Fletcher Brooks

Head Coach of Men's/Women's Track & Field

Fletcher.A.Brooks@williams.edu

413-597-2447


2012 -- USTFCCCA New England Region Women's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year
2010 -- NESCAC Women's Track Coach of the Year
2010 --
USTFCCCA New England Region Women's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year
2010
-- USTFCCCA New England Region Men's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year
2010 -- NESCAC Men's Track Coach of the Year
2009 -- USTFCCCA New England Region Women's Indoor Track Coach of the Year
2009 -- NESCAC Men's Track Coach of the Year

2009 -- NESCAC Women's Track Coach of the Year

In May 2008, the personable and indefatigable Fletcher Brooks returned to Williams College to assume the position of head coach of men's and women's track & field. Brooks had spent seven years at Williams (1998-2005) as the Ephs' strength and conditioning coach, an assistant and then associate head coach of men's and women's track & field.  He spent the next three years as the head coach of women's track & field and women's cross country at MIT before heading back to the Purple Valley to lead the Ephs.

Brooks made a big impact on the MIT program in his brief tenure in Cambridge, guiding the Engineers to their first NEWMAC title (2007), and the highest New England indoor (3rd in 2008) and outdoor (2nd in 2007) finishes in program history. He also coached the Engineers' 2006 men's indoor and outdoor NCAA champion in the shot put.

Though grateful for his MIT experience, Brooks said, "I am glad to be back in the NESCAC and at Williams, the best Division III conference and athletic department in the country, and to be working again with a great coaching staff and a wonderful group of kids."

At Williams, Brooks has personally coached 48 Eph All-Americans and four NCAA champions and was instrumental in implementing effective strength and conditioning programs for the Williams varsity teams.

"Williams track & field, including both our athletes and assistant coaches, is excited to have Fletcher back as head coach," noted long time Eph head coach Peter Farwell. "Fletcher was a tremendous assistant coach at Williams for seven years in the throws, jumps, and strength-conditioning areas. Since then he has gained great experience heading up MIT's women's track & field team, and he has brought to Williams administrative expertise, top-notch event coaching, and a strong personal ability to guide and motivate our coaching staff and team."

Brooks is a 1993 graduate of Allegheny College where he earned a B.A. in English and minored in women studies. He was also an All-American in the shot put and lettered on the football team which won the Division III National Championship in 1990.

He earned a master's degree in physical education and advanced level coaching from Springfield College in 1998 and he holds three national certifications:

--  Level II Jumps, Throws, Sprints and Combined Event Coach  (USA Track & Field)

--   Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (National Strength and Conditioning Association)

--   Level I Club Coach (United States Weightlifting Association)




Peter Farwell

Assistant Coach of Men's/Women's Track & Field

pfarwell@williams.edu

413-597-3249

Farwell was head coach of the Williams men’s and women’s track & field teams in 2007-08 after serving as head coach from 1988 to 2001. Farwell has been honored 16 times (12 for men's team, 4 for women's team) as New England Division III Coach of the Year and in 1995 was named Men's National Coach of the Year. When he was not the Ephs head track & field coach Farwell has served as assistant track coach of the distance runners 1980-1987 and 2002. He will again serve as an assistant beginning with the 2008=09 year.

When track was under his leadership the Ephs won 9 indoor and 10 outdoor New England titles for the men plus 6 indoor and 8 outdoor titles for the women, 10 men’s and 9 women’s NESCAC conference titles, 4 men’s and 6 women’s ECAC titles, and at the NCAAs the men placed 2nd twice and 7 times in the top 10 while the women also garnered 7 top 10 NCAA finishes, highlighted by two 3rds.

Altogether he has coached 65 different track All-Americans plus relay members (6 men and 6 women’s relays, 19 distance women (46 awards) and 17 distance men (36 awards), 12 women and 17 men in other events (34 women's awards and 36 men’s) including 21 National Champions (by 11 different athletes - 6 women distance, 5 men distance, 6 women and 4 men in other events).

Bringing to the sport a Williams ('73) liberal arts undergraduate education combined with a scientific knowledge of physiology (M.A. in P.E. Coaching, Central Michigan University ‘90), Coach Farwell has devised a training plan that improves runners of all levels. His devotion to every athlete on the team helps make Williams one of the deepest Division III teams in the nation.

Farwell's 23-year competitive experience included a 23rd-place finish (2:20) at the Boston Marathon and the 6-mile Williams school record.

Farwell is also the head coach of the ephs men's and women's cross country teams (men since 1979 and women since 2000). His men's teams have won 8 New England, 9 NESCAC  and 2 ECAC titles, garnering Farwell 5 regional coach of the year honors. He was named 1994 National Coach of the Year after leading the Williams to the first of its two NCAA championships.

Since 1993 the men’s teams have also finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 7th, and 9th at the NCAA championship race.

He took over the reins of the women's cross country team in 2000, and the Ephs won NCAA title in 2002 and 2004 and has recorded 3 runner-up finishes, a 4th and an 8th in the past 7 seven years! His women’s teams have won 2 New England, 3 NESCAC and 3 ECAC titles, and he has been chosen women’s regional coach of the year twice, NESCAC Coach of the Year twice, and National Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2004.  Altogether he has coached 15 Eph men harriers to 27 All-American placings (including 2 national champs) and 10 women to 18 All-American finishes.

Farwell's finished in 23rd (2:20) at the Boston Marathon and owns the 6-mile Williams school record.




