Albany, NY— Joining the Sage Department of Athletics in January of 2019, David Taranto (Burlington, MA/Burlington) brings with him a wealth of experience first as a Division I student-athlete at Boston College and most recently as the assistant men's cross country and track and field coach for his alma mater, Boston College.
"I am very excited to be joining the athletic department at The Sage Colleges as the Head Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Coach," noted Taranto. He added, "I'm looking forward to bringing the knowledge and experience I gained at Boston College to Sage and taking the Gator program to new heights. I'd like to thank Sandy for giving me the opportunity and I can't wait to get on campus to start working with our student athletes!"
"I am thrilled to announce the hiring of David Taranto as the Head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach at Sage," Director of Athletics Sandy Augstein-Collins remarked. She added, "David brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge and I look forward to the growth of the programs here at Sage under his guidance."
Taranto will lead Sage's women's and men's cross country programs as well as the women's and men's track and field teams. The Gators compete in the Empire 8 and will open the 2019 track and field season on March 30-31 at the Ramapo College Invitational (Mahwah, NJ). He replaces Zachary Williams, who stepped down in November to pursue other opportunities.
A former BC Eagle, Taranto ran cross country and competed in distance events on the track for three seasons, and served as a student manager as a senior. A Dean's List student at BC, Taranto earned his bachelor degree in history in 2016 and a M.Ed. from the Boston College –Lynch School of Education in 2017.
While a student-athlete at BC, he was also saluted for his academic prowess having earned the Boston College Athletic Director's Award for Academic Achievement while also earning acclaim as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll and a selection to the Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society. A member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.) at BC, he excelled as a member of the cross country and track and field teams there competing in track in the distance events before suffering injury that slowed his career. As a senior, he directed his attention to serving as the track team manager and excelled in that role, which resulted in his selection as the assistant cross country and track and field coach at BC in the summer of 2016.
In charge of recruiting and the organization of pre-season and in-season practices, Taranto gained valuable experience with administrative duties such as compliance, admission evaluations, academic monitoring, community service, fund raising, and social media, while also working with his student-athletes to focus on mental and physical preparation for competitions and academic preparedness while on the staff at BC. During his time as an assistant coach, the programs were honored for academic excellence as well as they earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team Award three times (2016, 2017, & 2018), while also collecting back-to-back acclaim from the USTFCCCA as an All-Academic Track & Field Team in 2017 and 2018.
Taranto helped the student-athletes achieve numerous accomplishments in his time as an assistant coach. He worked with and coached student-athletes that achieved 33 All-Time Top Ten performances at BC. Additionally, he coached and led four student-athletes to school record performances during his tenure, including; Matt Morano - 600m (1:19.54), Obi Nwankwo - Indoor 300m (34.33), as well as the outdoor 4x400m relay team (3:11.00), and the indoor 4x200m relay team (1:32.20).
He coached and worked with Sean Burke, who was a 2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships Qualifier, while also garnering three All-ACC selections and was also a two-time NCAA East Preliminary Round Qualifier. He also coached Avery McKenzie, who was a three-time ACC Championship Qualifier and is ranked fourth all-time in the triple jump at BC and seventh all-time in the outdoor triple jump as well at BC.
