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Coach Funk's resume' includes an Olympic Trials Qualifier, Three National Champions, an NCAA Runner-Up for 800m, Four Conference USA Champions, Four High School All-Americans, Two Footlocker National Cross Country Qualifiers, 10 NCAA Division One Track & Field Qualifiers (High Jump, 60m dash, 100m dash, 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, Heptathlon), One NCAA Cross Country Qualifier, One Maryland State Outdoor Track & Field State Championship team, and helped Auburn University finish second at the 1997 NCAA Indoor Championships. Funk officially began his coaching career at Annapolis high school in the fall of 1993. There he led Kristen Nicolini to a Junior National Championship in the 1500m run (4:25.69) in 1995, the US #1 ranking for 1500 meters and a fourth place finish at the World Junior Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, which is still the highest U.S. finish of all-time at that distance. Under Funk's guidance, Nicolini won two consecutive Indoor National Scholastic Championships (now Nike) in the mile run, running the fourth fastest time in meet history (4:51.99) in 1995. Additionally she was a two time qualifier for the Millrose Mile, finishing second in 1995 in 4:53.21, (7th fastest time in meet history) and has run the 10th fastest time in Penn Relays history for 1500m (4:28.96) in 1994. Nicolini also finished third in the 1994 Junior National Championships for 1500m, earning a spot on the Pan-American team. No coach in Maryland history has ever qualified more than one runner for the Footlocker Cross Country National Finals, until Funk, who sent the last two girls in Nicolini, 8th at the 1994 Northeast region (18:16) and former Mach Los TC member and Atholton H.S. standout, Alison Smith, 5th at the 2006 Northeast region (17:55). Smith finished 18th in the finals, missing the last All-American spot by three places. Furthermore, Smith became Funk's sixth Junior National qualifier; advancing to the 1500 meter finals as a 15-year old sophomore in 2005 with a heat victory and PR of 4:34.10, and then improved on that in the final, placing seventh in 4:31.80. Smith again qualified as a junior in 2006, finishing sixth in the finals with a new PR of 4:31.45. A month later at the 2006 USATF Junior Olympic Championships, Smith became Funk's second National Champion, winning the 3000 meter title by a whopping 37-seconds in her 3k debut! Smith's Mach Los TC teammate, Ashlyn Sinclair, became the seventh Junior National Championship qualifier for Funk, placing fourth in the 3000-meter steeplechase finals in 2006, before finishing as the runner-up at the 2006 Junior Olympic Championships, earning All-American status. Funk's third National Champion came the very next year (2007), when Ashley Seymour won the USATF Youth National Title for 800-meters in 2:14.56 representing the Mach Los Track Club. While serving as the head coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Funk led his women athletes to huge individual accomplishments. In 1998, Funk guided Melissa Hopkins to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, becoming the first to accomplish that feat in school history. In addition, Funk sent two more distance runners to the Junior Nationals as freshman, including Christie Caywood (1500m), and Carla Kelly (5000m) and two sprinters in Yolanda Cooper (200m dash, long jump) and Tenneshia Jones (100m dash). Ten athletes qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Championships while at UAB under Funk's direction when only two athletes in school history had accomplished that feat previously. Nakeshia Jackson, not only advanced to the Outdoor Championships for 400-meter hurdles, she also competed in the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, CA, in the 100-meter hurdles. Jackson had also qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships numerous times in the heptatholon. In the high jump, Meredith George cleared 6-feet and qualified for the indoor national championships, and Yolanda Cooper finished 15th in the 2000 Indoor NCAA Finals for the 60-meter dash. Later that spring Cooper finished 2nd in the 100m dash at the prestigious Penn Relays. Before serving as head coach at UAB, Funk coached one-year at Auburn University (AL) as the head Graduate Assistant Coach, working primarily with the 800m runners. In 1997 he helped Aaron Richburg (1:47.99) place 2nd at the NCAA Indoor Championships and worked with All-American cross country runner Janet Trujillo and several others that earned All-SEC distinction. Newly appointed assistant coach, Ira Queen, is in his 16th year coaching track & field at the high school level. A two-time Capital/Gazette Newspapers coach of the year while at Arundel high school, Queen lead his Wildcat teams to two Anne Arundel County Championships, four 4A Regional championships, and one State runner-up. Before his assignment with Spalding, Queen spent all 15-years leading Arundel's boys and girls, coaching 90 county champions, 50 regional champions, six state champions, four Penn Relays 4x400m championship teams, and 10 top 20 finishers at the 4A Maryland State Finals. A sign of a good coach is how his athletes fair when it matters the most; and Queen's athletes were at their best at the Nike Indoor Championships, as he led one athlete to a fourth place finish in the Pentathlon, and another to a sixth place finish in the high jump. Furthermore, Queen led an additional eight athletes to top 20 performances at the Nike Indoor Championships. Queen holds a USA Track & Field level 1 certification in sprints and jumps training, and has been certified in Pole Vault safety. However, coaching track & field is not his only experience working with athletes. Coach Queen led the Wildcats J.V. soccer teams from 1996-1999, and the varsity squad from 2000-2006. Three times his teams won the Anne Arundel county title, twice winning the Regional crown, with one State runner-up finish. A graduate of Arundel in 1974, Queen was a member of the Outdoor State Championship team in 1973; led by Maryland coaching legend Ron Evans. Ironically Evans also coached head coach Brian Funk at Old Mill from 1985-1989, as Funk was a member of the 1989 4A Outdoor State Championship team. Queen was married in 1982 and has one daughter.
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After
highly successful coaching stints at the high school, collegiate,
and junior national levels over the last 17 years, Coach Brian Funk
will begin his first year at Archbishop Spalding High School as
the new Head Coach for Girls Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field.
