WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth men's and women's cross country and track and field assistant Brian Hirshblond has been promoted to Associate Head Coach for Track & Field, and Chris Tarello has been promoted to Associate Head Coach for Cross Country, head coach Joe Compagni has announced. Tarello is entering his 11^th season as a member of the Hawks' coaching staff and has specialized in grooming middle distance talent at Monmouth. Hirshblond is entering his 16^th season as an assistant for the Blue & White where he has coached athletes in the sprint and hurdle events.
 
Since Tarello has joined the staff, the Hawks have won at least one NEC or MAAC championship for track and field each year. He and Compagni have worked together to coach 27 All-East athletes and 26 All-Conference athletes in cross country alone in the last 10 years.
 
Hirshblond, a former sprinter for the Hawks, has helped transform the Monmouth track and field team into one of the top programs in the Northeast each year. Every year he has been on the staff there has been at least one sprinter or hurdler that has won an event at the MAAC or NEC Championships. The Hawks have won 19 of a possible 20 MAAC Team Championships in Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field in the last 5 years.
 
"We are very fortunate to have a veteran coaching staff that works together very well," said Compagni. "Brian was part of my first full recruiting class and a sprinter on the team that won our very first NEC Championship in track and field. He has been instrumental in the continued rise of our program over the years. Chris has dramatically elevated the level of success we've had in the middle distance events. Each of the last ten years have brought new success at the MAAC, ECAC/IC4A and NCAA level on the track. He has recruited and mentored some of the very best athletes in school history in both track & field and cross country."
 
Tarello, a former Rider University track and field standout who still owns several school records, has done a masterful job coaching the middle-distance runners during the indoor and outdoor seasons. He has coached two current professionals, 6-time All-American Dylan Capwell '18 and Ford Palmer '13. He also helped former walk-on Tionna Garner '17 transform into an elite middle-distance runner by the time she was a senior. Last spring, both Capwell and Allie Wilson earned 2^nd Team All-America honors in the 800.
Among the accomplishments of Tarello's athletes are IC4A Champions at 800m, 1000m, 4x800m, and DMR.  Tarello has also coached ECAC Champions in the 500m, 800 and 4x800m, in addition to dozens of NEC and MAAC Champions, IC4A and ECAC Qualifiers, and conference records in the 800, 1500, Mile, 4x800 and DMR. Under Tarello's tutelage, Monmouth athletes have broken all the school records in the middle distance events and hold every spot on the MU's All Time List.
 
 
During Hirshblond's tenure, he has coached two All-Americans, nearly 200 conference champions, over 100 All-East performers and more than a dozen NCAA qualifiers. He helped Rachel Watkins '13 become the first track All-American of either gender at Monmouth in the 400-meter hurdles. Hirshblond also worked with assistant coach Devin Barry to help Tisifenee Taylor earn All-America honors in the long jump in 2007 as she qualified for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.
 
Both Tarello and Hirshblond are USATF Level 2 certified coaches in their area of expertise.
 
Monmouth cross country continues their season this Saturday with the Siena Invitational at The Crossings of Colonie in Loudonville, NY with the men's race starting at 9:45 AM and women's race set to take off at 10:30 AM. The track & field team will open the indoor season at home in the OceanFirst Bank Center on Nov. 30 and December 1.