A 31-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year (and one-time Ohio Valley Coach of the Year), Dr. Curtiss Long became perhaps the most decorated assistant coach in the United States on January 1, 2008 when he retired from his head coach duties on the Hill after 28 years and accepted an invitation to remain on the staff in a part-time capacity. With Long[apos]s staff staying intact following his retirement, his coaching responsibilities at WKU have remained the same as it has been for the previous four years, coordinating the men[apos]s distance runners and all hurdlers.
In Long[apos]s 28 years at the helm of WKU cross country and track, the programs enjoyed having four Olympians, two NCAA individual titles, 22 NCAA all-American performances, 33 team conference titles, 162 individual conference titles, and 531 all-conference performances. Until his retirement from full-time coaching, Long guided the men[apos]s track and cross country teams since the fall of 1980, and took on additional duties with the women[apos]s program in 1982.
Long[apos]s final team conference title and Coach-of-the-Year honor as head coach came in the fall of 2007, when the Lady Toppers claimed their second-straight (and 13th overall) Sun Belt Conference championship. In his final full-year at the helm of the program in 2006-07, the WKU women accomplished a feat never before seen in the SBC, winning the team titles in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track and field, staking claim to the first [quote]Triple Crown[quote] in Sun Belt history. In recognition of the accomplishments by the Lady Toppers that year, Long was named SBC Coach of the Year in all three disciplines.
During the 2005-06 campgain, the WKU women finished second at the SBC cross country championships, and went on to win the league title during the indoor and outdoor seasons - the first such titles in school history. Meanwhile the Hilltoppers won the conferene cross country champioship that year, with Long tallying three Coach-of-the-Year honors for the season in men[apos]s cross and women[apos]s indoor and outdoor track.
Long added two Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2003, leading the Lady Toppers to a second-place showing at the SBC indoor championshps, as well as winning the frist-ever men[apos]s SBC outdoor track and field title. Long then added another Coach-of-the-Year honor in 2004 when the Hilltoppers captured their second-straight league outdoor title, the first back-to-back titles won by a Hilltopper track team since a string of 12-straight Ohio Valley Conference titles that ended in 1975.
The men[apos]s cross country team won the school[apos]s first-ever Sun Belt championship in 1982, WKU[apos]s first year in the league, and then won titles in each of the next five seasons. The Hilltoppers placed second in 1988, 1989 and 1991 and won the title again in 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2005. WKU finished second at the SBC meet in 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2006. In fact, the Hilltoppers have finished lower than third only one time in the team scoring in SBC history.
The women[apos]s cross country team won the first-ever Sun Belt championship sponsored by the league in 1985 and added titles in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007.
Long - who is also a Vietnam War veteran - began his illustrious coaching career at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1969, before guiding the 1970 George Air Force Base track team in Victorville, Calif.
However, his ties to cross country and track run very deep. In 1973, he joined his father, veteran Florida State coach and National Hall of Fame member Mike Long (who retired from the post in 1977) on the Seminole staff. Terry, Long[apos]s oldest brother, retired as the coordinator of track and field at FSU following the 2003 season and his younger brother, Jim, was also a member of the Seminole staff.
WKU[apos]s Long also served as an assistant track coach at Georgia from 1976-80 before coming to the Hill.
Long has coached a total of 15 all-America athletes (who have combined for 22 such distinctions), including the first-ever Lady Topper cross country all-American, Breeda Dennehy, who received the honor in 1991, and the 1991 NCAA individual men[apos]s cross country champion Sean Dollman. In addition, Long[apos]s athletes have received the WKU Athlete-of-the-Year award six times.
Dollman was the eighth of Long[apos]s athletes to qualify for all-America status from WKU, earning the distinction in 1989, 1990 and again in 1991. Hilltoppers Larry Cuzzort (1980), Simon Cahill (1980), Ashley Johnson (1983), and Edward O[apos]Carroll (1992) also earned cross country all-America status under Long. Luby Chambul (shot put, 1982), and Johnson (1,500 meters, 1984), were similarly honored at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Victor Ngubeni became the youngest NCAA all-American ever in 1987, placing fourth in the indoor 1,000 meters when he was just 17 years old.
Dollman took another NCAA title in the spring of 1992, winning the outdoor 10,000 meters. He joined former Hilltoppers Greg Wilson (triple jump, 1981), Steve Bridges (long jump, 1982), and Nick Aliwell (10k, 1995) as outdoor all-Americans under Long[apos]s guidance.
During the 2004 season, Long and current head coach Erik Jenkins helped guide Jonathan Brown to a pair of all-America honors during the NCAA outdoor championships in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. In doing so, Brown became the first short-sprinter in WKU[apos]s storied history to earn all-America honors, and also became the first to win multiple honors during the same event.
WKU added another member to its long list of all-Americans in 2005 when Raigo Toompuu earned such honors in the discus, marking the first time WKU had enjoyed back-to-back all-Americans since Dollman did so in [apos]91 and [apos]92.
Long earned his undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees from Florida State, where he lettered three years in track.
Long and his wife, Elizabeth, have three daughters - Erin Ellington (and husband Marshall), Brittney Maslowski (and husband Karl), and Ashley Long. The Long[apos]s also welcomed their first grandchild, Claire Ellington, to the family in May 2008.
The Long File
Education
- B.S., Florida State, 1966
- M.S., Florida State, 1968
- Ph.D., Florida State, 1976
Coaching Experience
- Northest High School, 1969
- George Air Force Base, 1970
- Florida State, 1973-76
- Georgia, 1976-1980
- WKU, 1980 - present
Athletic Experience
- Track, Florida State, 3 letters
Coaching Honors
- 2 NCAA Indvidual Champions
- 22 All-Americans
- 33 League Championships
- 32 Coach-of-the-Year Honors
- 162 Conference Champions
- 531 All-Conference Performers
