JIM SANCHEZ

Hometown:  La Jara, Colorado
Sport:  Cross Country Coach
Years:  1981-2003

Sanchez coached the UW men’s and women’s cross country teams for twenty-two years. He
was selected as the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year five times. His teams won
two WAC championships, with seven second-place finishes and eight third-place finishes.
During his time at UW, he coached 14 NCAA All-Americans. An excellent motivator, he studied
the mechanics of cross country running so he could help his athletes improve. He was an
extremely popular coach and many of his student-athletes considered him a mentor and friend
long after their competitive days were over. He was the coach in September 2001 when eight
cross country athletes were tragically killed in a car accident. He was widely credited with
comforting the remaining team members and guiding them through the devastating loss, as
well as rebuilding the program.