Centrowitz Running Camp
Premier Cross Country Training Camp
Training
Meet the Coaches
Campers will learn training and racing techniques from expert coaching staff including: Olympians, high school coaches, college coaches and elite post-collegiate athletes. Meet the senior staff at Centrowitz Running Camp!
Matt Centrowitz
Camp Director, Matt Centrowitz, has unparalleled experience as an Olympic distance athlete and successful collegiate and post-collegiate coach. As a high school athlete at Power Memorial in NYC, Centrowitz set the NY State High School record in the 1500m in 3:43.3 as well as the Mile record in 4:02.7. After competing for a year at Manhattan College, Centrowitz joined the University of Oregon Ducks and Coach Bill Dellinger for the remainder of his collegiate career. Before graduating with a Sociology degree in 1978, Centrowitz set the 1500m school record in 3:36.7 and was a member of the 1977 NCAA Cross Country Championship team. Centrowitz is a two-time Olympian (’76 and ’80), set an American record in the 5,000m (13:12.91), and was 4x U.S. Outdoor Track and Field champion at 5,000m (’79, ’80, ’81, ’82).
In 2018, Centrowitz returned home, being named the Director of Cross Country and Track and Field at Manhattan College. Centrowitz recently retired after 18 years as head coach of cross country and track at American University. As a team, he led the men to 6 consecutive Patriot League Championships (2002-2007) and the women to back-to-back titles (2002-2003). As individuals, he has coached 10 All-Americans. Under the tutelage of Centrowitz, American University track/cross country athletes have won numerous Academic All-American awards, All-Patriot academic awards and Patriot League sportsmanship awards. In addition to coaching collegiately, Centrowitz has coached many successful elite and professional runners including Olympians Julie Culley, David Strang, John Trautman and Jen Rhines.
Pat Tyson
A 1973 graduate of the University of Oregon, Pat Tyson is one of the nation’s most well-known prep distance coaches. The former Duck competed in two NCAA Cross Country Championships for the Ducks (33rd in 1971, 54th in 1972) and helped UO to first and third-place finishes, respectively. On the track, the former walk-on ended his collegiate career in 1973 ranked top-six for the Ducks in the 3-mile (sixth, 13:37.0) and 6-mile (fourth, 28:34.0).
After graduation,Tyson began a 31-year prep coaching career, most notably at Mead High School in Spokane, Wash.
As the Mead cross county head coach since 1986, his harrier squads have compiled an amazing dual record of 132-6, and in the fall and spring campaigns his distance runners have combined for 26 individual state titles and 12 state team titles. He guided teams to top-five national rankings for seven seasons and in 2004, his team took third in the Nike Team Nationals in Portland. Individually, he has guided seven runners to the Footlocker High School Championships - third-most of any high school nationally.
In 2008, Tyson was named by Gonzaga University as the first full time cross country coach in program history, Tyson is well on his way to taking his team to similar success he has had in the past as coach and athlete.
As Co-Camp Director at Centrowitz Running Camp, Tyson continues to motivate and inspire runners of all ages and abilities with his experience, enthusiasm and pure love of cross country.
Nate Kraft
Co-Camp Director Nate Kraft has been involved with Centrowitz Running Camp since 2011 and has an impressive resume of coaching achievements at the interscholastic level, including nine sectional titles, two All State Cross Country titles and four state runners-up in Massachusetts. Many of Kraft's athletes have gone on to participate in collegiate athletics at all levels.
Kraft is currently the head girls track and field coach and assistant girls cross country coach at Lowell High School where he was named the 2022 Boston Globe D1 Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year and also the MSTCA D1 Girls Coach of the Year. Prior to coaching at Lowell, he was the head coach of the men's and women's cross country programs at Clark University in 2012-13. Kraft spent the previous six years as the head girls cross country and track and field coach at Northampton High School and was named the MSTCA Western Massachusetts Coach of the Year twice. Kraft is USATF Level II Certified in the endurance events.
A former four-year letterwinner in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field at Bucknell University, Kraft was a six-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honoree who served as team captain in his senior season.
Kerri Gallagher
Co-Camp Director Kerri Gallagher has been working at the Centrowitz Running Camp since 2011 and is a former camper herself. Gallagher has served as the head cross country and middle distance/distance coach at Manhattan College since 2016.
A four-year member of the cross country and track teams at Fordham University and member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame, she served as team captain in her final two seasons. She set a school record in the indoor 800 meter run of 2:07.91 in 2011, which now stands as the second time in program history. She also owns the second-fastest times in the Fordham track record books in the indoor 1,000 and outdoor 1,500.
