April 24, 2001

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- (4/24/01) - Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Jim Weaver has announced the employment of Dave Cianelli as the director of track & field and cross country. Cianelli will direct all aspects of the men's and women's track and field programs.

"I'm very pleased that Dave has joined the Tech athletic staff as our director of track & field and cross country," Weaver said. "With his great success at Southern Methodist University and his experience in working with world class athletes, he brings the necessary tools to continue our goals of winning BIG EAST championships and competing for national championships."

Cianelli comes to Tech after serving as assistant coach at SMU for the past 13 years. He was the women's cross country and distance coach and also maintained the program's records as well as assisting with meet management and administrative functions. Cianelli also served as the director for the SMU Cross Country Invitational each September in Dallas.

"I am very excited about the opportunity to direct the track & field and cross country programs at Virginia Tech," said Cianelli. "The first thing that attracted me to Virginia Tech was the quality of the university and the quality of life. I always wanted to live and raise my family in a college community and Virginia Tech and Blacksburg offered those opportunities."

"After meeting with members of the committee and visiting the area, I was completely sold," added Cianelli. "Everyone I met was first class in every aspect."

In his 13 years at SMU, the men's and women's cross country and track & field teams advanced to a total of 10 NCAA indoor track championships, 10 NCAA outdoor track championships, and two NCAA Cross Country Championships. The 1995 men's and women's cross country teams each captured the Southwest Conference (SWC) championship and the 2000 men's outdoor track & field team won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) title.

"I feel the first goal for our program is to become BIG EAST champions," said Cianelli. "It is an outstanding conference with many nationally competitive programs. My mind-set since accepting this position has been to build a program that everyone can be proud of and become BIG EAST champions."

At SMU, Cianelli worked with 19 Olympic and World Championship competitors, 25 NCAA individual champions, 116 All-Americans and 95 individual conference champions. In 1992, he coached Olympian Cameron Taylor, who made the quarterfinals in the 200 meters at the Barcelona games while competing for New Zealand.

Cianelli came to SMU in 1988 from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, where he was assistant women's track and field coach and women's cross county coach from 1985-88. At Cal Poly-SLO, Cianelli coached one NCAA champion as well as 13 All-Americans. During his tenure, the team finished runner-up in NCAA Division II for three consecutive seasons. As women's cross country coach, his team captured the NCAA II National Championship in 1985, Œ86 and Œ87.

Cianelli earned a bachelor's degree in physical education at Bowling Green in 1977. While at Bowling Green, he competed in sprints, the long jump, and the decathlon. He received his master's degree in physical education from Cal Poly-SLO in 1988.

"We have all of the ingredients to be successful at Virginia Tech," added Cianelli. "This is an outstanding academic institution with world class facilities which is a perfect environment to produce high-quality student athletes."

Cianelli and his wife, Ellen, have two children, a daughter Mariah (5) and a son Sebastian (1).