College welcomes new track & field programs, coach Lisa Morgan-Richman

^{By: Gladstone Harris, Sports Information Director                             gladstone_harris@bloomfield.edu}

Bloomfield College Athletics continues to invite students to write a championship story with the addition of Lisa Morgan-Richman as the new head coach of men's & women's outdoor track and field, Director of Athletics Sheila Wooten announced Aug. 17. Both programs will be added for the 2015-16 academic year with Morgan-Richman at the helm, giving Bloomfield 12 NCAA Division II athletics programs.

"We are excited to add men's and women's track and field at Bloomfield, and we are glad to have Lisa on board to build this new program," said Wooten. "The addition of track & field will provide prospective student-athletes an opportunity to compete at the collegiate level. Also, it will give our cross country program an advantage in recruiting runners who have a desire to compete on the track as well."

This is Morgan-Richman's second collegiate coaching position after a stint from 1993-2003 at the Division I level with Seton Hall University. During her time as Associate Head Coach for the Pirates, Morgan-Richman guided the team to 23 school records, coached 45 Big East champions and 26 NCAA All-Americans. She led the women's team to a third-place NCAA finish in 1994.

The University of Kentucky graduate also holds international coaching experience with Team USA Track & Field. In 2010-2011 she served as the distance coach at the IAAF World Youth Championships in France. Morgan-Richman served as head coach for Team USA in 2012-2013 when she led 43 athletes and 12 staff members on a three-week overseas trip to Ukraine for the World Youth Championships. In 2014, Lisa coached Team USA at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Rounding out her experience, Coach Morgan-Richman began as an associate coach of cross-country and track & field at Columbia High School (Maplewood, N.J.) in 1989. In 1990, she took over the cross-country head coaching position at East Orange High School in East Orange, N.J. She returned to Columbia High in 2007 and produced the first national team championship in the school's history. Morgan-Richman also led Columbia to five consecutive state championships from 2010-2014.

The new track & field teams will join Bloomfield's 10 intercollegiate programs - which include men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball and men's tennis - that compete in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC). 

"We look forward to adding these two programs, as they complement our men's and women's cross country programs and provide a good balance," said Wooten. "We also are pleased to help the CACC grow its' men's and women's track & field championship sports and compete with other teams in our conference. It takes time to build a program, but we are confident that with Coach Morgan-Richman's direction, in a few years we will be competitive at the NCAA Division II level."

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