HAMPTON — Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC) has named Menchville High School’s Andres McIntyre as its track and field/cross country coach.
The college’s inaugural outdoor track season will take place in spring 2024, with cross country to start fall 2024.
According to VPCC, at this time, McIntyre doesn’t anticipate taking part in a winter indoor season, preferring his athletes, many of whom will participate in cross country and the outdoor season, to rest.
“It allows kids to recover and prepare themselves to have a great outdoor season, which tends to be the more prominent season in track and field,” he explained.
McIntyre, an instructional assistant at Menchville, has been the girls’ cross-country coach and assistant girls’ outdoor track and field coach for the Monarchs since 2019.
He has been impressed with the early response to his recruiting efforts.
“I’m looking at some good numbers already,” he said. “In this community, there are a lot more people than we assume that are more than willing and have the ability to compete and run and train to become part of the team.”
Athletics Director and Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Moore said McIntyre’s commitment to the local running community caught his attention.
“Andres McIntyre is a guy who is willing to do whatever it takes to help the next person, man and woman, succeed,” Moore said.
After his cross country and track and field career at Menchville, where he graduated in 2009, McIntyre attended Virginia State University, where he was on the cross country and track and field teams all four years. He competed in CIAA conference and NCAA national meets, posted numerous top-10 individual finishes in the CIAA, and was on two teams that finished runner-up in the CIAA Championships.
McIntyre earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from VSU in 2013.
In addition to recruiting players, he’s working on building the VPCC brand, the college said.
“I’m just trying to communicate and get that name out there, letting kids know that there is a program now at Virginia Peninsula Community College,” he said. “As the name grows, more people will take advantage of the opportunity that Virginia Peninsula Community College is offering.”
Moore said he likes what he sees so far in McIntyre.
“I think he’s going to do a really great job,” Moore said. “His tenacity is impeccable. I’m really excited about what he’s going to do with this program.”
The college also is adding intercollegiate men’s soccer for the 2023-24 academic year, with Kevin Darcy recently named head coach.
For more information on VPCC athletics, go to vpcc.edu.
