Meyer will coach UTC cross country

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic department announced Wednesday that Andy Meyer has taken over as the school’s new cross country coach. He replaces Bill Gautier, who retired recently.

Meyer was Dalton State College’s co-head coach, having helped start the program in 2013. Within his first three seasons, he had propelled both teams to trips to the NAIA championships.

The Dalton State men, ranked 15th this preseason, have been ranked in the top 30 in the nation in each of his seasons, while the women finished 2015 ranked No. 24 and are No. 25 this preseason. Collectively, the Roadrunners have won three Southern States Athletic Conference titles and Meyer was the 2015 SSAC coach of the year for both men’s and women’s cross country.

“Similar to the other positions we have filled during my tenure at UTC, this one received attention from some very qualified individuals from across the country,” UTC vice chancellor and athletic director David Blackburn said in a press release. “We are very fortunate to have a coach as accomplished as Andy right here in the area.

“He did a tremendous job at Dalton State in a very short amount of time. He is an alum with a passion for competition, coaching and this university, and is an outstanding addition to our program.”

Meyer ran at UTC in 1985 and ’86. He finished his undergraduate degree in physical therapy at the Medical College of Georgia in 1988. He won’t have much time to get acclimated — UTC’s teams will compete in the Powerade Invitational on Friday at Moccasin Bend.

I am very grateful to David Blackburn and the UTC family for giving me this dream opportunity,” Meyer said in a release. “UTC is a first-class academic institution and I am humbled and honored to be a coach here. I am excited to embrace the challenges ahead with the support of the university, the athletics department, the Chattanooga community and of course, my family. There is an immense amount of work ahead, but the current team has a huge amount of talent and will set the tone and foundation for our continued success in competition and in the classroom.”

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.