Tony Nicolosi was named head cross country and track and field coach at Cal State East Bay in 2015, and enters his seventh year leading both the Pioneers men's and women's programs.
The women's cross country team made history in 2019, qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history en route to a ninth-place finish. In the process, sophomore Angie Ronquillo placed 30th overall in the 6K race by crossing the finish line in 20-minutes, 53.9 seconds, shattering her own previous program-record mark of 21:03.6.
The men's cross country program took a step forward under Nicolosi in 2018-19, posting the highest finish in school history for the second year in a row. The team's fourth place standing was led by Pedro Cruz, who became the first CSUEB male runner to earn All-CCAA honors. The Pioneer men went onto notch their best showing of the CCAA era at NCAA West Regionals with 11th place. Three runners broke the program record in the 10k at that meet, led by Chris Lessard, who set the new school record and became the first Pioneer of the CCAA era to capture All-Region honors.
In just his second year in 2016-17, Nicolosi's distance program posted an historic season. Both his men's and women's cross country squads notched their highest finishes ever at CCAA Championships, with the men placing fifth and the women taking seventh. For the men it was a particularly monumental leap, as the team had never before finished above last place. All seven scoring runners ran faster times than the squad's top runner the previous season, and all seven finished in the top 60 overall. The team went on to finish 17h at NCAA DII Regionals, the program's best standing since 1998. His men's track team was also awarded for itas success in the classroom, earning USTFCCCA All-Academic honors
Under Nicolosi's guidance, the Pioneer runners collectively had their fastest season in 2016-17 since the program re-joined Division II. Remarkably, the men's cross country team had seven individuals crack the program's top-15 times in the 8k, led by freshman Pedro Cruz, who set the school record at 24:40.0. Similarly, the women's squad had four runners break into the all-time top-15 in the 6k, led by senior Kelsey Lamb, who set the program record at 22:28.73.
Nicolosi's runners also had an outstanding 2017 track season, cracking all-time lists for a program that was once among the best in the nation and posting numbers that hadn't been reached in decades. Cruz turned in the program's No. 3 time in the 10,000 meters (30:48.81) and No. 5 time in the 5,000 meters (14:54.44), both of which hadn't been accomplished in over 25 years. Amazingly, Cruz led a group of six Pioneer runners who all broke into the top-10 all-time in the 5,000 meters in 2017.
Chris Lessard and Alberto Venegas both cracked the program's top-10 in the 1,500 meters in 2017, running the Pioneers' second- and third-fastest times since 1991. Venegas also posted the second-fastest 800 meter time since 1990 and stands No. 8 in program history. Sprinter Aaron Jones clocked the fastest 400 meter time since 1991 with a mark of 49.68 that ranks him eighth all-time as well.
In Nicolosi's first cross country season in 2015, freshman Israel Sotelo ran the fastest 8k time by a male Pioneer since the program joined NCAA DII and the CCAA. In the spring of 2016, he guided the men's track and field team to 20 points at the CCAA Championships, led by Marquise Cherry with podium finishes in the long jump and high jump. Cherry went onto become a two-time All-American by placing sixth in the long jump at the 2016 NCAA Championships.
Nicolosi previously spent three years as an assistant coach at Western State Colorado University, one of the top distance programs in Division II. There he was in charge of training, recruiting, fundraising, and meet operations. He helped guide the Mountaineers' men's cross country team to a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) championship in 2013 and top-five finishes at the NCAA championships each of the last two seasons. On the women's side, he helped the squad capture back-to-back second place finishes at the NCAA South-Central regionals. Nicolosi had similar success assisting with Western's track and field programs. In 2014-15, the men's team swept the indoor and outdoor RMAC championships and took 10th place at the NCAA indoor championships. In two years, he coached four All-Americans in cross country and seven in track and field.
Prior to his stint in Colorado, Tony spent one season at Nova Southeastern as a graduate assistant. He made the most of his time there, managing the training, practice plans, and race strategy for both cross country squads. That year, the men's team captured Sunshine State Conference (SSC) and NCAA South Region titles for the first time in school history, and the women's team produced the program's first-ever individual SSC champion.
Before taking his position at NSU, Nicolosi coached cross country and track and field for five years at Seminole High School in Seminole, Fla. During his time there, he coached three state medal winners and led the boy's cross country team to three straight state championship berths.
Nicolosi earned his bachelor's degree in sports management with a minor in economics from Tampa University in 2010. He had a remarkable collegiate career as a distance runner for the Spartans, graduating as the first male runner in program history to earn First Team All-Conference honors all four years. He qualified for NCAA championships twice in cross country, placed third at the NCAA South regionals as a senior, and set the school's 8k record (24:52). He also established program records in the 3k (8:41), 5k (15:07), and 10k (31:30) for the track and field team.
