Veteran Till to Lead Cross Country, Track Teams in 2009
4/1/2009 1:25:06 PM
JACKSON -- Athletics Director Tim Wise of Millsaps College announced today the hiring of Andy Till who will take over as head coach of the cross country teams in addition to helping start up a track & field program in the fall of 2009.
Till will take the reins of his first collegiate team for the upcoming season, becoming the Majors’ first full-time cross country coach in program history in addition to helping build a competitive track & field program from scratch.
“I’ve looked into Division III running the past several years and really enjoyed the atmosphere,” Till said. “My short term goals are to get kids to come here and be part of the program, constantly be in the middle of the pack in the conference and get a team to nationals in the future.”
An all-state runner throughout high school at Jackson Prep, Till ran his first cross country meet at Woodland Hills in sixth grade – the first private school meet in the state of Mississippi. He then walked-on at Ole Miss before transferring to the University of Montana after suffering through some injuries for the Rebels. While at Montana, Till didn’t run competitively but spent his summers working as a ranger at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming where he stayed in shape by running the mountain.
Till moved back home in 1995 to coach cross country, starting the program at East Rankin Academy and staying there two seasons, before taking the job at St. Andrew’s in 1997 where he’s been the past 12 years.
At St. Andrew’s, Till has developed one of the most dominant cross country and track & field programs in the state, leading the Saints to 10 consecutive state championships in women’s cross country from 1997-2006 in addition to 40 individual track & field champions.
Till coached just women’s cross country at St. Andrew’s, helping eight runners grab individual state championships. He has been, however, both the men’s and women’s track & field coach since 1998, leading the Saints to five state championships and five runner-up finishes.
The Jackson native is no stranger to building programs from the ground up, which will be the case with the Majors’ track & field program in 2009. Till plans on having the teams run at a local high school, while exploring areas for a track on campus – something he did at St. Andrew’s over a few years.
In all, Till has 14 years experience coaching cross country and 12 years with track & field. He will officially begin at Millsaps College on July 1, 2009.