Newly appointed Scarlet Raptor athletic director Jeff Dean has selected Joe Puleo as the head coach of the Rutgers-Camden cross country programs. Named to the position in August, Puleo also will serve as the Scarlet Raptors' head coach for track and field.

"I've always had a goal of coaching at the collegiate level," said Puleo, who has coached at Paul VI High School and worked with many post-collegiate runners. "Rutgers-Camden represents a great opportunity for me. I'm excited about the future of the program."

A 1984 graduate of Phoenixville (PA) Area High School, where he was a member of the wrestling program, Puleo continued his education at the College of William and Mary before transferring to Elizabethtown College. He earned five varsity letters for the Blue Jays - three in cross country and two in swimming - and was named the cross country team MVP during his senior year. He graduated cum laude from Elizabethtown in 1989 with a B.A. in English Literature.

Since that time, Puleo has built a strong reputation among running circles. He has been the owner and operator of the Haddonfield Running Company, a retail specialty store, for the past seven years.

Puleo has coached numerous post-collegiate runners, including Cassy Byrne of Pottstown, PA, whose debut marathon time of 2:40.28 was the 12th-best time for U.S. women in 2002. He also has worked with Pitman's Sean Mick, a 4:04 miler, and Philadelphia's Abby Dean, who finished fifth among all female runners in the Broad Street 10-mile Run in Philadelphia in May. Dean will serve as one of Puleo's assistant cross country coaches this fall.

For the past three seasons, Puleo has been the boys' head cross country coach at Paul VI, where he has led his team to a trio of Olympic National Division championships (2000, 2001, 2002) and the overall Olympic Conference title in 2001. His team extended the school's amazing consecutive dual meet winning streak, which started in 1980 and enters this fall at 216 straight victories. The Eagles, who went 17-0 in dual meets under Puleo, finished fourth, third and fifth in the state meet during his three seasons.

In addition to Dean, Puleo has named Jon McGowens, a Haddonfield High School and Brown University graduate, as an assistant coach.