Alfred University Athletics

 

Hired at AU:	Summer of 2010
Alma Mater:	Alfred University '10

Matt Phillips first began on the track and field coaching staff as an Assistant Coach in 2010 upon graduating with his bachelor's in ceramic engineering. He held that position from 2010 until 2012. Phillips returned to the coaching staff in 2014 where he has coached ever since. He assumed the cross country Head Coach position in the Spring of 2019 while maintaining his role as an Assistant Coach with the track & field team.

For the 2022-23 season, Phillips was the Interim Head Coach of the Saxons' track & field teams while being the Head Coach of the cross country teams. In May of 2023, Phillips was promoted to the Head Coach of Cross Country and Track & Field.

Phillips has enjoyed a successful coaching career with Alfred University. For the men's side, Jonathan Hodges '28 set the indoor 600-meter dash record in 2025 with a time of 1:23.86 at Houghton. In the 4x400-meter relay, Hodges was joined by Zach Schultz '29, Riley Ciamarra '27 and Finnegan Dean '26 to set the program record with a mark of 3:24.78 at the 2026 AARTFC Championships. In the distance medley relay, the team of Jacob Taylor '27, Hodges, Dean and Seth Stevens '29 claimed the program record with a time of 10:27.58 at the 2026 AARTFC Championships. During the 2026 outdoor season, Ciamarra, Hodges, Schultz and Dean broke the 4x400-meter relay record with a finishing time of 3:18.49. 

There have been a variety of extraordinary student-athletes throughout the years with the women's track & field program. Phillips has coached the likes of Olivia Gilbert '24, who owned a pair of indoor and outdoor program records. During the 2023-24 indoor season, Gilbert was named as the Empire 8 Track Athlete of the Year. She was later recognized as an USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete in July 2024. At the 2023-24 ALFYS, Gilbert won the 2024 ECAC Merit Medal Award, 2024 Muriel Strong Morley Award, and the 2024 Nicholas F. Clark '11 Ideal Saxon Award. Gilbert was honored as the 2023-24 Empire 8 Female Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year, with Holly Passetti '21 being recognized as a nominee for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year. 

Phillips additionally coached Anne Spila '25, who owned the indoor pentathlon (3,191 points) and outdoor heptathlon (4,341 points) records. Spila earned All-Atlantic Indoor Regional honors and was named as a USTFCCCA All-Region honoree following the 2024-25 season. Spila became one of four student-athletes in program history to earn nine or more Empire 8 weekly awards, surpassing Hall of Famer Miasia Hillman '15 (8). Spila rounded out her successful collegiate career earning the 2025 Muriel Strong Morley Award. 

At the 2023-24 Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championships, the women's team broke the school record for the most championship titles with three first-place finishes. Gilbert won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.28, Spila won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.32, and Bianca Durso '24 won the pentathlon with 2,950 points. 

A combined total of 17 program records have been set under Phillips dating back to the 2022-23 season, with 13 of them coming from the women's side.

Academically, the Saxons have thrived under Phillips. The men's track & field team earned 2024 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors, while the women's side has been recognized with USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors in 2023, 2024 and 2025. In addition, there have been 12 Saxons who have earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors. 

While a Student-Athlete as a Saxon, Phillips participated on the cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field teams for four years. He was a member of the 4x400-meter relay teams for both indoor and outdoor that held school records with times of 3:25.22 and 3:20.85, respectively.
 

Women's Indoor Empire 8 Track & Field Winners:	Olivia Gilbert (2024 - Track Athlete of the Year)
Men's Indoor Empire 8 All-Conference Honors:	11
Women's Indoor Empire 8 All-Conference Honors:	8
Men's Outdoor Empire 8 All-Conference Honors:	13
Women's Outdoor Empire 8 All-Conference Honors:	24
Men's USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors:	2024
Women's USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors:	2023, 2024, 2025
College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Honors:	12