Stan Sims is back for his 18th season as the head coach for the cross country team at Kennesaw State University. Sims’ determination to take the Owls to the top has only grown since he guided the program into NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Over the past decade Sims has propelled the Cross Country program to national recognition as he led the women’s team to a 2005 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship title, and most recently, the men to the 2009 A-Sun championship. It’s his goal to repeat this success for the men’s and women’s team in 2010.
Sims began his journey to Kennesaw State in his hometown of Lakeland, Florida. As he came of age he joined the Army for the chance to see the world and broaden his horizons. After his service was completed he focused on education. He obtained a bachelor’s and then a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Florida.
Coach Sims began his career as a teacher at Cherokee High School in 1975. He moved into the college ranks when he obtained a teaching position at KSU. In 1992 Sims became assistant coach for the cross country team then headed by Dave Morgan. After two years with the team he was named Head Coach for the 1994 season.
The Owls reaped the benefits of Sims’ guidance almost immediately. Sims credits his success on his ability to recruit talented international students and qualified runners from local high schools. In his first year of coaching he took home the Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year honor. Sims would go on to capture the award seven times, including a record four times in a row from 2001-2004 and three in a row from 1994-96.
The performance of the team corresponded with their coach’s hard work, as both the men’s and women’s team became a dominant force in the Peach belt Conference for a solid decade. The men’s team took home the championship six consecutive times between 1994 and 1999. They later came back in 2001 to claim the award again and then repeated during their final year in the Peach Belt in 2004.
Sims produced nine individual men’s champions during his years in the Peach Belt. The women’s team performed equally as well as they captured seven consecutive Cross Country Championships between 1994 and 2000. They later regained the crown in 2002 and then closed out KSU’s time in the Peach Belt with another championship season in 2004. During that time Sims had a total of seven individual women’s champions on his teams.
It was during his first few years with the team that Sims was able to take a little known program in Kennesaw and turn it into a nationally known team of star athletes. In total, Sims has led KSU to 11 Top 25 finishes during his tenure. On six occasions, the women’s team has qualified for the NCAA Championship.
Joining the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2005, the Kennesaw State Owls looked to continue their stellar performance in a brand new conference against tougher competition in NCAA Division I. The learning curve appeared to be flat for Sims and his squad, as the women’s team ran their way to an Atlantic Sun Championship in just their first year in the conference, before finishing 3rd in 2006.
The men’s team respectively came in third for their first year and then moved up to second place in 2006. Both teams have remained consistently atop the pecking order in the Atlantic Sun.
The women have followed up their early success with 2nd, 3rd and 2nd place finishes in the conference in 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively. For their part, the men have also remained a force in the conference, finishing 4th and 3rd during 2007 and 2008 prior to last year's triumph. In addition, the Owls have also produced 11 All-conference selections on the women’s side and nine on the men’s side since their ascent into the A-Sun.
A dedicated tactician and inspirational leader, Sims is a coach who commands and gets respect from his runners. His dedication to working hard, and, more importantly, working smart, has been reflected in his runner’s continuous improvement from the time they enter the Owls’ program to the time they leave as seasoned veterans. Sims' ability to recruit some of the most celebrated and successful runners from around the world has helped to make KSU a dominant force in competition. Runners have come from as far as Finland and Kenya for the chance to be part of a program that has such lofty goals for it’s runners and team and as a whole.
The use of the surrounding landscape of Kennesaw has also been a key ingredient in the success of Sims’ squad. The coaching staff has turned the cross country course up and around Kennesaw Mountain into a proving ground for those students who wish to earn a spot on the prestigious roster. The constantly changing course of rocks, tree stumps, numerous hills and sharp turns has become the standard for molding one of the most talented teams in the southeast.
Coach Sims’ successful program is a reflection of his mandate on all runners, which is to “Put on your shoes, get out the door and just run the best that you can every chance you get.” The most well-known mandate to his runners, however, comes on race day, when the question he poses to them consists of “What are we going to run like?” The runner’s response is an eager, “Animals!”
When he isn’t coaching, Sims is a respected professor of mathematics at Kennesaw State University. He is married to fellow professor Marlene Sims. The Couple make their home in Woodstock, Georgia, and are the proud grandparents of Elle Sims. Stan has three children; Brandon, Andy, and Julie.
