level that it has never previously achieved."

Ruebel is also the personal coach of Huffins, the bronze medal winner in the decathlon at the 1999 World Championships in August and the two-time defending U.S. National Champion. Huffins posted the second highest decathlon score in the world in 1998 and recorded the third highest score in United States history. Huffins will continue to work closely with the Demon Deacon sprinters who, since Huffins' arrival, have broken every school record both indoors and outdoors.

"I'm very pleased about the prospects of developing a program with a coaching staff that includes an olympic decathlete," said Ruebel. "Chris' contribution was certainly felt last year with our sprint crew dominating the conference championships, and we look to do even better this season."