Dick Farley

Assistant Coach of Men's/Women's Track & Field Coach

rfarley@williams.edu

413-597-3021

Farley was the head coach of the Williams men's and women's track & field teams from 1973-1986 and served as an assistant to both teams in the outdoor season since 1986.

Under Farley the Eph men and women were 98-54 (.645) and won 15 Little Three titles.

Farley was star track & field athlete and football player at Boston University, and later played pro football with the San Diego Chargers. His specialty is the hurdles.

On being named the head coach of football at Williams in 1987, Farley remained involved with track & field serving as an assistant outdoor track & field coach for both the men's and women's teams.

In the fall of 2003 after retiring as the head football coach, Farley became an assistant track & field coach for both the indoor and outdoor teams for men's and women's and was named Director of Club Sports.

In August of 2006 Dick Farley was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. 




Howard Powell

Assistant Coach of Men's/Women's Track & Field

Howard.E.Powell@williams.edu

413-597-4952

Howard E. Powell, is a 2010 graduate of Wheaton College MA, and is joining the Williams College track and field team for his first year of collegiate coaching.  As a four-year member of the  Wheaton College track and field team, Howard served as a team captain for two years. In 2008-09 he became an All-American in the 55-meter and 110-meter hurdle events. Howard earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and minored in history.
 
Since graduating from Wheaton Powell returned to his alma mater, Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, New York, as a volunteer coach for hurdles.  His coaching duties included creating weekly workouts, teaching hurdle specific drills, and designing specialized workouts for individual athletes.  While at Boys and Girls, he was also a team mentor and assisted the athletes in college prep readiness programs.
 
During the spring semester of 2011, Howard worked as a school aide at Boys and Girls High School’s Prep for Success Academy, where he played an active role on the planning committee, coordinated field trips and advised at risk youth.  He also worked at the Jewish Child Care Association in Brooklyn, New York, as a service provider.
 
Howard Powell is excited to join the Williams track and field program as an assistant coach. He is even more eager to use the knowledge he has acquired as both an athlete and coach to enhance the athletic performance of the talented athletes on the Eph team.  




Melissa Daly

Assistant Coach of Men's/Women's Track & Field

Melissa.Daly@williams.edu

413-597-4953

Melissa Daly ’03 begins her first year as an assistant coach with the Williams track and field team in the 2011-12 season.

Daly comes to Williams most recently from Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC) where she was a volunteer assistant coach for the track and teams. Before her time at Wake Forest, Daly was coaching at the high school level. Her time at Hellgate High School in Missoula, MT and RJ Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, NC resulted in nine school records being broken by her student-athletes. She also sent more than 15 athletes in 13 different events to their respective indoor and outdoor state meet.

One of her biggest accomplishments as a coach include three of her athletes advancing to the high school national championship in the long jump, triple jump, and pentathlon.

In May 2011, Daly earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering with an emphasis in biomechanics from the Virginia Tech/Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences.

Daly completed her undergraduate work at Williams with a dual degree in biology and chemistry. During her four years she was a member of the women’s track and field team and also a two-year captain for the equestrian team.

She holds a USATF Level 1 coaching certification.

“It is a special pleasure to have a former Williams athlete of mine now a coaching colleague,” says head coach for men’s and women’s track and field Fletcher Brooks. “Melissa possesses a strong coaching background and a rare level of education in human movement. Most importantly, she has the passion for coaching and genuine desire in bringing our program to the next level.




Ben Raphelson

Assistant Coach of Men's/Women's Cross Country & Track & Field

Benjamin.Raphelson@williams.edu

Ben Raphelson joins the Williams Cross Country (and track) staff in 2011-2012. He comes to Williams from Smith College (Northampton, MA), where he earned a Master's degree in Exercise and Sports Studies while coaching with the cross country and track & field teams for the two years. Raphelson served as interim head coach with the cross country team in the fall of 2010 while the head coach was on maternity leave. While at Smith, he also worked as course instructor, teaching classes on physical conditioning.

Prior to Smith, Raphelson coached at his alma mater, Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA) for two years, where he was in charge of  the men's and women's distance and middle-distance groups. He graduated from Grinnell in 2008 with a B.A. in history.

Raphelson grew up in Bloomfield Hills, MI. He holds a USATF Level-2 endurance certification.

He is also a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), having earned the credential from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) in the summer of 2011.




Lance Harden

Assistant Coach of Men's/Women's Cross Country & Track & Field

llh2@williams.edu

Lance Harden enters his first season coaching at Williams 2011-2012.

A native of Pittsboro, NC, Lance Harden graduated from The North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics (Durham, NC) before obtaining a B.A. in Philosophy from Davidson College (Davidson, NC) in 2009. While at Davidson, Harden was a nine-time All-Southern Conference runner, a conference champion at 10,000m, and set four school records. He was a two-year captain and part of Davidson’s 2009 cross-country team that finished a program-best second in the league meet.

After finishing coursework at Davidson in December 2009, Harden was the head distance coach of indoor and outdoor track at Northwood High School (Pittsboro, NC) in 2010. There he helped all of his athletes garner All-State honors at the NCHSAA 2A Indoor and Outdoor Track Championships by finishing in the top 8 of their respective events.

In 2010-11, Harden was a volunteer assistant coach of men’s cross-country and track at Davidson College where he helped the Wildcats place 4th in cross country with the #1, #2, #5, and #9 fastest 8K runners in school history and in track break 7 school records (including steeplechase, 5000m and 10000m), achieve 9 All-Southern Conference awards, and win SoCon individual titles in the 800m and 1500m.






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