The 2015 season marks John Izzo’s 16th year guiding the Rochester men’s cross country program. He is also an assistant coach for track & field, responsible for training the Yellowjacket men’s middle and long distance runners. Izzo also previously served as head coach of the men’s track & field team from 2000-2009. Under his guidance, the Yellowjackets have finished highly at the New York State and ECAC Championships, and Rochester has sent numerous competitors to the NCAA Championships in both cross country and track & field.
Izzo led the Rochester men to three consecutive appearances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships from 2010-2012, finishing among the top 25 programs in the nation each year. Jamie Vavra ’12 earned consecutive All-America honors in Cross Country during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, becoming the seventh runner in school history to earn multiple All-America honors in Cross Country . Izzo has also led the Yellowjackets to two team titles at the NYSCTC Cross Country Championships (2008, 2012).
On the track, Coach Izzo was instrumental in helping Brian Lang ’11 earn back-to-back All-America honors in the 3,000m Steeplechase, finishing 3rd at the 2010 NCAA meet and earning a 4th-place finish in 2011.
Rochester’s student-athletes have been highly successful in the classroom as well, as the men’s cross country and track teams have been repeatedly recognized for collective academic achievement by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association during Izzo’s tenure. During the 2013 season, the 25-man cross country roster had an average cumulative GPA of 3.57, tied for 6th nationally among all NCAA Division III programs.
Coach Izzo has 46 years of experience coaching cross country and track, having previously spent 17 years as head coach at SUNY Brockport before coming to Rochester in 2000. Prior to joining the college ranks, he also coached cross country (1969-1990) and track & field (1973-1977) at Brockport High School. His cross country team ran off a streak of 60 consecutive wins and four Sectional titles, earning Izzo induction to the Section V Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2006.
Izzo is a member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and is also past president of the New York State Collegiate Track Conference. He has served as a private coach to numerous USA National Team athletes and nine national champions along with serving as team coach for three USA Track and Field international meets.
A 1967 graduate of SUNY Brockport, Izzo was inducted into Brockport’s Athletic Hall of Fame based on his accomplishments as a middle-distance runner during the mid-1960s. He was a national qualifier in 1966 and 1967 and a NYS Champion both indoors and outdoors in 1967
