Bloomfield Tabs Alum Elson Smajlaj as Head Cross Country Coach
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. – Bloomfield
College has hired Elson
Smajlaj as head coach of the institution's
men's and women's cross country programs, athletic
director Sheila
Wootenannounced today.
A 2012 graduate of Bloomfield and a four-year member of the
men's cross country team, Smajlaj was a three-year captain for the
Deacons and one of the top runners in the CACC during his stellar
college career. Also a standout in the classroom, Smajlaj
earned three consecutive CACC Fall All-Academic Team selections
from 2009-2011, concluding his Bloomfield tenure as one of the
model student-athletes within the institution's athletic
department.
"I am very excited to have Elson be the person that will be
taking over our cross country programs moving forward," Wooten
said. "He is a young, energetic individual with a passion for
cross country and for helping student-athletes. During his
time here, he was one of our best student-athletes both on the
course and in the classroom. I have no doubt he will help
take both of our programs to new heights as he becomes our head
coach."
Smajlaj will begin his collegiate coaching career by taking
over a men's program that ran to a fifth-place finish at the annual
CACC Championships in 2012, with the women's team placing tenth in
the event. With talented veteran runners returning for the
2013 campaign, Smajlaj will look to help both programs take a
positive step forward in his first season at the helm.
"I am blessed and humbled to be given this opportunity and to
be welcomed back into the Bloomfield College Athletics family,"
Smajlaj said of his new position as head coach. "Running
requires a uniquely strong mentality, combined with determination
and dedication. It reveals character, and teaches
student-athletes the importance of hard work. Those are the
values I plan on instilling in our runners, and I am excited to
start building these programs and moving them forward."