Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Fred Samara Named USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year in Indoor Track
March 09, 2007 | Men's Track and Field
Princeton men's track head coach Fred Samara has been named the Mid-Atlantic Regional Men's Coach of the Year for indoor track by the U.S. Track & Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Samara led the Tigers to the Ivy League Heptagonal championship at the indoor meet in New York two weekends ago. Princeton's victory in that event was its seventh in the last 10 seasons and moved the Tigers two-thirds of the way to a 2006-07 Heps sweep after a win at the conference cross country meet in October.
He was also the USTFCCCA Indoor Coach of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic region in 2004 after leading the Tigers to victory at that year's Indoor Heps meet. Samara also earned regional outdoor coach of the year honors in both 2001 and 2002.
Samara, who competed in the decathlon for the United States at the 1976 Olympic games, also helped mentor Princeton multi-event standout Duane Hynes throughout the 2006-07 season. Hynes qualified for the NCAA championship meet in the heptathlon and had the ninth highest score in the nation in that event in 2007.
A 1975 national AAU decathlon champion, Samara was a five-time Penn Relays champion. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, he was a two-time All-America, receiving honors in the sprints, long jump, pole vault and his specialty -- the decathlon. He also captured the decathlon title at the World University Games trials and later placed fifth at the World Championships in Moscow. In 1974 he established a world record in the indoor pentathlon. Samara was inducted into the Public Schools Athletic League Wingate Hall of Fame in November 2003 for his accomplishments as an athlete at Fort Hamilton High in Brooklyn, N.Y., including being the top-ranked high school decathlete in 1969.