In an unexpected decision, head cross country coach Erin Bresnanwill resign from coaching and teaching duties effective May 31,2004.

“The athletic director and track coach asked that I resign,”said Bresnan. “It was pretty unexpected and I don’t know yet knowwhat I will doing after this.”

Simpson athletic director John Sirianni would not comment on thesituation due to an agreement with Human Resources. Mimi Bartley,director of Human Resources would not comment either.

Since hired in August of 2001, Bresnan started many successfulprograms for her athletes, including a cross county study table,alternate year traveling and a pre-season training camp, amongother things.

“I am so proud of what I started for my athletes while here. Thebiggest accomplishment was that we had four teams make theAll-Academic/All-American team, with a combined GPA of 3.65. It wasthe fourth highest GPA in the nation,” said Bresnan. “I was prettyexcited about that.”

Sophomore Jen Wendt, a cross country and track athlete,commented on the impact Bresnan had on her athletes adstudents.

“She was a positive impact on the program. She cared a lot abouther athletes, but more than that, she was our friend. We could talkto her about stuff outside of running or practice,” she said.

In addition to her coaching duties, Bresnan also taught women’sstudies courses and physical education classes.

“I have truly enjoyed my time here with the athletes andstudents. They are the reason people want to teach and coach,”Bresnan said.

Bresnan, who competed in cross country throughout her years atIowa State, will leave an impression on those she had contactwith.

“I personally improved a lot from her coaching. Even seeing thedifference from high school to last year to this year is amazing,”said Wendt. “I learned a lot from her and she will definitely bemissed.”

“I will leave with a very positive attitude toward my athletesand students. That’s why I came to work everyday. I was excited towork here and really enjoyed the people I worked with. They couldmake my job very difficult or very fun, but it was always fun. Iwill really miss them,” said Bresnan.

“Erin is a very nice person. We wish her the best of luck in allher future endeavors,” said Sirianni.

The next step for the athletic department is hiring a coach withexperience in cross country and distance running.

“We’ve already started to work on putting together a jobdescription. We have some student athletes involved in the processtoo; upperclassmen and distance runners that have had theexperience of changing coaches,” said Sirianni. “It is veryimportant that we have the input from the student athletes, andthey want to be involved, which is good. It will help with thedecision and selection that we make.”

The job offer will be posted in papers this week, said Sirianni.In addition, private contacts have already been made in hopes ofgetting a leg up on time and the selection process.

“Over the past several years, we have not been able to achieveconsistency in the track and cross county programs, which isunfortunate. Wayne Stacy (head track and field coach) has made thecommitment to us, and now we just need to find another coach,” saidSirianni.

The athletic department hopes to have the new coach selected bythe end of the school year.