Annie Schweitzer Bennett Position: Head Cross Country and Track & Field Coa Experience: 2nd season

One of America's top distance runners in the mid-1980s, Annie Schweitzer Bennett enters her second season as the head coach of the Wake Forest University women's track & field and cross country program.

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.

In the fall of 2000, Bennett piloted the Demon Deacon cross country harriers to the NCAA Championships after a third place finish at the ACC Championships and NCAA Regionals.

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.

A former six-time All-American and NCAA Champion, Bennett spent five years at the helm of the Ladyjack program. During her stint at Stephen F. Austin, She helped develop a struggling team into a conference contender by taking them from 10th place at the Southland Conference championship meet to a 2nd place finish in 1999.

Athletes that Bennett recruited at Stephen F. Austin broke 10 of 14 indoor school records and 11 of 18 outdoor school records. Six of her athletes won Southland Conference championships and in the spring of 1999, she tutored the school's first All-American. In her first season in Nacogdoches, Bennett coached the school's first qualifier to the NCAA championships.

Bennett was honored in the fall of 1998 when she was named the Southland Conference's women's cross country coach of the year.

Bennett has also served as the head coach of the U.S. Junior Women's Cross Country team. She took a group of high school seniors and college freshmen to the 2000 World Championship Race in Faro, Portugal, where they captured fifth place. She was a participant in the senior competition in 1988, competing in Auckland, New Zealand. 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. As a student-athlete in 1987, Bennett was the NCAA champion in the 5,000 meters. She went undefeated in the cross country season en route to earning All-American honors. In 1986, she led the Texas cross country team to the NCAA national championship and was a member of Texas' 1986 outdoor national championship team.

Bennett was named to the Southwest Conference All-Decade Team for her individual and team achievements during the 1980s. She was a three-time Southwest Conference Champion in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, garnering All-SWC honors in each of her four years at Texas.

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 degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Southwest Texas State University in 1995.

Bennett, and her husband Mike, reside in Winston-Salem and enjoy running.