As the longest serving head coach in SUNY Cobleskill Cross Country program history,
Mitchell Tomaszkiewicz has enjoyed a successful and colorful tenure for 31 seasons since assuming the reigns of the Fighting Tiger program in 1993 spearheading the program's move from the NJCAA to the NCAA level of competition in 2008. During his tenure the Fighting Tiger men's and women's teams have won a total of 108 invitational victories including the 2000 NJCAA Division III Women's National Championship while placing second 103 times in invitational competition including four NJCAA Division III National Runners-up finishes.
Since entering the NCAA level of competition in 2008 the Fighting Tiger men's and women's teams have been a perennially been among the North Eastern Athletic Conference's (NEAC) top programs with the men winning league titles in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2019 then capturing the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Title in 2021. The Cobleskill women have posted NEAC conference titles in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. Individually the men's team has produced: 67 All-NEAC Conference Team honorees, five All-NAC honorees, seven All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Team honorees, two All-New York State Collegiate Track Conference (NYSCTC) honoree, and two NCAA Division III All-Atlantic Region Team honorees and three NCAA Division III All-Niagara Region Team selections.. Additionally the Fighting Tigers have had: five NEAC Men's Champions along with an NAC Men's Champion, five NEAC Male Runners-of-the-Years and one NEAC Men's Rookie-of-the-Year with one NAC Male Runner-of-the-Year and a NAC Male-Rookie-of-the-Year. Under his direction the women's team has garnered 58 All-NEAC Team awards, two NEAC Women's Champion, one All-NYSCTC performer and five NEAC Women's Rookie-of-the-Year honoree.
In 2013 Tomaszkiewicz helped then freshman Evan Quinones, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Saratoga Springs High School, reach the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships hosted by Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana where he placed 221st overall. Quinones became the first SUNY Cobleskill male student-athlete and the college's first student-athlete to compete in a national event.
For his team's accomplishments Coach Tomaszkiewicz has been honored by the NAC as the conference's Men's Coach-of-the-Year in 2021, by the NEAC as the league's Men's Coach-of-the-Year: in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019 while earning the league's Women's Coach-of-the-Year honors in: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019 after a junior college career that saw him honored as Mountain Valley Conference Men's Coach-of-the-Year in 1997 and Women's Coach-of-the-Year in: 2000, 2003 and 2007. He was also named the NJCAA Region III Women's Coach-of-the-Year in 2000, 2007 and 2008 as well as the NJCAA Division III National Coach-of-the-Year in 2000. In 2021 he was honored by the Mountain Eagle newspapers as one of the publication's Regional Person's of the Year.
Upon taking over the program in 1993, Tomaszkiewicz revived a program that was in disarray and turned the Fighting Tigers into one of the premier programs in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III ranks producing 37 individual NJCAA Division III All-Americans and 33 individual NJCAA Academic All-Americans. In 2003 &1998 the Fighting Tigers won the Pepsi Challenge for the best overall combined finish by men's and women's teams at the NJCAA Division III National Championships.
In 1997, Coach Tomaszkiewicz's Fighting Tiger men's squad captured the Mountain Valley Conference Championship earning, him Mountain Valley Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors, and then placed second at the NJCAA Division III National Championships. The Fighting Tigers also placed second at the 2004 National Championships. Under his direction Cobleskill men's teams also placed third at the NJCAA Division III National Championships in 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003, fourth in 2000 and fifth in 2005. The Cobleskill men made fifteen national appearances under his guidance compiling an impressive fifteen top ten finishes.
During the 2000 season the Fighting Tiger women's team posted an undefeated season on the way to capturing the Mountain Valley Conference Championship, the NJCAA Region III Championship and the program's first NJCAA Division III National Championship earning Tomaszkiewicz conference, regional and national coach-of-the-year honors. During the 2003 and 2006 Cobleskill also captured the Mountain Valley Conference Championship earning Tomaszkiewicz conference Coach-of-the-Year honors, while winning the 2006 NJCAA Region III Championship earning him regional Coach-of-the-Year honors and placed second at the 2003 & 2006 NJCAA Division III National Championships. He was also named the NJCAA Region III Division III Women's Coach-of-the-Year in 2007. Under his direction the women's program also placed third at the NJCAA Division III National Championships in 1997, 1998, 1999 and fourth in 2002 and 2007. The Fighting Tiger women's team was also named the NJCAA Cross Country Coaches Academic Team-of-the-Year in 1997, 1998 and in 2000 under his direction.
A native of Chicago, IL, Tomaszkiewicz earned a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism/Mass Communication from Lewis University in Romeoville, IL in 1985 and his Master's Degree in Educational Administration from Loyola University of Chicago in 1989. He has been the college's Sports Information Director since 1996 and from 1992 thru 2006 served as the Fighting Tigers Assistant Men's Basketball Coach. He has also served the department at one time or another as the athletic program's Academic Advisor and Athletic Recruiting Coordinator.
