John Kenworthy enters his 11th season at the helm of the Siena College Cross Country and Track & Field programs for the 2023-24 season.
He was integral in the College's revitalization of both men's and women's indoor and outdoor track at Siena and assumed coaching responsibilities for those programs in addition to cross country and track & field on July 6, 2015. Kenworthy joined the Saints on April 1, 2013 following a three-year stint as an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Sacred Heart University.
Named to the MAAC Cross Country 40th Anniversary Team prior to the 2020-21 season, Kenworthy has propelled both of Siena's cross country programs to among the top performers in the MAAC, while the Saints' indoor & outdoor track programs have picked up steam since re-commencing at the varsity level eight years ago. All six running programs have performed at a high level academically as well, with each earning perfect 1.000 NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores following the 2021-22 season. The teams have earned a combined total of 24 APR awards.
Siena's 2022-23 season featured new heights during all three seasons, beginning with a pair of second place finishes for both cross country squads at the 2022 MAAC Cross Country Championships. Fifth year Olivia Lomascolo claimed the program's firs individual MAAC cross country title and was named the Female Most Outstanding Runner of the Meet. Lomascolo would go on to win MAAC individual titles in the indoor 3k and outdoor 5k as well, leading top her being awarded Siena Female Student Athlete of the Year for the 2022-23 season. She achieved the program's best finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships (19th), and along with Delia McDade Clay (22nd) became the first Siena pair to take home All-Region accolades in the same race.
Aside from breaking nearly every individual program record throughout the course of the year, both programs took home MAAC title in the distance medley relay events at the 2023 MAAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, with the women's team setting a conference record in the process. Senior Brandon Olden claimed his third consecutive MAAC Outdoor Track 10k title, while both Lomascolo and Olden qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track East First Round in the 10k and 5k, respectively, with Lomascolo becoming the first female Siena runner to do so.
Aside from garnering team APR awards for all four teams, the Saints also took home USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors for both programs for the eighth year in a row and the 14th time in the last 16 seasons. A record 30 Saints were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team, including an unprecedented 15 per-squad.
Siena marked the return to a full academic year of competition in 2021-22 with several new accomplishments, beginning during cross country season. The women finished second while the men took third at the 2021 MAAC Cross Country Championships, with senior Olivia Lomascolo (third) and junior Brandon Olden (fourth) each recording the top finishes in program history for their respective teams. Olden would go on to make history as the first Siena runner ever to claim the IC4A Cross Country Individual Title.
Indoor track season saw both Siena standouts emerge as champions, with the pair each winning the MAAC Individual Title in the 3k at the 2022 MAAC Indoor Track Championships. Olden would once again parlay a solid conference performance into regional action, claiming the 3k and 5k titles at the 2022 IC4A Indoor Track Championships and winning IC4A Outstanding Runner honors. Olden would cap off an unprecedented season by winning the 10k individual title for the second straight year at the MAAC Outdoor Track Championships, and was joined by junior Tommy Anderson (3,000 steeplechase) and junior Aidan Gillooley (5k) in claiming MAAC gold that weekend. Olden was named the Siena Male Student Athlete of the Year at the end of the season, while Anderson was awards the Siena Male Rising Star award.
Kenworthy allowed the Saints to experience success during their cross country and outdoor track seasons despite the loss of the indoor track season and schedule re-configurations due to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020-21. The team's 2020 cross country season was moved to the spring and abbreviated to only two competition dates, but it did not stop the women from tying a program-best with a second place finish, while the men took fourth. Furthermore, sophomore Brandon Olden became the first Siena runner in 40 years to qualify individually for the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships. Olden would go on to win the 10,000 meter race in the 2021 MAAC Outdoor Track Championships, while junior Olivia Lomascolo set a new program record in the 5,000 meters.
During the 2019-20 season, Kenworthy guided Siena's cross country programs to second (men) and third (women) place finishes at the 2019 MAAC Championships for the second straight year, with both tying team records for the best finish. Two runners from each side finished within the top-15 to earn All-MAAC honors, while a pair of Siena rookies made the MAAC All-Rookie squad. Senior Evans Kibet set the program record for the men's 8k run during the fall, while classmate Sydney Johnson ran a new program mark in the women's 6k. Three more school records would fall during indoor track season, with Kibet also taking down the 3000m mark, senior Carolyn Pellegrini breaking the indoor 5000M race mark and the women's distance medley relay running to a new program best. Kibet and Johnson were named Siena's Male & Female Athletes of the Year, respectively, while freshman Aidan Gillooley took home the Male Rookie of the Year honor.
2018-19 marked a big year for the Siena running program's, as Kenworthy led both teams to top cross-country finishes in program history, along with multiple individual historic seasons on both the indoor and outdoor track. The men's squad would put up their best overall finish, coming in second, while the women had their second-best finish ever with a third place finish. Individually, junior Evans Kibet became the first runner in program history to make the NCAA East Region Quarterfinals in the Men's 800m run, while he would take home victories in the same event in the MAAC and ECAC Championships. For the first time in program history, the Saints featured three runners in a MAAC Championship final single event that required qualification, as the Green and Gold put three men's runners in the Men's 800m final with Kibet, Luciano Fiore, and Ryan Holland. On the women's side, Kenworthy led Sarah Forman to the school's top senior season ever, as the Altamont native set seven school records in indoor/outdoor track alone that led her to being named Siena's 2018-19 Female Student Athlete of the Year, Google Cloud Academic All-District, and Siena's nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year.
