Now in his 29th season as the head track & field coach and 27th year as cross country coach at Whitworth, Dr. Toby Schwarz has transformed those Whitworth team into some of the top programs in the nation. He is the longest-serving coach in the Whitworth University athletics department.
Cross Country:
The women's cross country team earned three straight Northwest Conference championships in from 2015 through 2017 and finished among the top 20 at the NCAA Division III Championships, including a 13th place finish in 2017. Schwarz was named 2017 NWC and NCAA West Region Women's Coach of the Year. The Pirate men won their third Northwest Conference title in four years in 2011 and and Schwarz was selected as the NWC Coach of the Year.
Marissa Mount became Whitworth's second straight women's cross country All-American in 2018, following Kayla Leland in 2016 and 2017.
2010 was a banner year for Pirate cross country. For the first time ever, both the men's and women's teams qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships at the same time. The men also won their second Northwest Conference title in three years, while the women were NWC and NCAA West Region runners up. The women went on to finish 17th at the nationals championships, their second top-20 finish in as many years.
In 2009 Schwarz led the Pirate women to the Northwest Conference and NCAA DIII West Regional championships while finishing 6th at the NCAA DIII National Championships. The previous fall Schwarz guided the Pirate men to the NCAA DIII West Regional Championship, qualified for their first ever NCAA Championships meet, and won the NWC title. Also, in 2002 Schwarz led the Whitworth women to an NCAA West Region title and the team's first-ever berth to the NCAA Championships. Schwarz was named the NCAA West Region women's Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2009 and the men’s regional Coach of the Year in 2008. He has been honored as the NWC Men’s Coach of the Year in 2008, 2010 and has earned the women's award in 2009 and 2016.
Schwarz had taken at least one Whitworth runner to the NCAA championships for a ten season span from 2001 to 2011, which includes the 2008 Men’s NCAA West Region Champion, Nick Gallagher.
Coach Schwarz changed the direction of the Pirate program midway through his tenure. After building the program from a dozen student-athletes in 1998 to 54 runners by 2005, Schwarz decided that it was time for philosophical face lift for the team. He decided to cease the continuous growth of participants in the program and move to a philosophy of a smaller, more focused and committed group of athletes.
Now through a process of tryouts and cuts, a more streamlined group of committed athletes make up the Whitworth cross country program.
Track & Field:
Since the 2008 season 107 student-athletes earned a spot in the the NCAA Division III outdoor track and field championships and come home with 53 All-America (top-8) performances. Schwarz has coached Pirate athletes to 11 individual national titles over the same time frame (ten outdoor and one indoor), including 2023 champion Cody Wheeler in the men's javelin. The Whitworth men have finished among the top 20 teams in the nation six times since 2008, including a third place finish at the 2008 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, a third place finish at the 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships and a sixth place finish at the 2009 outdoor meet.
Schwarz has built a powerhouse program at Whitworth, sweeping the Northwest Conference men's and women's title in 2001, 2015, and 2016. The Pirate men won eight of ten NWC championships from 2007 through 2016. Over the last 15 seasons more than 60 athletes per year (over 75% of the team) have qualified for the NWC championship meet. Schwarz coached Kristin Shields to a national championship in the 100 meter dash in 2004, and two time national champions Emmanuel Bofa (800 meters) and Cody Stelzer (High Jump) in 2008 and 2009. Coach Schwarz added his sixth national champion with Carter Comito winning back-to-back-to-back national titles in the men’s discus in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Kerry Wright claimed her own national title in the women's javelin throw in 2015 and Andrew Bloom followed with a men's javelin title in 2016.
Schwarz has earned 31 Coach of the Year awards, including the 2016 NCAA West Region men's outdoor award and 2016 Northwest Conference honors (men and women). In 2009 Schwarz was selected as the NCAA Division III Men’s Coach of the Year. Members of Schwarz’s coaching staff have also won the NCAA DIII West Region Assistant Coach of the Year awards for the past six years including the 2015 outdoor men’s assistant coach of the year (Joe VanHoomissen).
Following the 2006 season, a decision was made by the coaching staff to cease the continuous growth of the program and move to a philosophy of a smaller, more focused and committed group of student-athletes. Through a process of tryouts and cuts, a more streamlined group of student-athletes make up the current and future Whitworth program.
With a smaller, more committed group of student-athletes, the level of excitement at practice is high, leading to a national championship caliber program. Whitworth finished fourth in the inaugural Al Carius Men’s Program of the Year award that was based on the team’s overall finish at the NCAA DIII cross country, indoor and outdoor Track & Field national championships in 2008-09. The men’s team finished 9th in the Al Carius Program of the Year standings in 2011, while the women’s team finished 11th in the female counterpart, the Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year, in 2011. The Pirate program was also honored as the Scholar Team of the Year in 2008 and 2009 which is based on team overall GPA and national team finishes.
Dr. Schwarz is also a professor in the Kinesiology Department. Schwarz fills his "spare time" when he is not teaching and coaching by being very active in the community and in youth ministry, including being the advisor for Whitworth’s chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Schwarz lives with his wife, Sally, and their daughters Malya and Ruby in north Spokane’s Mead neighborhood.
If you are interested in more information on the Whitworth Track & Field teams, you can contact Coach Schwarz at tschwarz@whitworth.edu or 509.777.4361.
