For 28 years, Bernie has been the head coach of the X-Women and
X-Men cross country teams elevating the program from club to
varsity status. These cross country teams won 14 AUS banners
including eight titles for the women and six for the men. Eight
individual runners won 11 AUS titles, including two-time Olympian
and 2003 CIS individual champion Eric Gillis. Bernie guided the
X-Women cross country team to a 2007 CIS bronze medal, a
men’s CIS silver medal in 2008 and bronze for the men in
2010. Bernie coached and developed numerous StFX runners who have
gone on to achieve national and international success. Bernie has
also coached the StFX track and field team for more than 10 years,
building the X-Women and X-Men programs into AUS contenders, as
evidenced by the first X-Men’s AUS championship banner in
2014. Since 2004, StFX track athletes accumulated 55 AUS gold
medals, along with numerous silver and bronze medals and six CIS
individual medals. A member of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame,
Bernie was recognized as the AUS cross country coach of the year on
15 occasions, eight times with the women’s team and seven
times with the men’s. He received the AUS track and field
coach of the year award twice.