Andrew Rickert begins his 14th season in 2016 as the head coach of The College of Saint Rose men’s and women’s cross country teams. Additionally, he serves as an assistant with the men's and women's track program as a long distance specialist.
Rickert has developed and instituted a long term plan that has placed Saint Rose among the most rapidly rising programs in the East that helped him earn Northeast-10 Conference Women’s Coach of the Year honors in 2008 and 2010. Rickert is a certified Level II coach by USA Track & Field in the endurance events.
The 2015 men's team recorded ninth place finishes at both the NE-10 Championship and the NCAA East Regional, while Ben Kapuscinski and Michelle Lujan received All-Region honors.
In 2013, the women’s squad registered sixth and eighth place marks at the league championship and at regionals, respectively, followed by a ninth place finish at the league meet in 2014, and 16th at the NCAA East Regional just a few weeks later. One the men’s side, the squad posted a fourth place team finish at the 2014 ECAC Championship, eighth at the NE-10 Championship and ninth at the NCAA East Regional.
The 2012 season marked the women’s cross country team's second trip to the NCAA Championships in just a three-year span, including a third place finish at the 2012 NCAA East Region Championship meet in Nashua, N.H. In 2010, the Golden Knights matched the 2008 squad with their best finish ever at the NE-10 Championships behind a third place effort. They then took second at the NCAA East Regional to clinch the program’s first trip as a team to the NCAA Championship Meet in Louisville. Rickert was ultimately named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Women’s East Region Coach of the Year.
During Rickert’s tenure as head coach, Saint Rose has hosted a home meet, the Joust, while the roster has more than doubled in size and the Golden Knights have become a formidable threat to challenge for an NE-10 Championship.
The men’s squad registered perhaps its best team performance ever in school annals at the 2008 NCAA East Regional Championship by finishing fifth out of 24 competing institutions. Furthermore, the Golden Knights recorded five of the top-10 swiftest 10k times in school annals in 2008 and achieved their highest finish at the NE-10 Championships on the way to a fifth place showing among 14 competing squads.
Rickert shares his expertise in distance running to the Saint Rose men’s and women’s track and field programs as well, where he was an assistant coach up until 2016. Macky Lloyd '13 put the finishing touches on an exceptional career during the 2013 spring season under Rickert’s tutelage. Lloyd was the 2011 outdoor league champion in the 3000-meter steeplechase and also took part in the mile at the 2011 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships. He then trumped the latter accomplishment by placing seventh in the mile at the 2013 Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships to earn All-America Honors in the mile. Additionally, Lloyd took part in the 2013 Outdoor Track & Field Championships by qualifying in the 3000m steeplechase after taking the conference title. The Golden Knights crowned back-to-back NE-10 champions in the women’s 10000m run as Melissa Bredice ’10 won the race in 2008 and Meaghan Lucie ’11 took the 2009 title.
During the 2016 outdoor season, Jon Cahill '16 (800m) and Michelle Lujan (1500m steeplechase) became the ninth and 10th NE-10 champions and second and third NCAA qualifiers under the guidance of Rickert.
Rickert’s student-athletes have excelled in the classroom throughout his tenure. The women’s cross country team has been named an outstanding academic team for eight straight years by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Furthermore, the women’s team earned the highest GPA average in the NE-10 in 2010. Six student-athletes earned All-Academic honors in 2012 from both the men’s and women’s program, and Patty Massa ’12 was named a NE-10 Academic All-Conference selection.
An outstanding athlete is his own right, Rickert competed for four years at the University at Albany. He was the 1998 and 1999 New England Collegiate Conference indoor track and field champion in the 5000m, and was also named to the 1998 ECAC Division II cross country All-Conference team.
Rickert still competes in various road, trail and snowshoe races throughout the area and most days you will find him running alongside either the men’s or women’s team. He is a member of a sub-masters USATF Delmar-based team called the "Wild Rovers."
Rickert graduated magna cum laude from Albany in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in business. He received his master’s in secondary education from Saint Rose in the spring of 2006, and is a ninth grade English teacher at Lansingburgh High School in nearby Troy.
Rickert and his wife, Jennifer, and their two sons, Keaton and Greyson, reside in Delmar. They are expecting their third child this October.
You can follow coach Rickert and the cross country and track & field programs on Instagram @saintrose_xctf.
