David Kraszewski - who also serves as an assistant coach for the Seahawk women's track and field team - enters his second season as the head coach of men's and women's cross country at Salve Regina University.

Kraszewski made an immediate impact last season, guiding the Seahawks to the program's first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship while earning CCC Co-Coach of the Year honors. The Seahawks captured three first place finishes during the 2011 campaign, including the Elms College Invitational, the Pop Crowell Invitational, and the CCC Championship.

Kraszewski came to Salve Regina from Xavier High School in Connecticut, where he was the head cross country coach as well as the head coach of the boys indoor and outdoor track and field teams.

During his first season at Xavier in 2009, Kraszewski guided the cross country program to the Class LL state championship as well as the state open championship. The team finished the season ranked No. 1 in Connecticut. This past season, Xavier finished second in Class LL, fourth in the state open, and sixth at the New England Championships.

Currently a physical education and health teacher at Portland High School (Conn.), Kraszewski holds a Level I Certification of Coaching from the USA Track & Field (USATF) and is a Certified Athletic Coach in the state of Connecticut. He has coached 25 all-state runners over the last 12 years, which is the most in Connecticut during that span, as well as 73 all-conference runners. Kraszewski has coached 11 students who went on to compete at the Division I level and 12 more at the Division II and III level, including Salve Regina junior cross country student-athlete and captain Caroline Norton (Portland, Conn.) and freshman cross country and track and field student-athlete Kayley Ryan (Portland, Conn.). A two-time Shoreline Conference Coach of the Year, Kraszewski was recently inducted into the Shoreline Conference Hall of Fame.

"I am honored to be given the opportunity to coach the men's and women's cross country program at Salve Regina University," said Krazewski. "I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with the student-athletes. I am very excited to lead teams that have the potential to contend for the league championship, and I intend to work hard to continue the tradition of success that the cross country program at Salve Regina University has enjoyed."

Prior to his arrival at Xavier, Kraszewski spent 10 years as the head boys and girls cross country coach at Portland. During that time, he also served as the head indoor track and field coach (2006-09) and assistant outdoor track and field coach (1999-2009). He coached Portland to four state championships - including three in a row (2006-08) - and had a 52-meet unbeaten streak that spanned four years.

Kraszewski has previous collegiate coaching experience at the University of Hartford, where he served as an assistant indoor track and field coach during the 2003-04 academic year. He worked with the distance and middle-distance runners.

A four-year cross country runner at Eastern Connecticut State University, Kraszewski received a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1991 before returning to earn his master's degree in physical education in 1998.