Adelphi University Athletics

Former Adelphi University assistant coach and standout runner, Katie (DiPietro) Rees was named Head Cross-Country Coach as announced by Director of Athletics Robert Hartwell on June 11, 2010. Rees spent four years as an athlete at Adelphi and then three and a half years as an assistant coach with the program. She enters her tenth coaching season in 2019

Katie is a graduate of the 2018 NCAA Women Coaches Academy class #45 that was held in Denver, CO in June. The NCAA Women Coaches Academy, hosted in partnership between the Alliance of Women Coaches and the NCAA, is a 4-day educational training available to NCAA coaches of all experience levels, and is designed for women coaches who are ready to increase their individual effectiveness by learning advanced skills and strategies that directly affect their personal and team success. In addition she holds a USATF Level One certification and is a USATF Coaches Registry/Certified Coach.

The 2017-18 campaign saw two runners receive All-Region accolades to represent the men and women's sides. Sophomore Nicole Julian led the Panthers at the East Regional to place 19th overall to earn her All-Region honor. The women placed ninth among Northeast-10 schools, and 13th overall. For the men, Michael Grady received his third All-Region accolade after his performance at the East Regional. The junior placed 21st overall to pace the men to a seventh place finish. 

The 2014 season saw the men finish fifth and women finish sixth at the NE-10 Cross Country Championships under the direction of Rees. Senior, and Second-Team All-Conference selection, Larissa Melendez led the way for the women with an 11th-place finish, and for the men it was senior Nick Filipazzo, who placed 16th and qualified for the NCAA Division-II Championship. Filipazzo would finish 38th at nationals with a 10k time of 31:29.7 to earn NCAA All-American honors. It would mark the third time under Rees that a runner would garner such honors. 

For the fourth straight year, Rees’ team was represented at the NCAA Championships. However, the presence was more evident with two individuals in Elizabeth Eickelberg (’14) and senior Nick Filippazzo. Eickelberg and Filippazzo helped punch their tickets to the NCAA field by leading the Panthers to fifth place finishes, both for the men and women at the NCAA East Regional. The men earned the same finish earlier in the season at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships while the women were seventh. After earning third place at the regional, Eickelberg claimed 54th at the NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, Filippazzo took his second place regional to a 41st place finish.

In Rees' third season in 2012, the men put in another solid showing while the women had a record-breaking year. The men finished fifth at the NE-10 Championships, 6th at the NCAA East Regional, and sent one runner to the NCAA Championships in Andrew Coelho. Coelho capped his Adelphi career with another set of All-Conference, All-Region and All-American honors. The women were ranked as high as #29 in the country and placed second at the NE-10 Championships behind four All-Conference and All-Region performers. The squad placed second at the NCAA East Regional and earned their first trip to the NCAA Championship in 10 years, where they out-performed their national ranking.

In her second season (2011) as the head cross country coach, Rees' men's and women's squads each improved from a year ago. At the Northeast-10 Championships, the men raced to a fourth place finish while the women were seventh. At the meet, she had three men earn All-Conference honors while two women also garnered the same award. At the NCAA Division II East Region Championships, the men finished fourth while the women took home sixth. Jacqueline Kaste earned All-Region honors while Andrew Coelho was the runner up and earned All-Region accolades along with Angel Ortega and freshman James Panetta. For the second time in as many years, Coelho, under Rees's direction, earned a spot at the NCAA Championships. There, he placed 29th overall and became the first cross country All-American the program has seen in over thirty years.

In her first season (2010) at the helm of the Panthers, Rees led the Panthers men to a seventh-place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships, while the women placed 12th. In the team's first meet of the year, the Panther men and women captured the Hofstra's Brick Stone Invitational at the DII/III level. They also had a second-place showing from the women and a third-place showing from the men at the ESU Nevin Invitational. In the NCAA Regionals, the men placed sixth overall of 26 teams, while the women where 10th amongst 28 teams that participated. Andrew Coelho became first Adelphi male to qualify for the NCAA Championships in over 30 years, with a fourth-place finish at the regionals.

A four-year letter winner in both cross-country and track and field, Rees was also a four-time All-East Coast Conference performer and an All-Northeast selection in 2002. She helped the Panthers qualify for the 2001 and 2002 NCAA Division II Cross-Country National Championship meet, where Adelphi placed 22nd and 21st in the nation.

She then moved to the coaching side of the sport as an assistant with the cross-country and track and field programs. Rees helped the Panthers to three straight East Coast Conference women's cross-country titles and two men's in her time at Adelphi and was instrumental in helping the mid-distance and distance runners re-write the Adelphi record books.

Rees graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi's Honors College in 2005 with a degree in Exercise Physiology and earned a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology from Adelphi in 2006. She continues to run, having completed ten marathons, including notching her personal best of 3:05.06 at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC.