Danny Williamson is entering his first year as Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field Coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University in 2017-18.
Williamson retired in 2016 after an impressive 30-year head coaching career for Western Carolina University’s Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field Teams. Last year, Williamson served as mentor for the cross country and track and field teams at Cherokee High School in Cherokee, N.C. Williamson was also a college liaison and athletic support specialist for the high school.
As Catamounts mentor, Williamson led both squads to a combined 32 Southern Conference Team Championships and 39 SoCon Coach-Of-The-Year accolades.
Williamson’s numerous collegiate coaching honors also include the following: 2006 NCAA Division I Indoor and Outdoor Southeast Region Coach Of The Year, 2004 and 2005 USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Southeast Region Indoor Coach Of The Year, 2005 USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Southeast Region Outdoor Coach Of The Year and the 1999 10K SoCon Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Hard Charger Coaches Award.
In all, Williamson coached over 700 student-athletes in track and field to All-Southern Conference honors and led over 250 student-athletes in both cross country and track and field to individual conference event championships. Williamson served as mentor to 19 Western Carolina athletes to SoCon Athletes Of The Year and three student-athletes earned NCAA Division I All-American accolades as well.
Williamson also coached Western Carolina’s Manteo Mitchell, who earned a silver medal in the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games in the men’s 1,600-meter relay.
Williamson served as an instructor of Health and Human Performance at Western Carolina University and was the SoCon Representative on the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Executive Committee for the seven years from 2007 to 2014.
Williamson is a 1985 graduate of Western Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in physical education before earning his master’s in education from the Cullowhee, N.C., school in 1986.
