One of America's top distance runners in the mid-1980s, Annie Schweitzer Bennett enters her tenth season at the helm of the Wake Forest University track and field team. Bennett, who served as the head women's track and field coach at Wake Forest for two years, became the Director of Wake Forest Track and Field following the 2001 season when the men's and women's programs merged. In November of 2003, Bennett was one of five former athletes and coaches inducted into the Women's Athletics Hall of Honor at the University of Texas. In 2007, Bennett helped guide Wake Forest to its best-finish ever at the NCAA Indoor Championship, tying for 14th place. A total of 10 records were set including six by the women's squad and four by the men. The Demon Deacons place three student-athletes on the All-America team including Michael Bingham in the 400, Brent LaRue in the heptathlon and Michelle Sikes in the 5000 and 3000 meters. LaRue won the ACC Championship in the heptathlon and Sikes set a pair of school records before finishing third in the 5K and fourth in the 3K at the NCAA Championships. Sikes became Wake Forest's first NCAA Champion during the 2007 Outdoor season. She captured the 5000 meters at the NCAA Championships with a school and NCAA-record time of 15:16.76, smashing the existing NCAA record of 15:24.06 set by Stanford Lauren Fleshman. Sikes upset Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego who was vying for an unprecedented fifth national title. Sikes would go on to be named a Rhodes Scholar and qualify for the World Championships in Japan.
Wake Forest had a record 18 individuals qualify for the NCAA Regionals with Bingham, Sikes and the men's 4x400 relay team moving on to the national championship event. Bingham finished fifth in the 400 meters at the NCAA event. At the ACC Outdoor Championships, the women scored a record 54 points and set 11 records while the men also set a school record. In 2006, Bennett guided several of her student-athletes to stellar seasons on the track. Her team earned 24 All-ACC awards between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Sikes became just the 19th Demon Deacon to earn All-America honors after she finished fifth in the 5,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Also at the outdoor championships, the 4x400m relay team of Michael Bingham, Willie Idlette, Brent LaRue and Eric Seely closed its season with an 11th-place result in a time of 3:06.31. This result came after the team shattered the previous school record in the event with a time of 3:05.48 at the NCAA East Regionals, breaking the old record by over 10 seconds. The men's team finished third at the 2006 ACC Outdoor Championships, hosted by Wake Forest at Kentner Stadium in April, its highest finish in seven years. The 2006 cross country season also saw Sikes garner All-American honors after a 13th place result at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Her time of 21:09.2 on the 6k course beat out 240 other runners. In 2005, Bennett placed three athletes in the NCAA Championships. Senior Annie Bersagel took sixth in the 10,000-meters, earning All-America honors for the third consecutive year in that event. Lindsay Neuberger and Michael Bingham also competed in the NCAA Championships. Bingham, as a freshman, won the decathlon title at the ACC Championships. In the 2003 cross country season, Bennett coached the ACC Female Rookie of the Year, five All-Region athletes, three All-ACC selections and an All-American, en route to another stellar season in Demon Deacon Cross Country. The men finished fifth at the ACC Championships and Sean Stevens was an individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships. The women came in third at the ACC Championship, followed by a ninth place finish at the NCAA Regionals and a 21st place spot at the NCAA Championships. Under the guidance of Bennett, five Demon Deacons earned All-ACC honors in the spring of 2003. Three individuals qualified for the NCAA Championships and Nikeya Green (800m) and Anne Bersagel (10,000m) took home All-America honors. Five different Demon Deacons competed at the 2003 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and nine school records were broken. In 2002, Bennett was named ACC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year as the Deacons shared their first-ever ACC Championship title with NC State. Bennett led the team to five first-place and two second-place finishes on the season and received NCAA Southeast Regional Coach of the Year honors after winning the NCAA Regional in Greenville, NC. The Deacons placed ninth in their first ever trip to the NCAA Championships since the program originated in 1978. Bennett saw three of her student-athletes receive Academic All-America honors, including Anne Bersagel who was also named All-ACC, All-Region and All-America after an outstanding sophomore season. Bennett led Wake Forest women's track and field squad to a fifth place finish indoors and eighth outdoors at the 2001 ACC Championships and tied for 30th at both NCAA Championships. Her 2000 women's cross country team finished third at both the ACC Championships and the NCAA Regional Championships, before placing 29th at the NCAA Championships. The DMR team broke the school record, won the ACC Championship and finished fourth at the NCAA Championships. Eight Demon Deacons earned All-ACC honors, three won ACC Championships and seven All-America certificates were captured. Bennett's top pupil, Sara Day, followed up with a runner-up finish at the ACC Cross Country Championships with three All-American honors on the track, including a runner-up finish in the 10,000-Meter Run - the highest women's finish in school history. In 2001, Bennett directed a young cross country team to a seventh place finish at NCAA Regionals and saw true freshman Bersagel automatically qualify individually for the NCAA Championships. In her first season at the helm of the Demon Deacons, Bennett coached the cross country squad to a fourth place finish at the ACC Championships and saw four different people earn all-conference honors, as well as Janelle Kraus and Jill Snyder earn All-American honors in both indoors and outdoors. Prior to coming to Winston-Salem, Bennett was the head coach of the women's track and cross country program at Stephen F. Austin State University for five years. Bennett has also served as the head coach of the U.S. Junior Women's Cross Country team. In March 2005, Bennett coached the U.S. Senior Women's Cross Country team to a bronze medal in France. In 2007, she was an assistant coach for the USA team in the Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Before moving to Stephen F. Austin, Bennett spent two years as the assistant coach for the women's track and field program at the University of Texas from 1992 through 1994. Her coaching stint at Texas followed a brilliant career with the Longhorns. A six-time All-American and NCAA Champion, Bennett was named to the Southwest Conference All-Decade Team for her individual and team achievements during the 1980s. A native of Baton Rouge, La., Bennett earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Texas in 1988 and earned a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Southwest Texas State University in 1995. Bennett resides in Winston-Salem with her husband, Mike, their daughter, Carley and their son, Michael. |
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