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Ed Schlichter enters his first season as the cross country and distance coach for the Charlotte 49ers cross country and distance programs. Schlichter comes to Charlotte after spending the past two seasons as assistant track and field and cross country coach at the University of South Carolina Upstate.
During his time at USC Upstate, Schlichter guided his athletes to great success during competition as he coached and trained; four Atlantic Sun Conference champions, eight All-Atlantic Sun Conference performances, the 2008 Women's Indoor Track Atlantic Sun Most Outstanding Performer and two Conference Freshmen of the Year winners.
Schlichter's teams shattered records during his short tenure at USC Upstate as 17 records were broken in two years and 23 of the top 25 fastest times for women's cross country were set. On the recruiting front, Schlichter was able to sign standout prospective athletes to National Letters of Intent even though USC Upstate was without an on-campus track facility and is ineligible to compete in NCAA Division I Championships until the fall of 2011.
His student athletes also succeeded in the classroom as the women's cross country team won the Athletics Department's Highest Team GPA (3.536) for the Spring 2009 semester.
Prior to joining the USC Upstate coaching staff, Schlichter served as assistant coach for the cross country and track and field programs at Charlotte for two years, 2005-07. As assistant coach with the 49ers, he helped lead the men's and women's track squads to the 2006 Atlantic 10 Indoor and Outdoor Track championship. The women's team repeated as indoor and outdoor champions in 2007.
Prior to joining the 49ers coaching staff, Schlichter was a distance runner for the 49ers' cross country and track teams from 2000-05. He had a standout career with the 49ers and ranks among the program's all-time top 10 in several distance categories. He was a seven-time All-Conference selection, earning five awards in track and two in cross country. At the 2005 Raleigh Relays, Schlichter ran a 14:35 5k during his senior year.
In 2004, he became the first runner in school history to be named Conference USA Male Athlete of the Year for cross country. He also earned team's Most Valuable Player honors in 2004 for both cross country and track. He helped lead Charlotte to the conference championship in indoor track in 2001 and the league title in cross country in 2002, the first conference championship for both programs in school history. Schlichter graduated from Charlotte with a degree in English in May, 2005.
After graduation from UNC Charlotte, Schlichter went on to compete in several distance events including the 2005 New Haven 20k (1:03), 2006 Chicago Marathon (2:44), 2006 Houston Half-Marathon (1:07) and the 2007 Boston Marathon.
To go along with his accomplishments as a coach and a student-athlete, Schlichter is USA Track & Field Level 1 Coaching Certified.
