PEMBROKE – Former St. Andrews Presbyterian College cross country and track & field head coach Gary Aycock has been named the Director of Compliance for UNC Pembroke’s athletic department, while also assuming duties as assistant coach for the Braves cross country and track & field programs, it was announced Tuesday.
Aycock has been the Knights' cross country head coach for the past six years, leading both the men's and women's teams to their most successful era in the program's NCAA Division II history both on race paths and in the classroom. Aycock, a Scotland county native, served as the Knights' assistant coach in 2001-02. He has also served as the head track and field coach since the inception of the program in 2005.
The 2005 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference & 2006 Southeast Region coach of the year at SAPC, Aycock has guided the Knights’ cross country teams to countless individual and team milestones in his six seasons at the helm.
On the men's side, Aycock led St. Andrews to it's first-ever conference title in 2005 and first-ever Southeast Region crown in 2006. Under his guidance, the men's teams won nine races and had nine other runner-up finishes. Aycock led the Knights to their first-ever No. 1 ranking in the Southeast and qualified the men's team for the NCAA Division II national championships in both 2005 and 2006.
Aycock recruited the CVAC freshman of the year in three consecutive seasons (Chris Miller in 2004, Mitch Cooper in 2005 and Pedro Tapia Jr. in 2006). Aycock has coached 15 all-conference, nine all-region, and six runners of the week.
On the women's side, Aycock has coached an impressive 16 conference runners of the week while also building the program into contenders in the region (earning the program's first-ever ranking in the Southeast Region). Aycock-guided women's teams have won two races and finished in the top-three places seven times. Aycock has directed seven all-conference and three all-region women's honorees.
Aycock has directed 15 individual academic all-Americans and four academic all-American teams including the 2004 women's team being ranked fourth in the nation with a 3.71 team GPA.
An avid runner, Aycock has racing experience on the high school, collegiate and open levels and is a tri-athlete as well. He was a member of Scotland High School’s 1989 and 1990 state NCHSAA Track & Field championship teams and East Carolina University’s 1995 UPA college national championship Ultimate Frisbee team where he was a candidate for the Callahan Award, an honor presented to the UPA national collegiate player of the year.
A graduate of UNCP, Aycock earned a Bachelor of Science in physical education and a master’s degree in physical education. He completed the NIKE cross-country coaches’ clinic in 2002 and is a certified United States Track & Field Level I coach in all event areas and a certified United States Track & Field Level II endurance coach.
Aycock resides in Laurinburg with his wife, Emily, and two children, Emma Grace and Aaron Douglas.