At the USA Outdoor Track Championship in 2015, Gallagher placed 3rd in the 1500m. Kerri represented the USA in Beijing in the 2015 World Championships after running 4.03.56 in Lignano, Italy. In 2016, Kerri qualified for and reached the semi-final round in the 1500 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR. She has also set a number of personal bests at various road distances training with Centrowitz including 54:50 for 10 miles, 33:50 for 10k, 26:26 for 8k and 16:26 for 5k.
Bridget Bowers
Coach Bridget Bowers first began coaching with American University under head coach Matt Centrowitz 1995-1997. She then returned in 2006 and continued until 2012. She helped lead AU's women's team to a fourth-place finish at the Patriot League Cross Country Championships in 2007, marking the team's highest finish at the meet since 2004. Bridget has coached both indoor and outdoor Patriot League champions in the 3000m and 5000m.
A 1992 graduate of Providence College, Bowers was a four-year letter winner on the cross country and track and field teams. In 1990 she was a scoring member of the Providence cross country team which placed second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Bowers was also the indoor 5000 meter New England Champion in 1991 and set the 10k school record that same year. An All-New England honoree in cross country, indoor and outdoor track, Bowers was also named a Big East Academic All-Star.
Bowers holds a Master of Science in health and fitness management/health promotion from American University, is a USATF-certified Level 1 coach and is a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
Steve McChesney
Coach Steve McChesney has fielded 54 high school All-Americans and 15 state champions in his 31 years coaching at Newton South High School in Newton, Massachusetts and beofre that at his alma mater South Eugene High School in Eugene, Oregon, coaching his team to six cross country District titles and 3 state titles.
Coach McChesney has many honors to his name including:
USATF Level II Certified in the Jumps
Ma. Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame Coach
Oregon High School Association Coach of the Year
2 x Boston Globe Coach of the Year
MSTCA Coach of the Year
National Federation Coach of the Year for the State of Ma.
Dyestat, Eastbay National Coach of the Week
Dyestat Relays Team - Most Outstanding Performers of the Year
27 Time Dual County League Coach of the Year
In addition to his extensive experience coaching high school runners, Steve also saw great success as a high school, collegiate and post-collegiate athlete. Steve was a part of the National Record setting high school 4xmile while at South Eugene High School. McChesney was ranked top 10 in the country in the 2 mile, Steeple, 5K and 10K in high school. As well as Northwest 2 mile Champion. A 1979 graduate of the University of Oregon, McChesney was NCAA qaulifier in 10k as a duck. Post-collegiately, he qualified for the Olympic Trials in the Marathon.
Will Viviani
Will Viviani has been working at Centrowitz Running Camp since 2010 and is a former high school cross country coach in Virginia. Will is a 2003 graduate of the University of Oregon where he ran Cross Country and Track. After graduation, he continued his running career as a part of Pacers, a post-collegiate training group based out of Washington D.C. There he trained under Matt Centrowitz and competed in cross country, road and track races at various distances.
Chris Kwiatkowski
Chris Kwiatkowski has been at Centrowitz Running Camp since 2011 and was named Assistant Cross Country and Track and Field Coach at the University of Washington in 2018. Kwiatkowski also recently worked with Matt Centrowitz on his book Like Father, Like Son.
Kwiatkowski was a five-year member of the cross country and track programs at the University of Oregon. In his senior season, he competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the 5000m, finishing 15th. He graduated with personal bests of 3:47.8 in the 1500, 13:51.8 in the 5,000 and 29:49 in the 10,000. Kwiatkowski earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Human Physiology, graduating in 2012. He is originally from Bellingham, Wash.
After graduation, Chris competed with District Track Club, an elite training group out of Washington D.C. where he trained under Matt Centrowitz. He qualified and competed in the 2016 Olympic Team Marathon Trials.
Erin Koch
Stand-out Varsity Soccer player turned track MVP at American University, Erin Koch spent 2 years after graduating assisting Coach Matt Centrowitz with the Cross Country and Track teams.
Koch was a two-time All-Patriot League First Team selection for indoor and outdoor track and three-time All-Patriot League Second Team selection for cross country, indoor and outdoor track. She placed ninth in the 1,500 meter quarterfinals at the NCAA East Regional Meet. She also finished second in the 1,500 meter run at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships, while also placing third in the 800 meter run with the second-fastest time in school history. Koch broke the school record in the 1,500m. She also ranks second on the school's all-time top 10 list in the 400 meter dash, 800 meter run and 3,000 meter run. Earlier in the year Koch set a new school record of 4:46.19 in the indoor mile.
Koch is currently pursuing her PhD in Neuroscience.