BOSTON (September 15) – One of our most dependable and long-time NEICAAA Coaches has called it a career. Barry Harwick, Dartmouth ’77, who spent more that four decades as a member of the NEICAAA coaching fraternity, will retire effective September 30 from the Big Green at Dartmouth College.
“Barry was a solid contributor and a strong voice for the NEICAAA,” said Commissioner Irwin M. Cohen. “Barry was a stalwart among the coaching membership, constantly offering up the use of Dartmouth facilities for our competitions. The NEICAAA wishes Barry well in his retirement,” said Cohen.
Meanwhile, the Harwick-Wallin-Ford-Centonze era has now “officially” ended in Hanover. The Big Green are now onto a new chapter in Athletics.
The NEICAAA family wishes Barry and wife Marcia enjoyment as life moves forward.
Below is the official release from Dartmouth College.
HANOVER, N.H. — An icon of Dartmouth cross country and track and field has coached his final event for the Big Green. Barry Harwick '77, the Marjorie and Herbert Chase '30 Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, announced his retirement from the college today effective on Sept. 30 after 28 years at Dartmouth and 40 years as a collegiate head coach. "I am extremely sad about leaving a job that has consumed me, in a good way, for many years," said Harwick, 65. "The close ties that I have with the athletes, coaches and staff are going to be deeply missed. I do feel that our program is in good shape in many ways, and I take a lot of pride in that. I am equally confident that a chance to install new leadership at the top can often be an impetus for new initiatives and improvements to make Dartmouth Track and Field/Cross-Country even better." Harwick's teams have enjoyed tremendous success at Dartmouth, winning six Heptagonal titles in men's cross country while advancing to the NCAA Championship a total of 10 times, most recently in 2016. Five of his harriers won the individual crown at Heps a total of seven times, led by three-time champion Ben True '08, and no fewer than 22 have earned a total of 32 first-team All-Ivy League honors. His 1994 squad won the Heps with a school-record-low 23 points — the lowest point total of the last 48 years — before going on to New England and NCAA District 1 championships, and three of his runners earned All-America honors a combined total of five times (Ted FitzPatrick, 1993-94; Tom McArdle '02, 2001-02; Will Geoghegan '14, 2013). In track and field, Harwick has guided the Big Green men to a pair of New England outdoor championships and runner-up finishes five other times. Nine times his athletes have earned Most Outstanding Performer recognition at Heps (five indoor, four outdoor), including decathlete Mustafa Abdur-Rahim who in was honored at Indoor Heps in 2003 and again the following year. Dartmouth has won 45 individual indoor titles during his reign and 42 more outdoor titles. Hurdler and heptathlete Greg Johnston '99 won five of those indoor titles alone, making him one of just four Ivy Leaguers ever to do so. The Big Green's success has been shared between the track and the field events. There have been 25 indoor track individual champions at Heps (including seven relay events), nine in field events, eight in the pentathlon and three more in the heptathlon. In the outdoor circuit, the breakdown of the 42 champions begins with 21 track events, 14 field events (including four-time champion and Olympic gold medalist Adam Nelson '97 in the shot put) and seven decathlons. His 2019 outdoor team combined for three individual titles at Heps, the most for Dartmouth in 13 years. Between indoor and outdoor track, Harwick has coached a dozen athletes who won 20 All-America honors with Abdur-Rahim earning recognition three times and the most recent being Benjamin Ose '19, who twice earned second-team honors in the decathlon. "The success of Dartmouth Track & Field and Cross Country under Barry speaks for itself but tells only one small part of a much larger story," the Director of Athletics and Recreation Harry Sheehy said. "Barry is a Son of Dartmouth and a perfect philosophical fit for the Ivy League. A wonderful teacher, mentor and coach, Barry's positive influence was felt by legions of Dartmouth student-athletes. I will miss him as a colleague as will the entire department. I look forward to life returning to normal so that colleagues, alumni and all his friends may honor his career in an appropriate manner. For now we wish Barry and Marcia the very best as they enter the next chapter of their lives." Hired prior to 1992-93 season, Harwick and the late Sandy Ford-Centonze — his long-time collaborator who was hired as the women's track and field coach that year as well — became the college's first coaches to have endowments for their positions on the athletics staff thanks to the generosity of Herbert and Marjorie Chase. In 2014-15, Harwick added the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country to his title, overseeing the men's and women's programs. The women's team enjoyed terrific success during Harwick's six years as the director, garnering one Heps cross country title, 15 individual indoor champions, 10 more individual outdoor champions and five All-America honors. The most decorated of those women's athletes was Cha'Mia Rothwell, a two-time Most Outstanding Performer at Indoor Heps, a four-time champion in the 60-meter hurdles and three-time champion in the 100-meter hurdles. And in his first year on staff, he coached the women's cross country program as well, which qualified for the NCAA championships led by future All-American and Dartmouth cross country coach Maribel Sanchez Souther '96. After graduating from Dartmouth, Harwick continued his academic work at the University of Pittsburgh where he served as a graduate assistant while earning a master's degree in education. In 1980, Harwick took over as head coach for track and cross country at Bentley College, leading the Falcons to six Northeast-10 cross country titles and coaching several New England champions, All-America and Academic All-America runners in his 12-year tenure. He was honored as Coach of the Year by the Northeast-10, ECAC, and NCAA District 1 in that time. Harwick also started the women's cross country and track programs and directed the school's physical education program. In 1997, he served as head coach of the United States cross country team at the World Championships in Turin, Italy. Harwick served as the president of the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association from 2011-13 and was president of the Heptagonal Coaches Group from 2002-04. In 1989, Harwick traveled to Pakistan as part of the USIA "Sports America" program, conducting clinics for coaches and athletes of the Pakistani national team in Islamabad. In 1996, 2000, 2004 and again in 2013, Harwick led a group of Dartmouth athletes on a two-week trip to England where they competed against British Universities. Harwick captained the track team while a student at Dartmouth, earning All-Ivy honors in cross country and running in two NCAA championships. He held the school record in the mile and was a member of two relay teams that established school marks. As a senior, he won the Harmon Award for distance running and the Palmer Award for contributions to Dartmouth track. His other activities included the Casque and Gauntlet Senior Society and the student newspaper, The Dartmouth. Harwick and his wife, Marcia Kelly, live in Hanover and have two sons, Benjamin and Christopher. Kelly was an employee of Dartmouth College for over 20 years, eight as the Secretary to the Board of Trustees, and is an adopted member of the class of 1977. Harwick still runs regularly and won the 1995 World Veterans Championship in the 5000. A national search to fill Harwick's position will begin immediately.
For the NEICAAA
Larry Newman
netrack@aol.com