December 16, 2005

Mike Alton

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart Director of Athletics Mike Hanna ’68 recently announced the appointment of Mike Alton to serve as head coach of the Statesmen crew team, effective Jan. 2. Alton succeeds Mike Guerrieri, who accepted an assistant coaching position at the U.S. Naval Academy after three years at Hobart.

“Mike Alton has a demonstrated career of excellence, developing model student-athletes in a highly selective liberal arts setting,” Hanna said. “I have no doubt that he will have a very positive impact on the next generation of Hobart men. Along with our entire athletic department staff and the members of the crew team, I look forward to welcoming Mike to Hobart and William Smith and to Geneva.”

Alton comes to Hobart following five very successful seasons as the head coach of the Vassar College men’s and women’s crew teams. The Brewer women have finished two of the past three seasons ranked in the College Rowing Coaches Association Division III top-10, climbing as high as No. 7 in 2003. That year, Vassar earned a spot in the grand finals of the New York State Championships for the first time and later qualified three boats for the ECAC Championships, also a first. A year later, the Brewers made their first appearance in the grand finals of the ECAC Championship. In 2001, Alton guided the men’s varsity four to a silver medal in the New York State Championships and a bronze medal in the ECAC Championships.

Alton was also an assistant professor of physical education at Vassar.

“I’m impressed with the recent history of Hobart crew and I’m excited to begin working with the student-athletes, and the coaching staff at Hobart and William Smith to reach new heights in the spring,” Alton said.

Prior to his time in Poughkeepsie, Alton spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Drexel University men’s and women’s crew teams, working primarily with the varsity women. Under Alton’s guidance, the Dragons took first place at the Occoquan Sprints, the Marietta Invitational and the Mid-Atlantic Championship. In 1999, his women’s varsity eight made the grand final of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship regatta.

Alton’s coaching career began as a graduate student at Wichita State University in 1993. He served one year as the Shockers’ assistant women’s rowing coach before he was promoted to head coach the following year. While completing his master’s degree in exercise physiology, he led the varsity eight to a win at the Kansas state championships and back-to-back appearances in the grand finals of the Dad Vail regatta, earning a bronze medal in 1994 with the second varsity eight and a fifth place finish in 1995 with the varsity eight.

As a scholarship rower at Temple University, Alton’s boat won three Dad Vail titles and competed in the Henley Royal Regatta in England. He was the Owls’ Rookie of the Year in 1989 and later earned the team’s Coaches Award. Alton graduated from the Philadelphia institution with a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1992.

Alton earned Level III coaching certification from the U.S. Rowing Association in 2000 and is also an American Association of Aerobic Instructors/International Sports Medicine Association certified personal fitness trainer. He and his wife, Stephanie, are the parents of two daughters, Danielle and Alexandria.

Alton inherits a Hobart program that, over the past three seasons, totaled three medals at the IRA Regatta—including a gold medal in the freshman four in 2003—five medals in the New York State Championships—including a gold medal in the varsity four in 2003. Most impressively, the Statesmen varsity eight won the collegiate championship in the 2002 Head of the Charles, a first for the program.

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