Saint Joseph's College Cross Country and Track & Field Head Coach Tom Dann announced prior to the start of the 2018-19 academic year that nationally renowned long jumper and sprinter Kate Hall will be joining his staff as an assistant coach.

Hall comes to Saint Joseph's after competing for NCAA DI programs Iowa State (one year) and University of Georgia (two years) for three years while claiming a pair of individual national championships and earning five All-America accolades. A native of Casco who starred athletically for Lake Region High School, Hall announced earlier this summer that she would forgo her senior season at Georgia to focus on training in Maine for the 2019 World Championships and a shot at qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

"Coaching athletes is something I'm very passionate about," adds Hall. "I'm excited to begin my career at St. Joe's working with great athletes to help accomplish their goals."

Hall became nationally known when she capped her senior year at Lake Region by breaking the national high school long jump record with a leap of 22-5. The jump not only broke the oldest remaining high school field record (39 years) but also surpassed the U.S. junior (under age 20) mark and placed her in a tie for ninth in the 2015 world rankings. During her high school career, Hall earned eight All-America honors, claimed 26 State Championships in a variety of events, won six New England individual championships, and was selected as the Maine Gatorade Athlete of the Year three times.

In two years at Georgia, Hall established new program records in the indoor long jump (22-1), indoor 60-meter dash (7.17), and outdoor long jump (22-1) events.

"It is very exciting to have someone with Kate's elite level of experience as an athlete now on our coaching staff," adds Coach Dann. "Couple that with her outstanding personality and you have a recipe for her having a tremendous impact on our athletes and the program as a whole."