Wildcat Wrap: New Arizona track and field coach Andrew Dubs motivated to get distance program up to speed

Editor’s note: With several sports going on, Wildcat Wrap serves as a recap that focuses on the Arizona programs that we do not have the time to cover on a regular basis but are certainly worthy of recognition.

The Arizona track and field team will have a super fan supporting them at NCAA Outdoor Championships this week: new head coach Andrew Dubs.

“I’m here to just be the biggest Wildcat fan I can be,” Dubs said Wednesday on an introductory press conference over Zoom.

Dubs in Eugene, Ore. where more than a dozen Arizona athletes are set to compete at NCAAs beginning Wednesday. The event runs through Sunday and can be streamed on ESPN+ with evening sessions televised on ESPN/ESPN2.

“I had a chance to meet with some of the staff, meet with coach (Fred) Harvey, and say hi to some of athletes. But I’m just here to spectate. I’ll have the best seat in the house.”

Dubs comes to Arizona from Virginia Tech, where he served the last seven years as an assistant coach specializing in throwing events. Dubs worked for longtime Virginia Tech track and field director Dave Cianelli, whose tenure in Blacksburg coincided with Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois’ time as deputy athletic director for Virginia Tech.

Reed-Francois didn’t know Dubs personally until she embarked on a coaching search to replace Harvey. Dubs quickly impressed Reed-Francois with his ability to connect to athletes.

“Coach Dubs just rose to the top,” Reed-Francois said. She pointed to a moment during the interview process when Dubs choked up recounting a story about an athlete.

“You could just tell in that moment how much he cared about student-athletes,” Reed-Francois said.

Dubs’ background as a thrower aligns with Arizona’s top disciplines – the UA is known as a thrower’s program dating back decades. While Dubs plans to lean into his strengths, his primary priority is turning around Arizona’s cross country and track distance programs.

The Arizona cross country teams finished ninth (men) and 16th (women) at the Big 12 Championships last fall, and the program was consistently near the bottom of the Pac-12 for more than a decade.

“You go back historically and look at the 80s and 90s and early 2000s and Arizona had very high level distance programs,” Dubs said. “That’s something we want to get right.”

Men’s tennis

The accolades are pouring in for the Arizona men’s tennis program following a season that saw the Wildcats win the Big 12 Tournament and reach the NCAA Sweet 16 for a third consecutive year.

Colton Smith was named the ITA Southwest Player of The Year on Wednesday. He finished the year as the top-ranked player in the region.

Jay Friend, a rising senior, was ranked No. 5 in the Southwest in the final standings, while rising sophomore Zoran Ludoski was ranked No. 15.

Friend became the first player in program history to earn first-team Academic All-American Honors.