Longtime UTC cross country, track coach Gautier retires

Bill Gautier
Bill Gautier

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga announced the retirement of Bill Gautier, head coach for cross country and women's track, late Wednesday evening.

Gautier spent 24 years with the program, developing the running Mocs into one of the more competitive programs in the Southern Conference. His teams won a combined 12 conference championships - five men's, seven women's - with his 1998 men's team winning the South region title in cross country.

He was named SoCon Coach of the Year 12 times in cross country, including co-honors in 2015, when the women's team finished second in the conference and 12th in the region meet. Gautier was the league's coach of the year twice in women's indoor track.

Six runners earned All-American honors under his tutelage, led by Shannon Wommack. She received the honor twice in cross country and three times in outdoor track.

"We are grateful for Coach Gautier's years of service and our student-athletes' success in the classroom, in competition and in the community," UTC athletic director and vice chancellor David Blackburn said in a release. "We will begin a search for a new head coach immediately."

Before his time at UTC, Gautier was the head cross country coach and assistant track coach at Southeast Missouri State. His teams won six conference titles in cross country and also placed in the top five at the NCAA Division II Championships in track and cross country five out of six seasons.

In 1990, he was named National Combine Coach of the Year, and he was the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year for six consecutive seasons.

The 2015 season was the third time in five years the men's cross country team posted the highest grade-point average in the nation. The women were eighth a year ago and have been in the top 25 for six consecutive seasons.

The women's cross country team opens its season Sept. 2 at Jacksonville State. The men start the following day at Belmont. Both teams are scheduled to compete in UTC's first home event of the year, the Powerade Invitational at Moccasin Bend on Sept. 9.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

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