2005 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year

Contact Coach Lear: jlear7074@yahoo.com

Jim Lear is entering his 12th season as the head coach of Duquesne's men's cross country team, having established the program as an annual contender for the Atlantic 10 championship.

After steadily climbing in the Atlantic 10 standings throughout his tenure, Lear's Dukes have finished no lower than third over the past five years. In fact, he guided the Red and Blue to second place finishes in 2004 and 2006 and led the team to its first ever Atlantic 10 Championship in 2005, being named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year as a result.

Lear came to Duquesne in 1994 and was promoted to head coach in 1996 after two campaigns as an assistant. He brought with him a wealth of experience and success to the program and is also a men's outdoor track and field assistant coach, working with the distance runners.

During his tenure at Duquesne, the cross country program has gradually improved each season. In fact, the Dukes have placed among the top three at the Atlantic 10 Championship in each of the past four seasons. Lear has also seen numerous runners be named either Atlantic 10 Performer or Rookie of the Week and has had 12 Atlantic 10 All-Conference performers in the past eight years, including five in 2005.

Lear's runners also excel in the classroom as evidenced by the numerous Academic All-Americans and Academic All-Conference honorees his student-athletes have had.

A former track and cross country runner himself in high school and college, Lear began his coaching career in 1975 as the head cross country and track coach at Central Catholic. He coached the Vikings for nine years and also had a one-year simultaneous stint as assistant track coach at Carnegie Mellon University in 1981-82, where he produced his first All-American performer.

Following his tenure at Central Catholic, Lear worked for one year as coach at Mercersburg Academy in Central Pennsylvania before accepting the position of assistant track coach in charge of distance runners at the University of Pittsburgh in 1985. During nine seasons at Pitt, Lear guided two additional athletes to All-American status and was involved with the only Pitt cross-country team to ever qualify for the NCAA Championships in 1990.

Lear resides in Wilkins Township with his wife Debbie and has three daughters, LeAnne, Kaitlin and Jessica.