Posted with permission, article and pictures, courtesy of Hawaii Pacific University

Jackie Sgambati is in her sixth season as the head coach for the Sharks men’s and women’s cross country teams. She is also the head strength and conditioning coach for HPU.

Sgambati has led the men and women Sharks to 10 all-conference honors and numerous top five team finishes at the Pac West Conference Championships. Her student-athletes have also earned multiple Runner of the Week and Freshman of the Week awards, and have consistently been awarded All-Academic honors from the USATFCCCA every year.

Prior to HPU Sgambati coached on the Division I level for 16 years, as an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina University and a head coach at Elon University. During that tenure she led teams to two conference Triple Crowns and seven conference championships. In addition, Sgambati coached two NCAA National Cross Country Championships qualifiers, 15 individual conference champions, and five Freshman of the Year recipients. Her athletes have also excelled in the classroom, earning All-Academic Team status every year.

While at Elon, Sgambati also started the women’s track & field program and earned distinction as the youngest Division I head coach in the country.  

Sgambati ran four years of cross country at Elon, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in sports medicine with a concentration in exercise science and then earning her master’s in nutrition from East Carolina.

Sgambati has competed in 18 half-marathons and 20 marathons, qualifying and running the Boston Marathon twice. She also volunteer coached marathoners with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Greensboro, NC, as well as the Red Cross Rescue Racers in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Away from the course, the Mechanicville, N.Y., native has taught undergraduate courses in Exercise Sport Science, Physical Education, and Nutrition and enjoys surfing, hiking, swimming, and fishing with her husband, Joe Winslow.