Albany, NY — Russell Sage College's director of athletics has announced the selection of Nick Jones (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) as the newest men's and women's cross country and track and field head coach. Jones, a 2009 graduate of the University at Albany, joins RSC's department of athletics after serving as the head track and field coach and the assistant cross country coach for Plattsburgh State University for the past 11 seasons.
Director of Athletics Sandy Augstein-Collins commented of Jones' selection "I am thrilled to announce Nick Jones as our new cross country and track and field Coach and look forward to welcoming him as a member of our Gator coaching staff." She added, "Nick comes to Sage after a very successful tenure at Plattsburgh. I'm looking forward to the continued growth of our programs under Nick's guidance."
"I'd like to thank Sandy Augstein-Collins and the rest of the hiring committee for the opportunity to lead the Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field programs at Russell Sage College, remarked Jones. He added, "I am excited to take on this challenge and look forward to continuing to build these programs."
Jones will assume his new role as the Gators continue competition mid-January for the team's second season of indoor track and field. He will lead RSC's cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field programs and will start his new role in early January.
During his tenure at the helm of the Plattsburgh State program, the Cardinals have had 32 NCAA Division III qualifiers, seven All-Americas, 51 conference champions and rewritten the school records having shattered 48 of them under his guidance.
Plattsburgh State has steadily improved in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) hierarchy since his arrival, as the Cardinals' women's team is now perennially a top-four team in the conference in both indoor and outdoor, while the men boasted their best conference finish since 2005-06 when they took fifth at the SUNYAC indoor championships in 2019-20.
His success with his student-athletes has not been limited to track and field as during the 2011 cross country season, Jones led both the women's and men's programs to the NCAA Championships. Ryan Millar set a personal record in his first ever appearance at the national championship meet. On the women's side, Jones led the team to a seventh-place finish. Stefanie Braun led the team, earning All-America honors with a 15th-place finish. Jones coached seven runners to All-Region honors in 2011. Millar and Justin Harrington received nods on the men's side, while Braun, Julia Warren, Brittany Trahan, Kelley Driscoll and Amanda Schermerhorn received honors on the women's side. Braun was also named Regional Athlete of the Year.
Jones joined the Cardinals' track and field coaching staff as an assistant in August 2010 and took over as the interim director of the cross country and track and field programs in September 2011 following the departure of former head coach John Lynch. He became the head track and field coach prior to the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
Prior to Plattsburgh State, Jones was a volunteer assistant coach at the University at Albany where he had a successful four-year athletic career with the NCAA Division I Great Danes. He helped the men's program to the 2009 America East Conference indoor and outdoor track and field crowns, while the women's side claimed the outdoor title. He mentored pole vault and multi-event athletes who earned three All-America citations, a pair of conference championships and two school records.
Jones graduated from UAlbany in August 2009 with a bachelor's degree in sociology, plus a minor in psychology. He competed as a pole vaulter from 2004-08, posting a personal best of 14 feet and 9 inches that ranks seventh on the Great Danes' all-time indoor performance list and 14-6 that lists 10th outdoors – both marks coming in 2005.
He owns a USA Track & Field (USATF) Level I Coaching Certification.
Russell Sage College, an NCAA Division III institution, competes as a member of the Empire 8 conference in most of its sports and offers 21 varsity programs.
