Coach Quintana's Full Bio (pdf)

Under the guidance of Louie Quintana, the Sun Devil distance and mid-distance group has continued to improve and make a name for itself both in the Pac-10 and nationally. Entering his 12th year working with the Arizona State University track & field program, Quintana, the 2006 USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year for Women's Distance, will continue working only with the men's distance program during 2012 while long-time assistant Ryan Cole continues to head the women's distances.

In his Sun Devil career, Quintana's track athletes have captured five NCAA titles, including Kyle Alcorn's sweep of the indoor 3,000m and outdoor 3,000m steeplechase. In 2008, Olympian Amy Hastings (indoor 5,000m) added his second national title while Victoria Jackson (outdoor 10,000m run) added a crown in 2006. Last season, Mason McHenry pulled the upset at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at 800 meters to give Quintana his fifth NCAA Champion student-athlete. His Sun Devils also have collected 10 All-America honors in cross country, including 2009 honoree Brandon Bethke, who finished a program-best seventh place at the 2009 meet. On the track, his runners have collected 32 All-America honors ranging from the 800m run through the 10,000m run.

In 2012, Quintana guided McHenry to an NCAA title in the 800-meter run to give ASU its first ever NCAA Champion at the distance in school history. In addition to his work with McHenry, it was a career year for Nick Happe. Happe set the school record in the indoor mile inrunning in a time of 3:58.78 and earning second team All-America nods last year. He has also posted the third-fastest indoor times in school history in the 3,000 meters (7:55.08) and 5,000 meters (13:54.15) while earning NCAA All-West Region honors in cross country. Brian Pierre set the school record in the indoor 5,000-meter run en route to a 2011 MPSF Championship in the event.

In 2010, Quintana saw a pair of individuals continue to improve and take over leadership of the cross country program as Ben Engelhardt and Lindsay Prescott both earned Second Team All-Pac-10 honors. Engelhardt went on to qualify individually for the NCAA Cross Country Championships where he finished 51st in the nation, an improvement by nearly 150 places from his previous best. Engelhardt then stepped onto the track and smashed the school record in the 5,000m indoor run before running the fifth-best time in school history in the outdoor 10,000m run. The 2011 outdoor track season also produced some history as Darius Terry finished 10th in the 1,500m run at the NCAA Championships, giving ASU its first-ever All-American in the event, the only event ASU had never had an All-American.

On the track in 2010, Quintana had several individuals qualify for the NCAA Preliminary Round meet, including four men in the 5,000m run final with two, Bethke and Zeke Van Patten, advancing to the NCAA Finals in Eugene, Ore. At the Pac-10 Championships, four of his women scored in the Top 8, including the pair of Cherise McNair (sixth) and Kauren Tarver (seventh) in the steeplechase, both after running season-bests. Ali Kielty scored in both the 5,000m and 10,000m events while Kari Hardt added points in the 1,500m run to help the women to a third-place team finish.

During the 2009 track and field season, Bethke made the most of his opportunity to run during the outdoor season and earned All-America honors in the 5,000m run with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships after he posted the fastest time in the nation and also won the Pac-10 title. Prior to that, Mason McHenry earned All-America honors in the 800m run on the indoor surface and posted one of the fastest times in the nation as well.

Along with Bethke's outstanding finish in the men's national race, both teams put together solid seasons as both placed third in the Pac-10 Conference and then qualified for the NCAA Championships where the men took 19th and the women 24th. For the women, the NCAA meet marked their 12th-consecutive appearance, the third-longest active streak in the nation. Individually, Allie Kieffer was the top women's performer as she placed 49th overall, just nine places from earning All-America honors.

Quintana, who has led the Sun Devil women to a pair of trophy finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, including fourth-place showings in both 2005 and 2007, has worked with his fair-share of successful students as his runners also have found success in the classroom. In 2009 alone, 19 different Sun Devils were selected to the Academic All-Pac-10 teams, including four first-team honorees. The conference also tabbed another Sun Devil as the Toyo Tires Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, this time honoring Bethke one year after selecting Jenna Kingma. Quintana's student-athletes, in his time in Tempe, have combined to earn 30 USTFCCCA All-Academic honors with Victoria Jackson also being selected as the 2006 USTFCCCA Women's Outdoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He also has seen four of his athletes earn Academic All-District VIII honors, including Engelhardt in 2009, and one Academic All-America honor in track.

The 2008 cross country season saw his women place 14th at the NCAA Championships after advancing to their 11th-consecutive appearance in the national meet. That streak currently stands as the third-longest in the nation and ranks as the eighth-best all-time. While Hardt was the lone All-American, the women continued to battle with the top teams in the nation while men made strides to gain experience and confidence on a young team.

During the 2008 track season, Quintana's men made the headlines, including the success Alcorn enjoyed individually as well as a member of the distance medley relay. Along with his two national titles, Alcorn anchored the DMR to second place at the NCAA indoor Championships to earn much-needed points toward the eventual team title ASU would secure with freshman Nectaly Barbosa and junior Joey Heller also running well. Outdoors, Alcorn on the Pac-10 title in the steeplechase and became one of only a handful of men to win both the steeplechase and the 5,000m run at the same Pac-10 Championships meet. While Alcorn was an All-American outdoors in the steeplechase, Barbosa joined him as a national honoree as the true-freshman finished 10th overall in the 800m run.

During his competitive career at Villanova University, he captained the Wildcat squad to a pair of Top 10 finishes, placing fourth in 1992 and ninth in 1994 at the NCAA Championships. Individually, he claimed three NCAA Cross Country All-America certificates with finishes of 16th, 14th, and 4th. Quintana also qualified for four indoor and outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships as well as the 1992 United States Olympic Trials. In 1993, he was named Male Outstanding Performer at the prestigious Penn Relays and, for his efforts, made the cover of the July 1993 issue of Track and Field News. As a competitor, Quintana clocked personal-best times of 1:46.3 (800m), 3:40.37 (1,500m), 7:58.85 (3,000m) and 13:53.62 (5,000m).

In all, Quintana garnered nine All-America awards during his career on the Main Line. He earned his bachelor's degree in History from VU in 1996 and recently completed his Master's degree in Education Curriculum and Instruction with a major in Language and Literacy from ASU. A standout in high school, he was the National Footlocker Cross Country Champion having secured the crown in 1990.

Quintana and his wife, Andi, currently reside in Avondale with their daughter, Ellie, and son, Charlie.

Louie Quintana Position: Assistant Coach Experience: 11th Year (2011-12) Events: Men's Mid-Distance/Distance/XC