BENNINGTON, Vt. – Former Southern Vermont College women’s cross country runner and current Mount Anthony Union High School head coach Kathleen Newton was recently named the Vermont Indoor Track Coach of the Year following the 2012-13 Vermont indoor track championships, the second-consecutive year in which she’s received the honor.
“I have been blessed with the opportunity to do what I love: coach both high school and college athletes and hopefully instill life-time lessons,” said Newton. “My time at Southern Vermont College has helped me in many ways to accomplish my goals.”
Newton led the Patriots to a third-place finish on the girls side and fourth for the boys at Norwich University’s Shapiro Field House in February. She also completed her eighth year assisting the Williams College men’s and women’s cross country teams this past fall.
Newton coached MAU senior Shelby McLenithan to a 55-meter dash championship (7.39 seconds) and senior Jon Polen to a 55-meter hurdle championship (7.82 seconds). She helped the boys 4x800 relay team take second place and break a 24-year school record by 10 seconds. During the season, Newton and her husband and fellow-coach Bob Kurtzner saw their teams break an additional nine school records.
The 2004 SVC graduate with an Associate in Science degree still holds the Southern Vermont records for 5K and 6K races; she ran a 20:07 5K in 2002 at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship and a 24:09 6K in the 2002 NCAA New England Regional Championship.
Newton ran for head coach Scott Kilgallon while a Mountaineer, being named to the All-GNAC Team twice with a third-place finish at the conference championship in 2003 and a fourth-place finish in 2002. She accomplished these feats all while not only taking a full course load, but also raising a family. “The support I received [from Coach Kilgallon and many professors] was what kept me going,” she said, “and I will always be grateful for that.”
This was Newton’s seventh season in her second stint as head indoor track coach at MAU; she also headed the Patriots from 2000-04. This spring, Newton will enter her 13th year as head coach of the boys’ and girls’ outdoor track & field teams, dating back to 2000.