Sept. 8, 2010

Patrick Swett, a 2002 graduate of Westfield State College, and John Molvar, a 1983 graduate of the University of Lowell, were named to the UMass Lowell cross country and track and field coaching staff, Head Coach Gary Gardner announced on Wednesday.

Swett, a former head girls' coach at Lowell H.S., will assist with UMass Lowell's jumpers while Molvar, a former head coach at Gordon College, will assist with the River Hawk distance runners.

The UMass Lowell cross country teams opened the season Saturday at the Keene State Alumni Invitational. The indoor track and field season begins Saturday, Dec. 4 at the Northeastern Husky Winter Carnival.

Patrick Swett

After a stellar athletic career at Westfield State College, Swett has spent the last eight years with the Lowell H.S. track and field programs, including the last six years as the head girls' coach/boys' assistant coach. During his tenure, he led the girls program to a plethora of honors, including 46 athletes to the MIAA Division I Championships, 10 to the MIAA Championship and three to the New England Championships.

Additionally, his girls' team eclipsed nine indoor records and 14 outdoor records over that period and also earned the MIAA Academic Excellence Gold Status Team Award for a collective grade point average of 3.08.

Swett was named the Merrimack Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2005.

With the boys program, Swett worked with the varsity sprinters, high jumpers and pole vaulters, and helped the Red Raiders to MVC indoor and outdoor titles in 2003 and 2009.

A two-sport athlete at Westfield State, Swett was a four-year standout with the football and track and field teams and was named WSC's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior, an award presented to the graduating student-athlete with the highest grade point average.

Additionally, he was a member of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) football and track and field all-academic teams from 1999-02 as well as WSC's 3.0 GPA Athletic-Academic Club all four years.

Swett captured the New England Track and Field Alliance championship in 1999 in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 4.0 inches.

A cornerback on the football team, he was a member of WSC's 2001 squad that captured the New England Football Conference (NEFC) title as it cruised through the regular season undefeated.

Swett graduated from WSC with a 3.4 grade point average in history education. He went on to earn his post baccalaureate teacher certification at Salem State in 2003 and his master's degree in education from Cambridge College in 2009, graduating with a 4.0.

Swett is a certified sports conditioning specialist with the American Fitness Professionals and Associates as well as a U.S.A. Track and Field Level II coach in the jumps. He earned his Massachusetts Track Coaches Association (MSTCA) pole vault certification in 2002.

Swett lives in Lowell, Mass., with his wife, Kaitlyn.

John Molvar

Molvar comes to his alma mater following four successful years as the head coach of the cross country and track and field programs at Gordon College. He will assist with the program's distance runners throughout each season.

During his four years at Gordon, Molvar led the Fighting Scots' programs to new heights. The men's cross country program was a regular among the top 20 schools at the NCAA New England Region Championship and finished as the Commonwealth Athletic Conference runner-up four straight years.

Molvar's women's cross country teams were the CAC runners-up in 2007 and 2008 and also solidified their places among the top 25 at the NCAA New England Championship.

Molvar was named the CAC men's cross country coach of the year all four years (2006-09) and earned women's coach of the year honors in 2008.

During the track and field season, the Fighting Scots won three straight CAC women's titles from 2007-09. Molvar steadily increased Gordon's New England Championship qualifiers each year, including 12 individual women and men and eight relay teams during the 2008-09 indoor and outdoor seasons.

Molvar was a member of ULowell's cross country/track and field program from 1981-83 and graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1983. During his undergraduate years, he was a member of two NCAA regional qualifying teams and ran alongside standouts Tony Gilbert, Tom Chamberas, Art Demers, Dave Dunham and Phil Maia. He was also a regular on the road race circuit for more than 20 years.

Previously, Molvar was a standout runner at Melrose H.S., from where he graduated in 1979.

Molvar spent 22 years as a nuclear engineer at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard before retiring in 2006. He lives in Newburyport, Mass., with his wife Karen and sons Joe (11) and Josh (10).