Smith College

Induction Video

Bill Fritz was one of the most successful and longest-tenured coaches in school history, as he guided the men’s and women’s cross country and track & field programs for 43 years.
 
Fritz coached 291 All-Americans, both men and women, for indoor and outdoor track & field and cross country.  His men’s track programs produced one Division I champion, 43 Division III outdoor champions and 10 Division III indoor champions. Rowan’s 4x400-meter relay won the national title at the 2011 and 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
 
Under Fritz, the men’s cross country team won 19 NJAC Championships, including 17 consecutive titles from 1974 to 1990, and qualified for the NCAA Championships 19 times. He was named the NCAA Division III Mideast Region Coach of the Year four times.
 
He took over as the head coach for the men’s track program in 1994, after serving as an assistant for 22 years. He led the Profs to four straight conference crowns (1994 to 1997) and a tie for eighth place at the 1997 NCAA Championships, while he was named the 1997 Mideast Region Coach of the Year for both indoor and outdoor track. Rowan finished fourth at the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championships, 10th at the 2000 outdoor championships and eighth at the 2012 outdoor meet.
 
Fritz led the women’s cross country program from 1986 to 2006 and saw the Profs win three straight NJAC titles from 1992 to 1994. In 1994, they won their first NCAA Mideast Region Championship and advanced to the NCAA Championships, where they finished 11th overall. Fritz was named the Mideast Region Coach of the Year and received the NJAC’s coaching honor in 2004.
 
Fritz retired from the University in June 2014 after coaching cross country and track & field for 43 years and passed away on May 28, 2015.