Meet the Tulane Coaching Staff
Jun 21, 1999 | Track & Field
Ron Bazil
Head Cross Country and Track & Field Coach
Ron Bazil, one of the most experienced coaches in collegiate track and field, begins his fourth year as head coach of the Tulane track and cross country programs, and already, his work is making an impact.
In his first three years Bazil has elevated the Tulane track and field team into a nationally prominent program. Since his arrival in 1995, Tulane's record of achievement in track and field has steadily grown. Bazil has already produced two All-Americans, eight NCAA national qualifiers, a sprint medley relay team ranked in the top-10 nationally, thirteen individual Conference USA champions, the 1996 Conference USA Freshman of the Year in cross country, and the Outstanding Performer at the Conference USA Indoor Championship in 1997. His athletes have also rewritten the Tulane record books by establishing 21 new school records. The 1998 season saw seven of Bazil's student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships and set 14 new school records. Included in that group was Hanne Lyngstad, an indoor and outdoor All-American and the 1998 Conference USA Outdoor Athlete of the Year. Bazil's guiding force has taken Tulane's program to unprecedented levels. His winning philosophy has already left and incredible mark on the history of Tulane track and field.
Perhaps Bazil's greatest accomplishment came during the 1998 cross country season. He guided the Green Wave men to four team titles during the season and qualified as a group to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time in school history by virtue of a runner-up finish to eventual National Champion Arkansas in the South Central District Championships. He also had an individual qualifier on the women's side.
For his efforts, he was named the 1998 Louisiana Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Prior to coming to Tulane, Bazil had forged his winning formula during his 16 years as the head coach of the cross country and track and teams of the US Military Academy at West Point. During his tenure at Army, Bazil molded his men's and women's teams into nationally competitive programs
Army men were introduced to the Patriot League in the spring of 1992, and the cross country team took home the title in the fall of 1993. They went on to take sixth at the NCAA championships that year, and Bazil also took home the District II NCAA Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year title.
Both the men's and women's cross country teams took home Patriot League championship titles in the fall of 1994, and the men came into the 1995 season with a 12-race winning streak behind them. For that effort Bazil was again named Patriot League Coach of the Year.
He held Patriot League coaching honors every season from 1992-95.
The men's indoor track team went undefeated with a 5-0 record in 1994, and the outdoor team checked off their third straight league championship. Bazil left Army with a combined track and cross country career record of 304-116-2 for dual meets and 13 conference championships.
Bazil's tradition for excellence extends far beyond his West Point career. Before he joined the Military Academy, he spent 10 seasons at Adelphi University, including seven years as athletic director. In 1972, his team established world records for the mile relay on two consecutive weekends. In 1972 and 1974, he was honored as district indoor track coach of the year.
Bazil has also served as a member of the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee and has also coached on the international circuit for a quarter-century.
His first major international assignment came in 1971 when he coached the U.S. team in a dual indoor meet against the Soviet Union. Through the years his accomplishments multiplied.
He was an assistant coach when the United States met the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Pan Africa and Germany in 1975. In 1982, he coached a U.S. team that faced England, Australia and Sweden.
In 1986 he was a head coach at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Durham, and three years later, he was in Birmingham, England, heading up a U.S. effort against the Soviet Union, England and West Germany.
In 1991, he was again on the Olympic Festival staff, where he coached the East team, and also coached the U.S. men's team against Russia and Japan in Yokohama.
Most recently, Bazil served as an assistant coach for the U.S. team at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.
He has already gained recognition at Tulane, as he was named the 1995 Louisiana Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Bazil is a graduate of Springfield (Mass.) College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1958. In 1964 he completed his master's in health, physical education and recreation at Brooklyn College.
Bazil and his wife, Bonnie, have been married for 36 years. They have two children: Tami, a graduate of Stanford, and Lance, a graduate of Adelphi University.
