Zach Joachim enters his second year as the head coach of the Simmons University cross country program in 2023-2024.  

In his first year at the helm in 2022, the cross country team had an impressive season. The Sharks placed four runners in the top 25 at the 2022 GNAC Championships en route to a fifth-place finish, with junior Molly Guinivan leading the way. Guinivan finished 17t with an impressive 30-place improvement over her finish at the 2021 championship.  Two weeks later, Simmons’ entire top four set career bests at the NCAA East Regional Championship.  The Sharks also took home individual honors in 2022, with sophomore Kaylah Schnitzer earning GNAC Rookie of the Week honors in just the second meet of her collegiate career, and Beth Pennington being named to the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team.

The team also excelled academically in 2022-2023, with a median GPA of 3.85 in the fall and 3.80 in the spring, and first year Justine Paragas earned the Gilbert and Marcia Kotzen Scholarship, considered Simmons’ most prestigious student award.

Joachim came to Simmons following a stint as the head coach at Massachusetts Bay Community College, and he has also coached cross country as well as sprints and hurdles at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.  Under Joachim, the hurdle group has been particularly successful; in the last two years, L-S hurdlers have produced three Dual County League champions, nine DCL medals, 20 Division II State Championship qualifications, five All-State qualifications, and an All-State medalist, as well as the second-place individual and team at the MSTCA North Heptathlon.  

Joachim has also worked with several post-collegiate athletes, in particular coaching Benjamin Macdonald to victory at the 2021 Manchester City Marathon and to 46th place in the 2022 Boston Marathon in a time of 2:25:16.

Joachim holds USTFCCCA Specialist Certifications in the Endurance Events and Strength & Conditioning, as well as a USATF Level 1 certification.  He ran cross country and track & field at Trinity College, where he earned USTFCCCA All-Academic and All-New England honors and received a bachelor’s degree in public policy and law.