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COLLEGE CROSS COUNTRY

St. Joe's hires Bickford

Kennebec Journal Staff

STAFF REPORT

In his quest to replace longtime men's and women's cross country coach Tom Dann, St. Joseph's College athletic director Brian Curtin sought out advice from knowledgeable people in the area.

That journey eventually led him to Bruce Bickford.

"We try to keep our eyes open about talented coaches in the area," Curtin said. "First and foremost, what comes out is how hard of a worker he is. I think he puts a lot of effort into whatever he does."

The school announced Thursday that Bickford will replace Dann, who resigned after 14 seasons. Bickford, a Lawrence High School graduate, had previously coached at Cheverus High School, Brandeis University and the University of Southern Maine.

Curtin said there were about 25 applicants for the job, which is a part-time position. He was impressed by Bickford's recruiting rŽsumŽ.

"Recruiting is imperative at small colleges," Curtin said, "and his track record speaks to someone who works at recruiting."

Bickford's running rŽsumŽ is also quite impressive. He set the 3,000-meter steeplechase record at Northeastern in 1977, and no one has come within 26 seconds of him since. Bickford had the world's fastest 10K time in 1985, and he represented the United States in the 10,000-meter run at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Bickford, 53, is a member of the Northeastern Hall of Fame, as well as the Maine Running and Maine Sports Halls of Fame.

The Monks' men's team finished sixth at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championships last year, 41st at the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships and 45th at the NCAA Division III regionals. The women placed fourth at the GNAC championships, 29th at the ECAC and 42nd at the NCAA regionals.

Neither team had any central Maine high school graduates on its roster.