Coast Guard’s track & field and cross country teams are consistently one of the top teams in the region with athletes regularly competing on the national stage. Coach Brown started his tenure at the Coast Guard Academy after entering the gates in 2008 first as an assistant for track & field. As Coach Brown grew in the program so did his reach and impact across the men’s and women’s cross country and track & field programs. Coach Ethan Brown has been helm directing men’s and women’s track & field as the head coach since 2012 while on the cross country side, he has been the head coach of women’s cross country since 2009 and men’s cross country since 2012.
Coach Brown has been named NEWMAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year 2013 and Women’s Track & Field Coach of the year in 2021 and 2023. During last year’s women’s track & field campaign, the Bears had their highest finish placing 2nd at the NEWMAC Championships. Since taking over the helm of both cross country programs, the men’s and women’s cross country teams have been a regional contender each year with their highest regional finishes of 10th for the men in 2010 and 8th for the women in 2018. In 2018, the women’s cross country team earned its highest USTFCCCA National Ranking at 23rd.
In head-to-head battles with the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Brown holds a 35-1 record against the Mariners since beginning competition in both track & field and cross country in 2015. The women’s track & field team had its highest recorded finish placing 10th at the 2019 Indoor NCAA Championships in 2019 with 4 athletes contesting across 2 events (5000 meters, DMR). On the national stage, Coach Brown guided 17 Athletes earned 40 All-American honors across three seasons including three national champions (Maeve Roach in the 2021 indoor mile; Kaitlynn Mooney in the 2019 indoor 5k; Darius Adams in the 2017 outdoor long jump, and Michelle Kwafo in the 100m dash).
Prior to becoming head coach at Coast Guard, Brown served as an Assistant Coach for Track & Field for two years, working primarily with Sprinters, Jumpers and Multi-Eventers, leading 32 athletes to All-Region honors and Carl Luxhoj to earn All-America honors three times in the long and triple jump.
Prior to joining the staff at Coast Guard, Brown was an assistant coach for both cross country and track & field at Babson College from 2006-2008. While at Babson, Brown helped guide 16 athletes on to NCAA regional qualifiers and 17 track athletes to the ECAC Championships. Before arriving at Babson, Brown served as an assistant coach for the men’s track & field team at his alma matter, Springfield College from 2003-2005. During his time at Springfield, Brown primarily worked with Sprints & Jumps where he coached several athletes to regional honors and 6 athletes to earn All-America honors in the 400 meters, 4x400, long jump, and high jump.
In college, Brown was a standout at Springfield College where he was a two-time All Division New England high jumper. In 2001, he qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships where he finished 12th. He holds a Master of Education in Sports Management from Springfield College and professional certifications including; Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist from the NSCA, ACE Fitness Nutrition Specialist, and USATF Level I and Level II (Jumps) certified coach
Notable Individual Athlete Honors:
Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field
- Michelle Kwafo, a 4x All-American, finished runner-up in the 100 hurdles and won the national championship in the 100m dash setting the NCAA D3 national record of 11.47 at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship.
- Kaitlyn Mooney became an 8x All-American after her 2019 cross country season. Mooney is also a 5x track & field All-American including her national championship run in the indoor 5000 meters where she set the national record at 16:23.12 in 2018. During the 2018 season, Mooney’s record setting performance ranked her among the top 300 5k runners on the IAAF World Rankings.
- Maeve Roach took to the national stage in 2021 when she won the Mile and was the Runner-Up in the 800 meters at the D3 Elite Meet at Wartburg College earning All-America honors
- On her second trip to NCAA’s, senior Leilani Salang took 4th place in the Discus Throw to earn her first and the program’s All-America honors within the throwing events.
- Beth Gollin, a 3x national qualifier in the 3000m steeple chase, had her highest finish at the 2013 Outdoor NCAA Championships where she placed 13th. Gollin also earned All-Division New England honors during her senior season placing 5th in the steeple chase and earned DIII New England honors 8 times across cross country and track & field.
Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field
- On the men’s side, 2014 graduate Adam Scalesse is the men’s most decorated track & field athlete earning 6x All-American honors in the sprint hurdles with his highest finish at the 2013 Indoor NCAA Championships where he was runner-up. Scalesse’s top time of 14.02 in the 110 hurdles ranks him as one of the top hurdlers among all athletes in the U.S. during the 2014 season.
- Darius Adams, on his only trip to the NCAA Championship during the 2017 Outdoor Track & Field season, won the long jump to become his first National Champion leaping to 24’5.75”.
- During the 2018 season, Brown led CGA’s first ever men’s relay to a school record performance of 3:15.07 and to AA Honors in when Jacob Pawlina, Ben Taminger, Luke Rehfuss, and Raeford Penny ran to an 8th place finish at the Indoor NCAA Championships in Birmingham, AL.
- Ben Zarlengo finished his athletic campaign in 2020 earning his second All-American honors in the Indoor Weight Throw after also placing 8th at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the Hammer Throw. Zarlengo set three school records in the Weight, Hammer, and Discus Throw – all of which previously stood for a combined 104 years.
- In 2021, sophomore Tanner Johannsen soared over 6’7” to take the Runner-Up spot in the high jump at the D3 Elite Meet in Waverly, IA to earn All-America honors. At the same meet, senior Josiah Davis also earned All-America honors in the 800 meters after placing 2nd.
- Gary Ezzo (14’) earned Cross Country New England Region Honors in both 2013 and 2014 placing 24th & 17th respectively. His finish in 2014 earned him a bid to the NCAA Championships. In 2014, Ezzo was NEWMAC Champion in the 5K and DIII New England 10K Runner-up with a school record performance of 30:58.59.
(Updated Oct. 2023)
