Grand Forks, N.D. – Head Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Jim Vahrenkamp added Tom Scott to his staff as the Fighting Hawks newest assistant coach to work with the distance runners.  Scott comes to North Dakota from Queens (N.C.) University where he has coached 29 All-American performances since 2018 when he arrived.  In his career, Scott has mentored 40 All-American performances.

Two weeks ago, Scott lead the Royal women to an 6^th place finish and the men to a 20^th place finish at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships.  Individually Scott had an individual in the top ten in each race with freshman Fatima Alanis, 3^rd, in the women's race and sophomore Jan Lukas Becker 10^th, in the men's race.  It was the fourth time under his leadership a Queens cross country team has finished in the top 10 at the national meet out of six possible opportunities as the 2020 Division II championships were cancelled due to the pandemic. 

Scott's men's and women's teams have won a combined five NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championships including sweeping the event in 2018 and 2019.  Last month the Royal women won the 2021 Southeast Regional while the men finished second.  For his women's team's effort, Scott was named Southeast Region coach of the year.  On the men's side, Scott coached Becker , he first male to win a regional individual championship since 2009.

On the track at Queens, Scott mentored the 2019 NCAA Division II mile national champion and runner up as Felix Wammetsberger and Daniel Wallis went 1-2 in the final.  Scott also trained the national 800m runner up Seb Anthony at the 2021 national indoor championships. 

Scott transitioned to Queens after one year at fellow South Atlantic Conference foe Coker College where he served as Head Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Coach and coached the school's first ever cross country All-American.  Perhaps most notable from his time at Coker was coaching Darroneshia Lott who ran an all-time NCAA Division II record 2:01.26 in the 800m to win the individual national championship.  Shortly after the race she was disqualified for stepping on the line just after the start.  There were more than 50 school records set during Scott's one season in charge.

Prior to taking the reins at Coker, Scott was the Head Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach and Assistant Men's and Women's Track and Field Coach for two years at Ashland University, his alma mater.  At Ashland he coached All-American performances in cross country and the indoor mile while also coaching the Eagle Distance Medley Relay team to All-American accolades. 

Scott earned his master's degree from Michigan Tech where he was a graduate assistant that directly coached the Huskies distance runners from 2013-2015.  Scott spent two seasons in Houghton, Mich. and led Sean Pengelly to the NCAA Division II national championships as an individual qualifier, the school's first in over 15 years.
Scott has collected individual recognition at the regional level.  He was named the 2019 Southeast Regional women's cross country coach of the year and has three times been named Southeast Region men's assistant track and field coach of the year. 

Collegiately Scott ran at Ashland where he was a three time All-American, twice in the 800-meters and once in the 4 x 400m relay.