William Roth
Assistant Coach - Cross Country/Distances
William Roth begins his third year on the Tulane staff, coaching the cross country, middle and long distance runners. Since his arrival at Tulane, the Green Wave distance runners have established new standards of excellence and earned numerous accolades. Roth has guided his runners to 11 individual Conference USA championships on the track and three individual C-USA conference champions. In all, 20 of his athletes have garnered all-Conference USA accolades, seven have earned NCAA all-regional honors and two have been named All-American.
Roth's contributions to the cross country and track programs in 1998 helped the Green Wave enjoy its most successful season ever. The track program qualified 11 individuals and two relay teams to NCAA National Championship meets and captured the 1998 Conference USA Outdoor Female Athlete of the Year honors. Eight Tulane athletes earned conference titles last season.
The cross country program achieved new heights by qualifying the men's team and an individual female to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time in school history.
He also coached the 1997 Conference USA Freshman of the Year in Cross Country, and the Conference USA outstanding female performer of the meet at the 1997 conference indoor championships. His Green Wave runners have established many school records.
Roth came to Tulane after three years at the University of Virginia, where he served as assistant coach for cross country, middle distances and distance events. In 1993, Roth assisted the Lady Cavalier cross country team to a 17th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. In 1995 the Virginia women's cross country team earned a 25th -place ranking in the final Division I cross country poll. In his three years at Virginia, Roth coached five all-district runners and his 1994 women's team earned all-academic honors nationally.
On the track, Roth's athletes at Virginia also achieved high levels of success. He coached five Atlantic Coast Conference individual champions, four NCAA qualifiers, two NCAA outdoor All-Americans, and two GTE Academic All-Americans.
Roth, a native of Merion Station, Pa., ran track and played soccer at Swarthmore College from 1989-1993. He was a 10-time All-Middle Atlantic Conference performer. In 1992, he was a member of the 4x400-meter relay set the school record. He won a bronze medal for his participation on the 4x400-meter relay team in 1993. In soccer, Roth was the goalkeeper on a pair of teams that reached the NCAA Division III tournament in 1991 and 1992. His 1992 team finished with Top-15 national ranking in Division III.
Roth graduated from Swarthmore College in 1993 with a B.A. in medieval studies. In 1995 he received his Master of Arts in history from the University of Virginia.
Dana Boone
Assistant Coach - Sprints/Hurdles/Jumps
Dana Boone enters her second year as a Green Wave assistant coach. She will coach both men and women in the sprints, hurdles and jumps.
Her efforts with the Green Wave track and field program paid immediate dividends, as seven of her charges earned all-Conference USA accolades . During the course of the season, her athletes set eight new school records and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in four events.
Boone comes to Tulane after serving three years as an assistant for Middle Tennessee State.
While at MTSU, Boone coached 22 Ohio Valley Conference champions, five NCAA qualifiers and one All-American. Boone guided several athletes to new MTSU records. MTSU captured three Ohio Valley Conference Championships during her time there. She coached the female outstanding performer at the 1996 OVC Indoor Championship as well as the male outstanding performer at the 1997 OVC Outdoor Championship.
Prior to coaching at MTSU, Boone was an assistant at the University of South Carolina for one year. She coach the sprints, hurdles and jumps for the Gamecocks. Boone coached several athletes to new school records. During her tenure, South Carolina saw its highest conference finish since joining the Southeastern Conference.
Boone attended the University of Virginia, where she was a six-time All-American. While at Virginia, she garnered seven Atlantic Coast Conference Individual Championships, in the long jump and triple jump. In 1991, Boone set the ACC record in the long jump and the triple jump. In 1990, she was the national runner-up in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The Springfield, Va., native has national and international success. Boone was a finalist in the 1992 Olympic trials in both the long jump and triple jump. In 1992, she was the runner-up in the Indoor National in both events. Boone also captured the long jump title at the 1992 United States vs. Great Britain Indoor Meet.
Boone was a two-time All-American in high school. She was ranked the No. 1 in the triple jump coming out of high school by Track and Field News.
Boone graduated in 1991 form Virginia with a B.A. in communications. In 1995, she received her Master of Science in physical education from Middle Tennessee State..
