Wilkerson Named Aldrich's Successor
May 10, 2010
Terry Aldrich, a member of the Middlebury College coaching staff since 1975, will conclude his 36th and final season at the helm of the Middlebury cross country teams in December of 2010. Aldrich, who ended his ski coaching tenure in 2006, will retire from the College in December following the cross country season. Current assistant coach Nicole Wilkerson has been promoted to Associate Head Coach, and will take over the program in January of 2011. A nine-year veteran on the Middlebury coaching staff, Wilkerson has worked as an assistant cross country and track & field coach during that time.
"We are fortunate to have Nicole as the next head coach of cross country at Middlebury," said Director of Athletics Erin Quinn. "She has proven herself to be an excellent coach and mentor to her athletes and a valuable member of the Athletic Department over her outstanding career as an assistant coach at Middlebury."
Terry Aldrich has established a tradition of excellence in his program both athletically and academically that represents the best Division III athletics has to offer. We are grateful for Terry's many contributions to Middlebury, and we look forward to having Nicole build on her experience with the program and continue the great tradition established by Terry," added Quinn.
While at Middlebury, Wilkerson has assisted with both the cross country and the track & field teams, enabling her to work with most of the athletes for nine months a year. She has been responsible for creating several workout programs for both teams and has coached almost 30 All-Americans.
"Terry leaves some pretty big shoes to fill, but I am excited about the challenge and will look to build on the success of the program," said Wilkerson. "I hope to continue to have a strong team on the national scene for the women and to bring the men's team to the same level in the very near future."
Wilkerson has been an active member of the College community, serving on several committees, while helping to develop the recently established LEAP (Low Energy Athlete Prevention) program.
Prior to her arrival at Middlebury, Wilkerson was an assistant coach at Texas A&M for three years. While at Texas A&M, she obtained her master's degree in Sports Management, and lectured on health and kinesiology.
Wilkerson was an All-American track athlete at Rice University '93 and a four-year member of the cross country and track teams. After her collegiate career, she was a U.S. Track & Field National Qualifier in the 10,000 meters in 1995. The following year, Wilkerson was a U.S. Olympic trials qualifier in the same event
A complete summary on Aldrich's tenure at the College will be released in December.
