BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The CSU Bakersfield athletic department has announced
the hiring of Marcia Mansur-Wentworth as the Roadrunners' Director of Track and
Field and Cross Country. Mansur-Wentworth, a longtime coach at the University
of Central Florida, took over the post effective Tuesday and immediately began
preparations for the 2012-13 season, which will be CSUB's second as a member of
the Great West Conference.
"Marcia is a very talented coach with invaluable Division I coaching
experience that will lead CSUB forward as a growing program at the D-I level,"
said CSUB Athletic Director Jeff Konya. "We had a impressive pool of candidates
and our search committee completed the challenging task of narrowing it down to
a few outstanding choices. In the end, I selected Mansur-Wentworth because of
her proven record and am looking forward to see the program reach new heights
under her guidance."
Mansur-Wentworth will be the head coach for the CSUB track and field team
and also oversee cross country. Current CSUB Head Cross Country Coach Ashley Benson will remain in her post as an assistant track and field coach under
Mansur-Wentworth.
The veteran coach replaces longtime CSUB Director of Track and Field and
Cross Country Alan Collatz, who retired after 30 years with the Roadrunners
after the 2012 season. After several seasons as an assistant, Collatz took over
as head coach at CSUB in 2003. In his career, Collatz produced 97 All-Americans
and 24 national champions.
Mansur-Wentworth brings a wealth of experience to the program as she guided
UCF to 10 Atlantic Sun Conference Championships before they moved to the
Conference USA and won 10 ASC Coach of the Year awards during her 12-year
tenure with the Knights. During that time, she also coached six conference
athletes of the year winners, 50 individual conference champions and saw her
student-athletes win 194 all-conference honors before stepping down in 2007.
"I am very happy to be here and excited about the opportunity,"
Mansur-Wentworth said. "Our goal is to do better than last year and continue to
grow the program and I understand there are several talented recruits in place
to help us get there. I have met several of the student-athletes already and I
am impressed with their enthusiasm and their vision for the program."
A former student-athlete herself, Mansur-Wentworth, who grew up in Colts
Neck, N.J., was an eight-sport athlete at Marlboro High School, where she as
the first female to run for the MHS cross country team. She then went to the
University of South Carolina and played volleyball for one year. Since the
Gamecocks didn't have a women's track and field or cross country team until
1988, she competed for the Carolina Track Club until she completed her degree
in political science and philosophy. After college, Mansur-Wentworth continued
her competitive running career as a member of Team Addidas from 1985-89 and the
Reebok Racing Club from 1990-95 as a distance runner.
Her coaching resume includes being an assistant coach at the University of
South Florida as well as for Brooks Johnson's Training Group for
post-collegiate athletes. She's also worked with USA Track and Field as the
executive director of the Florida division of the organization. Most recently,
Mansur-Wentworth served as the director of administration and co-owner of Steeple
Timing and Event Management, a company started up by her husband that helped
organize, promote and run 300 events a year including cross country and track
meets.
The CSUB cross country team is currently two meets into its 2012 season,
while the track and field team will start up their 2012-13 season early in
2013.
~www.GoRunners.com~
