News Coaches At Guilford College

GUILFORD COLLEGE NAMES NEW COACHES FOR CROSS COUNTRY AND WOMEN’S TENNIS TEAMS

Interim Athletic Director Tom Palombo introduced Heidi Pinkerton as Guilford College’s new head men’s and women’s cross country coach and Eddie Luck as the Quakers’ women’s tennis coach Friday. Guilford’s first female cross country coach, Pinkerton takes over for Jamie LaFollette, who resigned after two years in July. Luck, also Guilford’s men’s tennis coach, replaces Jenn Anderson ’96, who resigned following seven seasons to take a similar job at Bishop McGuinness Catholic (N.C.) High School.
Heidi Pinkerton Heidi Pinkerton

Pinkerton assumes her first head coaching position after spending the 2006 season as an assistant for neighboring Greensboro College. She ran four seasons with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and wellness there in 2007. A three-time All-Southern Conference cross country performer, Pinkerton holds five UNC Greensboro track records and has the school’s third-fastest six-kilometer cross country time (22:32.2). She captained the team as a senior and placed third at the 2004 Southern Conference Cross Country Championship.

A 2001 graduate of West Wilkes (N.C.) High School, Pinkerton won the North Carolina 2-A cross country titles as a junior and senior. She placed second in the meet as a sophomore and captured seven state outdoor track titles in her distinguished career, including four in the 1,600 meters. Pinkerton won the Mountain Valley 3-A/2-A Conference Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2001 and the league’s Runner of the Year prize in 2000.

Also a personal trainer, Pinkerton and her husband, Norm, live in Greensboro.

Luck joined Guilford’s athletic department in January 2008 as the Quakers’ men’s tennis coach. He guided the team to a 10-9 record and its first Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament victory last spring. Two singles players and two doubles tandems scored second-team all-league honors under Luck in 2008. He has a 90-43 record in eight seasons as a men’s coach.
Eddie Luck Eddie Luck

A Ramseur, N.C., native, Luck coached the women’s tennis team at NCAA Division II Ferris State University from 1992 to 2000. He complied a school-record 136-40 mark in eight seasons and won three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Women’s Coach of the Year Awards. Luck led the squad to an 83-0 conference record, eight consecutive league titles and six NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances.

Luck came to Guilford following a two-year stint at Methodist University where led the Monarchs’ men to a 26-15 overall record in 2005 and 2006. He also coached the men at Ferris State from 1993-96 to a 54-19 record. Luck won the 1994 GLIAC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year Award and ranks third among Ferris State’s all-time coaching wins and winning percentage (.739) leaders.

Luck played three seasons at Campbell University before finishing his college career at Ferris State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business marketing in 1988. While working as a graduate assistant tennis coach to Arlo Elkins, he earned his master’s degree in social studies and history from the University of South Carolina. Luck is certified as a P1 Tennis Professional by the United States Professional Tennis Association.