(WILMINGTON, Ohio) – The Wilmington College athletics department and Interim Director of Athletics Briana Clark announced today the hiring of
Cole Huggard as the Quakers new Head Men's and Women's Swimming Coach. Huggard is the second coach in program history as he replaces long time head coach Trip Breen.
"I am so grateful for the opportunity to step into the head coaching role at Wilmington College" said Huggard. "I look forward to leading Wilmington's already highly successful swim program to even greater heights."
Huggard served under Breen during the 2023-24 season as an Assistant Coach. During this time, both the men's and women's teams finished fifth at the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships. The men went 4-5 overall in dual action, and the women finished 3-6 in duals, with both teams winning one OAC dual.
At the OAC Championships, Huggard helped coach two Quakers to All-Conference honors.
Cameron Bolen won a conference championship in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, while
Sondre Haugen finished second in the 200 Yard Freestyle and Bolen was third in the 50 Yard Freestyle.
Makenna Garn was All-OAC in three events as she was second in the 200 Yard Breaststroke, and third in both the 100 Yard Breaststroke and 200 Yard Individual Medley.
Huggard helped the Quakers break or tie eight program records with seven on the men's side and one on the women's side.
Cameron Bolen and
Sondre Haugen were both named OAC Men's Swimmer of the Week on two separate occasions in 2023-24, while
Gabby Kuetemeyer earned the honor once during the season on the women's side.
Before Wilmington, Huggard was the Head Swimming Coach for two seasons at Archbishop Carroll High School in Dayton, Ohio. During this time, he coached his team to a fourth-place finish at the Greater Catholic League (GCL) Co-ed Championships in 2022-23. He coached three state qualifiers and eight district qualifiers during this season and was also named the GCL Co-ed Coach of the Year.
At Carroll, Huggard was responsible for organizing and hosting swim meets as well as coming up with training regimens for his team. During this time, Huggard was also a club coach with the Dayton Raiders where he worked with individuals aged 9-18.
Huggard attended the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. He swam a time of 4:09.28 in the 400 Yard Individual Medley in 2019, which is tenth all-time in their program's history. Huggard also finished in the Top-8 of all his individual events at the Mid-South Conference Championships. He graduated from Cumberlands in 2021 with a degree in Information Technology.
