Based on the track record of his three predecessors, Wayne Phipps could have a long career ahead of him as head coach of the Washington State University men's track and field and cross country teams.
Phipps replaces Rick Sloan, who held the job for 32 years. Since 1946, there have been just two other men's track head coaches at WSU.
"It is an absolute honour and privilege to be the next director of track and field and cross country at Washington State University," said Phipps, in a prepared release.
"The Cougars have a legendary past in track and field; and the teams and athletes that coaches such as John Chaplin and Rick Sloan have produced will go down in track and field history. I could not be more excited about the opportunity to keep this tradition alive, to make Cougar nation proud, and to represent Washington State University at the highest level possible."
Phipps, 45, served 19 years as a coach at the University of Idaho, taking over as co-head coach in the fall of 1999. He's been the Vandals' director of track and field/cross country the past four seasons.
Born and raised in Prince George, Phipps graduated from D.P. Todd secondary school in 1986. As a mid-distance running specialist he went to the University of Montana on a track scholarship but returned to Canada to earn his undergraduate degree in exercise science at UBC in 1991. He went on to achieve a masters degree in sports medicine at the University of Oregon, then came to Idaho in 1995 as an assistant coach to work on his doctorate.
During his time at Idaho, the Vandals won 16 Western Athletic Conference championships and Phipps was named conference coach of the year 14 times. Idaho athletes under Phipps's reign have won 176 conference titles and have received 45 All-American honours. The Vandals program has produced five Olympic team members since 2000, including hurdler Angela Whyte of Edmonton, now an assistant coach at Idaho.
"I am most happy to welcome Wayne to the Cougar family," said WSU athletics director Bill Moos. "I have watched his good work from afar and have been impressed with not only his success in regards to competition but also how he has managed his program. I believe he is a great fit and I am excited for the future of our Cougar track and field programs."
As a high school athlete, Phipps excelled in basketball and was an academic all-star point guard for the D.P. Todd Trojans for three seasons. His track apprenticeship began at the Prince George Track and Field Club, where his mentors were head coach Tom Masich, his dad, Ron Phipps, and older brother, Ron Jr. Phipps began his track and field coaching career at the local club. He won every provincial high school running event, from the 100-metre dash to the 3,000m run, and also captured the B.C. high school cross country championship.
"It's pretty impressive to see Wayne climb the ladder, he's well-respected and well thought of by his peers, that's for sure, and he has a very impressive record in the Western Athletic Conference," said Masich. "His credentials speak for themselves and if I know Washington State they said let's get this guy before somebody else does."
Four PGTFC athletes have been recruited for Phipps's teams at Idaho, including 400m hurdler Josh Guggenheimer, cross-country/distance runner Joel Alberts, steeplechaser Bevin Kennelly and cross-country/distance runner Emma Balazs, who is still with the Vandals program.
"Having Wayne there helped very much," said Masich. "He listened to us because he knows what kind of a program we've had here over the years. If we told him there was an athlete worth looking at, he would make sure he got his ducks in a row before he recruited them to his program. If we get a good athlete he'll certainly want them to go to whatever program he's in charge of."
The Cougars men's teams were perennial frontrunners during Chaplin's time as head coach, never finishing below fourth place in the WAC from 1982-92 but since then have finished in the top half of the conference only once, in 1999.
Phipps lives in Moscow, Idaho, where his mother Joy also resides. She moved there following the death of her husband Ron in March 2012.
The Cougars are based in Pullman, Wash., a 13-kilometre drive from Moscow. WSU has a history of sharing the Vandals' indoor fieldhouse facilities at the 18,000-seat Kibbie Dome.
