RUSSELL SMELLEY
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Westmont Highlights
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Selected to
NAIA Cross Country
Hall of Fame
1999
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| Named NAIA Cross Country Coach of the Year |
| 13 GSAC Cross Country Championships |
16 Cross Country
All-Americans |
15 Cross Country
All-American
Scholar-Athletes |
Head Cross Country Coach
Russell Smelley begins his 24th year at Westmont. His tenure has produced numerous NAIA All-Americans and NAIA All-American Scholar-Athletes in both cross country and track and field.
Smelley has guided the women's cross country team to national prominence in recent years, and was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1995. In addition, his men's and women's teams have won 13 conference titles. He was inducted into the NAIA Cross Country Hall of Fame in November of 1999.
The Westmont track and field teams have also been successful, with at least one athlete claiming All-American honors in each of the past 10 years. In 2002, the men's Distance Medley Relay won a national indoor championship, while high jumper Amber Nixon captured both the indoor and outdoor NAIA titles, and pole vaulter Allison Knode won at the outdoor championships. Smelley was named the Mondo NAIA Indoor Regional Coach of the Year in 2002.
Besides his coaching duties, Smelley is a tenured associate professor in the Kinesiology Department and serves as Facilities Coordinator. His classroom work earned him the distinction of being named "Teacher of the Year" in 1988 and again in 2002. That quality of teaching is carried over to his work with the Westmont cross country and track teams. Smelley takes special pride in developing the potential of each individual athlete academically, athletically, and spiritually.
"Ultimately, it is important to help the students improve their self-esteem and confidence to enable them to become more self-reliant and thus reach their greatest potential," says Smelley. "This is development of the mind, body and spirit and it produces outstanding people who can succeed in academics, athletics and life."
Prior to coming to Westmont, Smelley earned a BA degree in English and Physical Education, and a master's in Education at the University of Richmond. He was an All-American middle distance runner for the Spiders. He spent two years as head women's cross country and track and field coach at Richmond, and an assistant men's coach.
Smelley and wife Allison, a former tennis player at Westmont, are the parents of two children, Alyssa and Travis.
