Nov. 22, 2010

EASTON, Pa. - Former Lafayette men's and women's track and field head coach Bill Hodge passed away Friday, Nov. 5.

Hodge, the head track and field and cross country coach at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C. died suddenly after suffering a heart attack during the Conference Carolinas Cross Country Championships.

Hodge coached at Lafayette from 1981-1986 with a record of 35-29 during that span. He led the 1985 and '86 women's indoor and outdoor track and field team to two consecutive ECC Championships. In addition to his head coaching position at Lafayette, he coached at Bucknell, Columbia, Wagner, Rider, Robert Morris and Mount Olive College.

A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Hodge spent four-and-a-half seasons as the head men's and women's track & field and cross country coach at Robert Morris from 1995 to 1999, leading the Colonials to two Northeast Conference championships while directly assisting in three others. In 1998, his women's track & field squad claimed the NEC Indoor championship, while his men's track & field team claimed the 1999 NEC Indoor title.