Wallace State Community College has promoted Tony Crider to head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country teams, President Dr. Vicki Karolewics announced today.
“Tony Crider has proven himself in his role as assistant coach to the Wallace State cross country teams. He has been a vital part of the Wallace State family, and we know he will continue to build upon Wallace State’s outstanding success in cross country as head coach,” Karolewics said.
Crider has served as the assistant coach under retiring head coach Stan Narewski since 2017. He will take over a men’s squad that has eight conference championship and a women’s squad that has five, including a sweep of the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) meets in 2020. That year, the Lady Lions had a program-best 6th-place finish in the NJCAA Division II national meet and the men were 8th.
“To me, it’s just a great honor to be able to follow a person like Stan and work for such a great administration at Wallace State,” Crider said. “I truly enjoy the students and I look forward to getting up every morning to work with them. They are like my children; they keep me young.”
Crider’s goal is to bring national championship trophies home to Wallace State.
“I’m going to do my best to keep Wallace State winning championships, just like Stan and I have done over years,” he said. “Our goal is to win a national championship.”
Crider has more than 20 years of experience coaching multiple sports at the high school level, with more than 10 years coaching cross country and track and field at Cold Springs High School. There, he was part of a combined four cross country and track and field state championships.