First Posted: 7/17/2014

PEMBROKE — The University of North Carolina at Pembroke will be putting its track and field and cross country programs in the hands of a coach with some big time experience.

Dr. Peter Ormsby, a 13-year college coaching veteran with stops at both Florida State and Central Florida, has been named head coach of both the cross country and track teams at UNCP. Ormsby had been the head coach of multiple programs at Webber International in Florida.

“We are very excited to welcome Pete to the Braves family,” said UNCP athletic director Dick Christy. “His experience with a national championship-caliber program at Florida State has served him well in his seven years as a head coach. He has been recognized as coach of the year six times during his career and that only exudes the respect his peers have for the outstanding work he has done. He is focused on the student-athlete experience for all disciplines of track and field and cross country and I am looking forward to his leadership and energy.”

Ormsby spent four seasons on the coaching staff at Florida State as both a volunteer coach and an administrative assistant coach. While in Tallahassee, Florida State’s womens cross country teams combined for four appearances at the NCAA Championships, while the track and field squads reeled off five ACC Championships and captured the 2005 NCAA East Regional title. The 2005 squad went on to finish in a tie for fourth at the NCAA Championships.

His recipe for success eventually followed him to Orlando where he helped construct a highly competitive program at Central Florida. During his two-year stint with the Knights, UCF’s mens cross country program turned in a pair of top-15 finishes in NCAA Regional competition and three student-athletes were given All-Conference USA distinction.

Ormsby has had the reigns of dominant cross country and track and field programs at Webber International, an NAIA school, over the last six years. The school’s cross country programs have recorded 12 national qualifiers, four conference champions and 11 top-five finishes at the conference championships under Ormsby’s watch. The track and field programs boast 28 conference champions, 124 all-conference laurels and a dozen all-Americans. The womens track and field program took home the 2008 league crown and finished second at the conference championships last season, while the mens track and field team registered five-straight runner-up finishes at the conference championships from 2009-12.

A five-time league coach of the year selection and the 2012 conference coach of the year honoree in men’s cross country, Ormsby also headed up the triathlon programs at WIU.

A four-year letterwinner in cross country at Elon, Ormsby was a member of two South Atlantic Conference championship squads and earned all-conference honors as a freshman in 1994. A four-time SAC All-Academic Team selection, he earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll nods eight times and was a six-time member of the SAC Honor Roll.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank Dick Christy and Dr. Tommy Thompson for the opportunity to join the UNC Pembroke family,” Ormsby said. “I look forward to working with (assistant coaches) Adarian Barr, Stephen Carney and the rest of the coaching staff as we continue to develop strong student-athletes and strive for conference championships.”