 |
 |
|
Please send comments,
questions, and suggestions
about Oberlin Online news
and feature articles to
online.news@oberlin.edu.
OBERLIN COLLEGE NAMES NEW DELTA LODGE DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
JUNE 20, 2003--Vin Lananna, director of track and field/cross country at Stanford University, has been named the Delta Lodge Director of Athletics and professor of physical education at Oberlin College, Oberlin President Nancy S. Dye announced today.
Lananna, who will coach Team USA’s middle-distance runners in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, believes Oberlin’s athletics programs have great potential. "Oberlin College is one of America’s greatest colleges," he says. "It can be a model program for academic integrity and outstanding Division III athletics. Oberlin’s excellent students, academic distinction, and world-renowned faculty add up to a great college of which I want to be a part."
Lananna was named NCAA National Coach of the Year four times, NCAA Regional Coach of the Year 17 times, and Pacific-10 Conference Coach of the Year eight times. Since 1994, he has served as president and co-founder of Nike Farm, a post-collegiate program for corporately funded professional athletes.
Prior to his tenure at Stanford, Lananna served as assistant director of athletics at Dartmouth College, where he also directed the men’s and women’s cross country/track and field programs from 1980 to 1992.
Oberlin’s new Delta Lodge Director of Athletics became Stanford’s 18th head track coach in 1992. At Stanford, he built one of the top track and field/cross county programs in the nation. The men’s cross country team won six Pacific-10 Conference titles, seven NCAA West Region titles, and three NCAA Championships. The women’s cross country team won nine Pacific-I0 Conference titles, seven NCAA West Region titles, and one NCAA Championship.
At Dartmouth, the college’s track and field/cross country teams captured 13 Ivy League titles and placed second in the NCAA championships in 1986 and 1987.
Lananna also has been a leader in numerous professional organizations, including president of the Ivy League Track Coaches and NCAA Cross Country Coaches Association. He began his coaching career in 1975 as head coach at his alma mater, the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University, in Brookville, New York.
Throughout his 28-year professional career, Lananna has been highly successful in student recruitment, the mentoring of athletes, fundraising, and the professional development of coaches.
Lananna earned a degree in history and psychology in 1975 at C.W. Post, where he was captain of the cross country team. He earned a master’s degree at Long Island University.
Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli
       |