Track & Field 2/10/2025 4:15:00 PM

Sprecher To Depart Lynchburg Following Outdoor Track Season, Jake Reed To Take The Helm

Lynchburg, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg Director of Athletics, Jon Waters, announced today that Jim Sprecher will depart at the conclusion of the Spring 2025 outdoor track season to accept a position at the University of South Carolina Aiken. Jake Reed, who has led the distance program during Sprecher's time in Lynchburg, will take over the program as the Director of track & field and cross country, starting June 1.

"Coach Sprecher's accomplishments throughout his career at UNC Wilmington and here at Lynchburg have been incredible," said Director of Athletics Jon Waters. "But his true impact on others has always gone way beyond competitive excellence and focused on lifting up the people around him."

Sprecher and Reed arrived in Lynchburg in 2015 and began building dominant programs that have achieved significant success in the form of five NCAA Division III National Champions, 45 All-Americans, 138 National Qualifiers, and much more. Since 2015, the track and field and cross country teams have won 26 ODAC Championships and won 16 combined ODAC Coach of the Year awards.

Additionally, the two have led their squads to earn national and regional accolades, with 19 nationally-ranked teams and four USTFCCCA Program of the Year rankings. Under their tutelage, the programs have had 106 USTFCCCA Academic All-Americans and 28 Academic All-American Team honors.

"This is bittersweet. Over the last 10 years, this has been a special place for us and what we've been able to accomplish," said coach Sprecher. "I will greatly miss the kids I've gotten to coach, but I'm very excited for Jake to have the opportunity to step into the director role. With all the staff that's coming back, I'm thrilled for Jake and these programs to continue the success that we've had. I'm looking forward to helping with that transition as we move forward."

Sprecher and his wife, Gwennan, are excited to move back to the Carolinas, where he plans to reconnect with the rest of his family, including his daughter, Alex, and son, Trace. He spent nearly 20 years across multiple stints coaching cross country and track & field at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington from 1992-2015. The plan is for all four of them to eventually be close together in proximity.

As the leader of the Cross Country program and distance group for Track & Field, Jake Reed has guided his teams to multiple NCAA Division III Championship appearances. Since taking over the Cross Country program in 2017, each of the men's and women's Cross Country squads have made it to three National Championships.

"Coach Reed's vision for building a nationally elite caliber program has helped fuel the rise of both the men's and women's program here during the past decade," said Waters. " We are excited to be able to continue that forward trajectory with him in the Director roll moving forward"

For the second consecutive year, the men's cross country team took home the NCAA DIII South Region Championship title in 2024, punching their ticket to the NCAA DIII National Championship. The men's and women's cross country crews have appeared at the NCAA National Championships in each of the last four years.

This past cross country season, Jake Reed was awarded the ODAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season after leading the group to its 21st conference championship and fourth in the last four years.

Leading the distance groups for indoor and outdoor track & field, Reed coached the Distance Medley Relay team of Frank Csorba, Jacob Hodnett, Sam Llaneza, and Chasen Hunt to claim the National Championship title in 2024 and set the NCAA DIII Indoor Track & Field Championship meet record. He also saw Sam Llaneza earn a championship trophy in the 2024 NCAA DIII Outdoor Track & Field Championship in the 1,500M run.

"I'm excited and thankful for the opportunity. It's been awesome working under coach Sprech and spending the last 10 years learning from him," said coach Reed. "I feel completely prepared to take over the programs and I'm very excited for the future of them. I know we are going to do great things."

The Lynchburg Cross Country and Track & Field programs are thankful for the time and effort coach Sprecher has poured into the programs and wish him the best of luck at the University of South Carolina Aiken. We are incredibly thankful to have coach Reed at the helm of these nationally competitive programs for years to come.

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--LYN--

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