Edinboro University Athletics

Walt McLaughlin (’88), a highly-accomplished high school cross country and track & field coach in New York state, was inducted as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. As an undergraduate at Edinboro, he was a member of the 1986 and 1987 NCAA Division II cross country championship teams. He returned to his native New York to teach and coach, first at Beaver River High School from 1990-1999 and from 2000 until the present time at his alma mater, East Aurora High School. His teams at Beaver River won six state championships, five in boys cross country ('93,'94,'96,'97,'98) and were runners-up two times ('92,'95), and one in girls cross country ('98). Two of his runners won state titles in boys cross country ('96, '98) and two won in boys track and field ('98, '99).  The 1998 Beaver River boys cross country team was ranked 7th nationally and McLaughlin's top runner qualified for the Footlocker National Cross Country Championships (as one of the top 32 high school runners in the country). At East Aurora, McLaughlin has coached another twelve state champion cross country teams: eight girls cross country championships ('05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '14, '15) and three runners-ups ('04, '12, '13) along with four boys cross country teams ('10, '11,'14, '15) and two runner-up teams ('07, '12). McLaughlin's cross country student-athletes have also earned three girls and two boys individual state cross country champions.  McLaughlin's 2012 girls cross country team ended their season ranked as the #1 national small school after finishing fourth among all schools at the Nike Nationals. His teams have won dual boys and girls state titles in '98, '10, '14 and '15. In all, he has coached 18 NY State Champion Cross Country Teams, a current record for any coach in the state along with two cross country All Americans, one in '13 and another in '15.  In track and field at East Aurora McLaughlin's student-athletes have won over a dozen individual/relay state titles.  Many of McLaughlin's student-athletes have continued to compete collegiately in NCAA I, II, and III, including Edinboro University All-Americans Travis Kuhl, Scott Anderson, and Elliot Martynkiewicz. McLaughlin's long-time assistant coach is his wife Marty, a member of the Edinboro University Hall of Fame.