In 2017, Kenworthy led the men's team to a second straight fifth place finish, which tied the program's best-ever since 2005 up to that point. The men's side boasted Kibet who earned All-MAAC honors with a 15th place finish with the second fastest freshman MAAC Championship time in program history. The men won the Rider Invitational for the first team win in 12 years, while they took top three in five of their seven meets. Kibet set a new freshman 8K record (24:44.93) and won MAAC Runner of the Week for the first men's weekly award since 2009. The women took seventh in the cross country meet and was led by All-MAAC honoree Sarah Forman. Forman won two races during the season (Colonie Park Season Opener and Nassaney Invitational). She was just the second Siena individual to win a meet in the last 15 years. Six females broke the 23:00 mark in the 6K.
The track season was highlighted by Forman taking the 3000m Indoor Title and 1500m Outdoor Title. She is the first Siena track athlete to win an individual title. The men also set a new school record and qualified for the IC4A Championship in the Distance Medley Relay with a 10:15.62 time. Forman also qualified for the ECAC Indoor Championship in the 3000m. During the indoor season, the men finished eighth and the women took seventh. At the MAAC Outdoor Championship, both the men and women finished in seventh, moving a spot up from their respective eighth and ninth place finishes last season.
Both Kelly Pasko and Sarah Forman qualified for the Penn Relays and competed in the 10000m and 3000m, respectively. The pair were the first to qualify for the Penn Relays since 1980.
In 2016, Kenworthy led the men's team to a fifth place finish. Each of the team's top-10 finishers came in with the 10 fastest MAAC Championship times in program history, including Nick Miller who posted the fastest time in the MAAC Championship program history. His 17th place individual finish also was the highest placement in MAAC Championship history for the Saints. On the women's side, the team came in eighth while Shannon Bauer finished ninth overall. Her ninth place finish in the highest finish by a Siena woman in the MAAC Championship since Brina Seguine (2007), while she broke the previous school record for fastest time in the MAAC Championship, which she set in 2014.
In the inaugural track season, Kenworthy put together a team where the both the men and women finished eighth at the MAAC Indoor Championship. The men finished third in the distance medley relay with a school record time of 10:17.38, which was good enough to qualify for the IC4A Championship. Sarah Forman qualified as a wildcard entry for the ECAC Championship with her 5:05.27 mile mark. Forman finished in 23rd in the mile at the ECAC Championship. The men and women finished with respective eighth and ninth place finishes at the MAAC Outdoor Championship. Paolo Fiore represented Siena at the IC4A Outdoor Championship when he qualified in the 1500m at the MAAC Outdoor Championship. His 3:54.57 mark led him to the trails at Princeton and ultimately, he finished 37th overall with a time of 4:02.50.
In 2014, Kenworthy led the men's squad to an eighth place finish at the MAAC Championships and the women's seventh place finish was the program's highest in seven years. Sophomore Shannon Bauer ran the fastest time by a Siena woman in MAAC Championship history to finish 15th overall and earn All-Tournament Team honors and junior captain Christie MacFarlane was named the program's first MAAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week (Sept. 17) in seven years. Additionally, Shaun VanBuskirk (freshman 8K), senior Nick Grudev (Van Cortland Park 5-mile), MacFarlane (5K, 6K, Van Cortland Park 5K) and Dominica Bleichert (freshman 5K) all broke program records. In the classroom, both squads were named USTFCCCA Division I All-Academic Teams.
In his first season, Kenworthy led the men's team to an eighth place finish and the women's squad to 10th at the MAAC Championships. Under his tutelage, sophomore Christie MacFarlane earned All-East honors at the ECAC/IC4A Championships and freshman Kelly Pasko ran to a ninth place finish at the Junior Women's National 6K race, earning Junior All-American accolades.
Prior to arriving in Loudonville, Kenworthy played an integral role in the success of Sacred Heart's men's and women's cross country and track and field teams. In his final season, the men's cross country team ran fourth at the Northeast Conference Championships while the women placed second and won the ECAC Championship.
In Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, Kenworthy coached six conference champions in distance events, 14 All-New England athletes and an NCAA Regional Qualifier. During his final winter, Kenworthy coached Patrick Peterson who ranked 20th nationally in the 800 meters with a time of 1:48.69 and Brianna Castrogivanni who was the Northeast Conference Champion in both the 3K and 5K.
Kenworthy has also spent the previous two years as the head girls cross country coach and assistant to the athletic director at Laurelton Hall High School in Milford, Conn. He coached 18 of the 25 fastest athletes in school history and each of his runners was named to the Honor Roll.
Kenworthy, who has served as the head counselor and staff coordinator at Five-Star Cross Country Camp in Rock Hill, N.Y. since 2006, ran cross country at Sacred Heart from 2005-09. A three-time team captain, he was a member of the Pioneers' 2008 Northeast Conference Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championship squads.
Kenworthy was a two-time Northeast Conference Champion in both the 3000 and 5000-meter events in track and field and an eight time All-Northeast Conference selection in various events. He broke five Sacred Heart school records and was a three-time IC4A qualifier and six-time All-New England Athlete.
A native of nearby Gloversville, N.Y., Kenworthy received his B.A. in Political Science from Sacred Heart in 2009 and is currently pursuing his M.B.A. He holds a USATF Level II Coaching Certification from USA Track & Field and a Strength & Condition license from the USTFCCCA.
