Kevin Wanichko enters his eighth season coaching the Bearcats cross country and track and field team's in 2023-24.
Wanichko has helped multiple all-conference and all-region athletes during his time at Saint Vincent and the Bearcat runners have set a number of school records during his eight seasons as well.
In 2022, he helped lead Kristen Prince and Brady Sundin to PAC Newcomer of the Year awards in cross country. Prince also qualified for the NCAA Championship meet as well, being only the second female to qualify for the national meet in Saint Vincent history.
On the track side in 2023, he helped lead Tim Patterson to win the 5K and 10K races at the PAC Championship meet, while he was also named PAC Championship Track MVP as well. Under his direction Joe Bujdos was named All-Region for the second straight season as well.
In 2022, both the men and women's cross country teams earned top-five finishes under the direction of Wanichko, with the men placing in fourth and the women finishing third overall. The men and women's teams each had three all-conference athletes as well. Tim Patterson finished second overall in the PAC Championship Meet, while also setting the school record in a meet at Lock Haven in 2022 as well.
In 2022, he helped lead Joe Bujdos and Tim Patterson earn All-Region honors for the Bearcats. During that season Bujdos recorded the PAC Championship Meet record in the 800-meter run, while Patterson ran the ninth fastest time in the region in the 800 as well.
In 2021, Wanichko helped guide one of the top women's cross country runners in Sydney Green to a sixth-place finish at the PAC Championship meet and an all-conference honor. H also led the women's cross country team's to two more top-five finishes in 2019 (5th place) and 2018 (4th place). In 2018 he guided Laura Aston to a top-10, eighth place finish individually and had two more all-conference runners as well.
Wanichko led the Bearcats to a fourth place finish at the 2017 PAC Cross Country Championships. SVC captured team championships at both the SVC Early Bird Invitational and the SVC Fall Invitational. Maggie Czapski earned three PAC Runner of the Week awards, while Macey White claimed Rookie of the Week honors twice. Czapski earned All-PAC Second Team honors while Jessica Brinker claimed Honorable Mention accolades. Czapski was also named PAC SAAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Month in September.
Wanichko led the Bearcats to a fourth place finish at the 2017 PAC Cross Country Championships. SVC captured team championships at both the SVC Early Bird Invitational and the SVC Fall Invitational. Maggie Czapski earned three PAC Runner of the Week awards, while Macey White claimed Rookie of the Week honors twice. Czapski earned All-PAC Second Team honors while Jessica Brinker claimed Honorable Mention accolades. Czapski was also named PAC SAAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Month in September.
During the spring, Czapski and Brinker both excelled, establishing school records in their respective events. Czapski finished in third place in the 1500 Meters at the PAC Outdoor Championships, while Brinker came in third in the 3000 Meter Steeplechase. Brinker qualified for both the ECAC Outdoor and the ECAC Indoor Championships.
During his first year as cross country head coach, Wanichko led the Bearcats to a third place finish at the PAC Championships. Wanichko saw Gina Valotta and Maggie Czapski earn All-PAC Second Team honors in 2016.
In the spring, Wanichko completed his first year as women's track and field coach. Under his guidance, Sarah Wozniak became the first field participant in women's program history, competing in the shot put. Freshman Jessica Brinker was lauded twice during the spring with weekly PAC awards.
Wanichko, a 2012 graduate of Saint Vincent, took over the full-time duties at his alma mater after guiding fellow Presidents' Athletic Conference member Chatham University during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
During his time at Chatham, Wanichko saw an increase to the women's roster size and started the first men's cross country/track and field teams in 2015-16. Under Wanichko's guidance, Chatham's track and field program had many highlighted performances. The program had their first PAC Champion in 2015, as Jesse Hinkle claimed the individual title in the women's javelin.
During the 2016 indoor track and field season they saw Ariel Gray win a conference title in the long jump. Gray eclipsed the old indoor conference record to become the new conference record holder. Gray became Chatham University's first ECAC medalist with her fifth place finish in the 2016 Indoor ECAC Championships and would go on to earn All-Region honors. In the 2016 outdoor season he guided Hinkle to her second consecutive Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship in javelin. Also in the 2016 season, Hinkle and Gray were both named to the USTFCCCA All-Region Team.
Prior to Chatham, Coach Wanichko spent two years as a volunteer assistant at Saint Vincent, while continuing his education in pursuit of his Masters in Sports Management for California University of Pennsylvania. During his two seasons at SVC, he helped train the team to back-to-back PAC cross country conference championships. During those two seasons he helped train All-American runner Chansler Poole.
As a student-athlete at SVC, Wanichko excelled as a four-year competitor in both cross country and track for the Bearcats. During his cross country and track career, he won several championships, which included the 2011 PAC Individual Cross Country Championship. During his collegiate career, the SVC men's cross country team won team titles in both 2010 and 2011. He also claimed individual track titles.
Wanichko was also a five-time ECAC medalist and an All-Region runner during the 2011 cross country season. At the time of graduation, he held five school records (1500, 3000, 5000, 4x400 and 4x800). During the 2014-15 academic year, Wanichko was named to the PAC's 60th anniversary team, applauding his success as a student-athlete at Saint Vincent.
Kevin graduated from Saint Vincent with a bachelor's degree in communication. He then received his masters degree in sports managment from California University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing his doctorate degree in sports management from Troy University.
