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Head coach Gina Procaccio begins her 14th season on the main line and her 9th season at the head of the women's program. A former All-American and Big East Champion herself as a Wildcat, Procaccio is familiar with the winning history of Villanova Track and Field. After much success as a professional runner both nationally and internationally, her passion for the sport eventually led her into coaching. Having grown up nearby, Procaccio has heard about Villanova track and field since the first time she laced up her spikes. This made the decision easy when offered the opportunity to return to her alma mater.
During her 13 years as both an assistant and head coach at `Nova, Procaccio has guided her athletes to enormous success whether on the track, cross country course or in the classroom. On the playing field, Procaccio has guided her athletes to 9 individual NCAA titles, 55 All-American honors and 48 individual Big East titles. In the classroom, her cross country team was awarded the highest team GPA among sports at Villanova three out of the last four years. The team has also garnered numerous All- Academic honors, both individually and as a team.
The 2008 cross country season saw Procaccio guide her team to the program's 11th Big East Championship. As a result Procaccio and assistant coach Meghan Courtney were named the Big East Staff of the Year. The wildcats were impressive as four runners finished in the top nine. All-American Frances Koons led the team with her runner-up finish. Koons went on to win the Mid-Atlantic Regional, and was named the Mid-Atlantic Regional Athlete of the Year. Koons lead the team in qualifying for the NCAA Championships. An impressive 6th place finish at the NCAA Championships, Procaccio added two more to her growing list of All-Americans as Frances Koons and Amanda Marino earned All-American honors.
The 2008 track and field season produced an individual Big East title indoors and four individual Big East titles outdoors. In addition, four wildcats earned trips to the NCAA Championships. Akilah Vargas qualified for the Indoor Championships and Liz Haglund, Frances Koons and Arusha McKenzie qualified for the Outdoor Championships. Adding to her accolades, Koons was also named Big East Athlete of the Meet at the outdoor championships after winning the 1500m and 5000m. Procaccio also guided Koons to her first Olympic Trials where she made it to the semi-final round in the 1500m.
A 1987 graduate of Villanova, Procaccio made her mark on Villanova's record book, despite only one year of eligibility after transferring from the University of Florida. In her senior season on the Main Line, she ran leadoff leg on the 4 x 800m relay team that placed first at the NCAA Championships and set a new world, American and collegiate record of 8:24.77. Procaccio also placed 5th at the same meet in the 1000m, to earn individual All American honors. She capped off the meet setting the still standing school record of 2:42.68 in the 1000m. In addition she helped set collegiate, American and World records in the distance medley relay(11:00.76) team that same year.
After her Villanova career, Procaccio ran successfully in national and international competition. She has participated in three World Championships and qualified for the final in the 5000m at the 1995 World Championships. That same year Procaccio was the US National Champion in the 5000m. She has qualified for four US Olympic Trials and finished as high as third in the US National Cross Country Championships. Procaccio has won six individual Penn Relay watches to go with the Distance Medley Relay win she won as a wildcat. Procaccio's professional career was cut short by injury at the age of 31, right after her most successful season in which she won her first national title and finished the season with U.S. rankings of 1, 2 and 5 in the 3000m, 5000m and 1500m respectively. It was also the year before the 1996 Olympics, the year which would have given Procaccio her best shot of becoming an Olympian, after finishing fifth in the 1500m at the 1992 Trials. Ironically, Procaccio views the lessons learned from her trials and tribulations of dealing with such a setback as powerful tools of coaching when it comes to helping her athletes achieve their ultimate success.
Prior to assistant coaching at Villanova from 1994-97 and 1998-00, she served for one year (1987-88) as a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee and one year (1990-91) as an assistant coach at Georgetown University.
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