The 2023-24 season is Eddie Novara’s ninth year at the University of Rochester, leading the Rochester cross country teams and coaching the Yellowjacket middle and long distance athletes in track and field.
Novara coached Scott Sikorski ’23 to All-America honors in both Cross Country and Track & Field during the 2022-2023 campaign. Sikorski finished in 21st place the 2022 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, securing his first All-America honor in that sport. Sikorski also earned First Team All-UAA honors in Cross Country and was the individual runner-up at the 2022 NCAA Niagara Region Championships. He would continue the success into the 2023 track season, establishing five new school records and earning All-America honors in the Outdoor 1500 meters for a second consecutive year.
Coach Novara has led the Rochester women’s cross country team to three appearances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, earning top-25 national finishes in 2015 (14th), 2018 (21st), and 2019 (18th). Novara also coached Annie Peterson ’17 and Rachel Bargabos ’19 to individual NCAA berths in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Hunter Phinney ’19 represented the Rochester men’s team at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, where he finished 49th of 280 runners at Nationals. Four Yellowjackets qualified as individuals to the NCAA Championships in 2021 - Scott Sikorski ‘23 for the men, and Ella Bellin ‘22, Rachel Dennis ‘23, and graduate student Lisa Pink for the women. Sikorski and Pink would return to the NCAA Championships as individuals during the 2022 season, where Sikorski would become Novara’s first cross country All-American.
Rochester’s distance running successes have continued into the indoor and outdoor track seasons under the watchful eye of Novara. In addition to Sikorski’s exploits in the middle distances, Novara also coached Jordan Hurlbut ’20 to a third-place finish in the Women’s 1500 meters at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Hurlbut set new school records in the 800 meters and 1500 meters in 2021, and earned All-America honors in the 3,000 meters during the 2020 indoor season. Middle distance runner Dokata Kosi Banchale ’22 earned All-America honors in the 800 meters and 4x400 relays during the 2020 indoor season. Samantha Kitchen '17 was Novara’s first All-American at Rochester, finishing 5th in the Mile at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships. In total, Coach Novara has coached 7 All-Americans and 23 NCAA qualifiers in track & field since arriving at Rochester in 2015.
The Rochester women’s distance runners have completely re-written the record books during Novara’s tenure, establishing new UR records in the indoor 800 meters, 5000 meters, 4x800 relay & Distance Medley relay, and the outdoor 800 meters, 1500 meters, 3000 Steeplechase, 5000 meters, 10,000 meters & 4x800 relay. Novara also coached Dokata Kosi Banchale ’22 to new school records in the indoor men’s 800 meters and outdoor 400 meters, and Scott Sikorski ’23 set new school records in the 800 meters, 1500 meters, Mile, and 3000 meters during the 2023 season.
Novara came to Rochester after spending two years as an assistant coach at Binghamton University, where he helped lead the Bearcats to the America East title in men's cross country in 2014. The Binghamton coaches were recognized as the America East Coaching Staff of the Year during the 2014 indoor track season and then for the 2014 cross country season. Novara also earned a Masters degree in Teaching from Binghamton in 2015.
A former standout runner at SUNY Geneseo, Novara earned a Bachelors degree in English in 2012. As a student-athlete, he earned three straight All-America honors in cross country (2009-11) as well as All-Region honors in each of those seasons. In his senior year, he helped the Knights to a runner-up team finish at the NCAA Atlantic Regionals and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. He also spent one year as a volunteer assistant coach at Geneseo, before joining the staff at Binghamton in 2013.
On the track, Novara was the SUNYAC Champion in the Mile, 1500 meters, and 10,000 meters as a senior. He was named Geneseo's Athlete of the Year in 2012 and accumulated 15 All-SUNYAC honors between cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track. He is also currently the SUNYAC and Geneseo record holder in the 10,000 meters (29:32.75).
