SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University head track and field and cross country coach Bill Jordan has announced the hiring of former Seton Hill University head coach Bobby Over as The Rock's new assistant track and field and cross country coach.
 
Over will work with The Rock cross country team in the fall and will primarily coach the mid-distance and distance runners during the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.
 
"Bobby is a tremendous coach that brings an energetic and passionate approach to what he does," said Jordan. "He was an All-American distance runner himself and he has been highly successful at coaching at our level and within our conference. We believe he will be an excellent fit here at Slippery Rock and are thrilled he decided to join us at The Rock."
 
Over comes to Slippery Rock after spending the last six years of his coaching career at fellow Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference institution Seton Hill. He served as an assistant coach with both the cross country and track and field programs from 2016-19 before taking over as the head coach of both programs from 2019-22.
 
During his tenure as head coach with the Griffins, Over led a staff that increased the total roster size from 55 student-athletes to 85 student-athletes while personally overseeing the individual training plans for 30 distance runners each year.
 
He was named the PSAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2021 after leading Seton Hill to a runner-up finish at the conference meet and qualifying the team for the NCAA Division II National Championships, which marked the third appearance for the Griffins at the national meet since 2016.
 
During his three-year tenure as head coach at Seton Hill, Over led the Griffins to their highest ever PSAC finishes in men's indoor and outdoor track and field and men's and women's cross country.
 
He has coached numerous individual athletes to outstanding achievements over the last three years, including 2021 PSAC women's cross country champion Sydney Wolf and 2021 men's 110-meter and 400-meter hurdle national champion Samuel Hartman.
 
His athletes earned two PSAC Track Athlete of the Year awards, one Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year award, 46 All-PSAC honors and 35 All-Region awards. Over also coached athletes to Seton Hill program records in nearly every mid-distance and distance event over the last six years.
 
In addition to the performances on the track, Over led a program that performed exceptionally in the classroom. He coached a total of 54 student-athletes that earned All-Academic honors by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and also had one athlete earn the 2021 PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the 2021 USTFCCCA Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
 
Prior to joining the staff at Seton Hill, Over served as a graduate assistant coach at John Carroll University from 2014-16 while pursuing his master's degree in nonprofit administration. He was a member of the Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Coaching Staff of the Year in 2015 and helped coach three athletes to the national meet in cross country while working with 49 athletes that earned All-OAC honors.
 
Over got his start in coaching after a highly successful collegiate running career at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he earned his undergraduate degree in history with minors in economics and Spanish in 2014. He was a six-time NCAA Division III All-American, earning the honors in cross country as well as in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter runs on the track. Over was a three-time Mideast Region Cross Country Runner of the Year and was named to the North Coast Conference All-Decade team for his accomplishments.
 
The Wadsworth, Ohio native will officially begin his duties at Slippery Rock August 1.
 
 
 
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