Temple University Athletics
2006 Men's Cross Country Roster
Roster
Stefanie Scalessa
- Position:
- Director of Track and Field
- Class:
- Redshirt Freshman
The women[apos]s track teams showed the most improvement during Scalessa[apos]s first season at the helm. The Owls placed fifth at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships, improving from seventh the year before, as Rachel Clinton (55m hurdles) and Tynisha Gardner (400m) won individual titles. Outdoors, Jessica Dunston (100m hurdles) and Gardner (400m) won their events as the Owls finished fifth, up from eighth in 2004.
Temple[apos]s men[apos]s track teams finished seventh both indoors and outdoors at the conference meets, with Will Wacker (indoor 500m) and Jonathan Albright (outdoor 110m hurdles) winning individual events.
Scalessa added cross country duties in the fall of 2005, as Temple resumed sport after a 20-year hiatus. Despite competing with all walk-ons, she led both teams to 13th place finishes, beating out St. Bonaventure, at the Atlantic 10 Championships.
An associate head track coach at Monmouth the previous two years, Scalessa helped the Hawks capture two women[apos]s and one men[apos]s NEC Championship. In her role as associate head coach, she was responsible for tutoring Monmouth[apos]s sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers, as well as coordinating the program[apos]s recruiting efforts.
Prior to her time at Monmouth, Scalessa served two years as an assistant men[apos]s and women[apos]s track coach at Delaware. At UD, she was responsible for the development of the Blue Hens[apos] hurdlers, jumpers and sprinters. During Delaware[apos]s first year participating in the Colonial Athletic Association (2000-01), ten of the 13 jumpers and hurdlers scored at the league meet. Scalessa was also instrumental in the development of Delaware[apos]s men[apos]s and women[apos]s multi-event athletes.
Scalessa began her coaching career as the head indoor track & field coach and assistant outdoor track and field coach at Ursuline (Del.) Academy in 1994. In her first season, she guided Ursuline to second place at the state indoor meet. During her six-year tenure at the Wilmington school, she helped lead the squad to six consecutive Delaware State outdoor titles. Numerous student-athletes under her guidance went on to receive Division I scholarships.
A 1990 graduate of Villanova University with a bachelor of science degree in psychology, Scalessa was a four-year member of the Wildcat track & field program where she competed under legendary coach Marty Stern. A sprinter, she scored points for the Wildcats as the leadoff runner on the 400-meter relay squad and in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big East and ECAC Championships.
The 36-year-old Wilmington, Del. native, who earned a master[apos]s of education degree in counseling psychology ('92) from Temple, has been very active off the track as well. From 1992 to 1997, she served as a psychotherapist for The Lihn Center for Psychology in Havertown, Pa. For the past 10 years, Scalessa has also served as owner and operator of [quote]Samiches,[quote] an eatery and candy store in Stone Harbor, N.J. She also founded The Next Step, a program which focused on empowering young women by coupling them with local businesswomen and having them mentored on issues relating to career and college options.
Contact Coach Scalessa at scalessa@temple.edu or 215-204-8258.
