STANFORD, Calif. -- J.J. Clark, Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, was named women’s cross country Coach of the Year by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Clark becomes the first Stanford coach to receive a Coach of the Year award from the ACC.
The Stanford women placed sixth at the NCAA Championships on November 23 and were first among ACC teams. Earlier, Stanford was second in its first ACC championship race, without top runner Amy Bunnage, and second at the NCAA West Regional.
Bunnage was fourth at the NCAA Championships for Stanford’s top individual women’s finish in 11 years, after winning the West Regional in her season debut eight days earlier. Bunnage was named West Region Athlete of the Year for women’s cross country.
Bunnage and Sophia Kennedy, who was 33rd at NCAA’s, earned their first cross country All-America honors. Both are sophomores.
Clark, in his sixth season at Stanford, earned his third conference Cross Country Coach of the Year award in his Stanford tenure. The previous two were in the Pac-12. This was Stanford’s first season in the ACC.
In his career, Clark is a two-time USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year, a 13-time regional Coach of the Year, and 11-time conference Coach of the Year.
Including Stanford, Connecticut, Tennessee, and Florida, Clark has been responsible, as track and field director or distance coach, for 110 different All-Americans who have totaled 379 All-America honors through the 2024 cross country season.