Allegheny College Athletics - 2010 Baseball Coaching Staff

Tradition, Commitment, Excellence

Athletes of the Year

Women's Cross Country

Mia Symoniak was selected by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as the Allegheny Female Student-Athlete of the Year. An All-NCAC performer in Cross Country and both Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, she was chosen over five other nominees for the award.

Symoniak had a decorated year as the Allegheny women's top distance runner. During the cross country season, she placed ninth among 91 runners at the NCAC Championships to earn All-NCAC Second Team status. Symoniak finished 25th of 311 finishers at the Mideast Region Regional, claiming All-Region status.

Other in-season accolades included one stint as NCAC Runner of the Week after Symoniak took fifth out of 193 participants at Calvin's Knight Invitational. She was also honored as an Allegheny Athlete of the Week once and was the SAAC Female Student-Athlete of the Month in January.

During the indoor track campaign, Symoniak won the 5,000-meter run at the NCAC Championships while setting a new Allegheny and conference record (17:19.82). She also won the 5,000 individual race at the NCAC Relays and was first in the 3,000 at Mount Union's Jim Wuske Invitational. In her trip to Nationals, Symoniak finished 12th in the 5K.

During the outdoor season, Symoniak established her dominance in the 5,000 with another NCAC title. She also garnered NCAC Distance Runner of the Week honors after placing third in the 10,000 at Bucknell's Bison Classic. Symoniak was also an Allegheny Athlete of the Week.

Chris Marker

Men's Cross Country

Chris Marker was selected by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as the Allegheny Male Student-Athlete of the Year. An All-American performer in Cross Country, he was chosen over three other nominees for the award.

Marker, a junior, began his 2009-10 school year in fine fashion, claiming placing second at the NCAC Cross Country Championships, first at the Mideast Regional and 14th at the Division III Championships.

He was named to the All-NCAC First Team for finishing as runner-up among 109 finishers at the conference meet. At Regionals, he became Allegheny's first-ever individual region champion, placing ahead of 313 other runners, while the team won its first Mideast Region crown. At Nationals, the Gators took third place.

Marker was strong throughout the cross country season, placing first among 245 runners at Oberlin's Inter-Regional Rumble and second of 200 at Calvin's Knight Invitational. He was twice named Allegheny Athlete of the Week and once was an NCAC Runner of the Week after his performance at Calvin. The SAAC honored him twice as its Male Student-Athlete of the Month in September and October.

For the second consecutive year, Marker won the 5,000-meter run at both the NCAC Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field championship events. He set a new Gator record in the 5K when recording a time of 14:24.08 at Hillsdale's Gina Relays.

After winning the 5,000 at Washington and Lee's Carnival, he was honored as the NCAC Distance Runner of the Week. In April, the SAAC recognized him with his third Male Student-Athlete of the Month award.

2010 Baseball Coaching Staff

Kelly Swiney
Head Coach

Phone: 814-332-2830
Email: kelly.swiney@allegheny.edu

Kelly Swiney enters his second season as the head coach at his alma mater. Swiney, a 1999 graduate of Allegheny College, posted a 22-16 overall record and 10-6 NCAC East mark in his first season with the Gators.

Most recently, Swiney was an assistant coach for two seasons at Amherst College (Mass.) where he served under legendary coach Bill Thurston. During his tenure, the Lord Jeffs competed in two New England Small College Athletic Conference Tournaments, finishing as runner-up in 2008. Amherst also completed two consecutive 20-win seasons including the program's third-highest total (24 in 2008). Primarily a hitting coach, Swiney guided Amherst's offense to improvements over a two-year span in batting average, runs, hits, runs batted in and home runs.

Swiney has also been an assistant at Washington and Jefferson, Thiel College and King's College (Pa.). He began his coaching career at King's in 2001 before working at Thiel from 2002-04. The 2003 Thiel team won the program's first President's Athletic Conference in 21 years and broke the school record for wins in a season.

While at Washington and Jefferson, Swiney helped the baseball team to a 66-28 record In the 2005-06 seasons including a school-record 34 wins in 2006. The team appeared in back-to-back ECAC South Region Tournament finals, winning the championship in ’06. As the hitting coach, he helped raise the team’s batting average from .256 in ’04 to .328 in ’06.

In his playing days, Swiney was a three-year starter for the Gators in the outfield and finished with a .356 career batting average. He ranks third on the all-time list for doubles in a season with 17. He was also named to the NCAC All-Conference Team in 1999 and was a member of the 1997 team that set the school record for victories with 40. Swiney also played on NCAC Championship teams in 1997 and 1999 and appeared in three NCAA playoffs, including two regional runner-up finishes in 1996 and 1997.

While at Allegheny, he earned a Bachelor's degree in managerial economics. In 2008, he received a Master's degree in Sport Management from California University of Pennsylvania.

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