A three-time PAC Track & Field Coach of the Year and veteran of the Presidents' Athletic Conference, Andy Upton joined W&J as its head coach for men's and women's cross country and track & field in August of 2023.
In the 2024 cross country season, Upton coached the emergence of three NCAA National Championship qualifiers in Claire Anderson, Dominic Fltcraft and Brock Pennington. Anderson compiled a historic season becoming W&J's first Region Runner of the Year after posting the fastest 6k by a W&J athlete in program history. Anderson went on to place 23rd at NCAA Nationals and became W&J's first women's All-American since Kristen Galligan in 2012. During the track & field seasons, Upton lead his athletes to eight record-breaking performances. Anthony Cestaro III broke a 39-year-old record in the outdoor track & field 60-meter dash.
Upton brought a wealth of coaching experience to the position. That experience paid immediate dividends for the programs. W&J totaled five NCAA Division III national qualifiers in Upton's first year at the helm.
During the fall cross country season, Cassie Carr and Claire Anderson reached the National Championship meet. Carr earned the NCAA Division III Elite 90 Award presented the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the site of finals competition. Anderson had previously earned the individual title at the PAC Championships.
During the indoor season, Nate Sciarro and Anderson both qualified for NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Jadyn Hartner earned the recognition as a senior during the outdoor slate.
All three men's team finished in second place in the PAC Championship rankings. The highlight for the women was a third place finish in the team standings at the 2024 PAC Indoor Championships.
He comes over to W&J from Presidents’ Athletic Conference member Bethany College, where he served as head track & field coach for the past 19 seasons. Upton led the Cross Country program at Bethany last fall after serving as an assistant football coach for the Bison for the better part of two decades.
“We are very excited to announce Andy as the leader of our cross country and track & field programs,” said Scott McGuinness, W&J Director of Athletics. “Andy is a proven, veteran coach who has led individuals and teams to produce great success in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III. We feel confident that Andy will build upon our recent success at W&J and provide a first-class experience for our student-athletes.”
Upton, who was Bethany’s longest tenured current member of its athletic department, also recently served as Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities, Operations and Intramurals.
He is a three-time PAC Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. Upton twice led the Bison men’s track & field team to PAC indoor championships. Bethany earned back-to-back conference indoor crowns in 2015 and 2016.
Upton has coached six All-Americans, 11 NCAA qualifiers, seven PAC Most Valuable Performers and one ECAC Most Valuable Performer. During his tenure, Bethany has produced 60 individual PAC champions, 178 All-PAC performers and 87 ECAC qualifiers. A total of 55 school records have been broken under Upton’s guidance.
He has helped Bethany host numerous track & field meets over the years including the first-ever two-day championship meet back in 2011. Upton worked with the PAC to help orchestrate the move of the PAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships to WVU’s Mylan Park in 2021.
Upton was also a long-time member of the Bethany football coaching staff, as he served in an assistant coach role from 2003 through the 2021 season. Primarily serving as the wide receivers coach, his players earned All-PAC honors 26 times and 10 school records were broken during that stretch.
Upton, a 1997 graduate of West Virginia Tech, earned Bachelor of Science in Business Management with an emphasis on marketing. He then added a Masters of Business Administration in 2001 from West Virginia Wesleyan.
Upton served as an assistant football coach at both West Virginia Tech and West Virginia Wesleyan. During his time at Wesleyan, the football program captured the 2002 WVIAC Championship. This past April, Upton was inducted into the West Virginia Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame as part of that championship team.
He and his wife Rebecca and their sons Christopher and Matthew reside in Wheeling, W.Va.
