After a distinguished career as a student-athlete at La Salle University, Matt Nunnally returned to his alma mater in 1999 to guide both the men's and women's swimming teams. He enters his 11th season at the helm of the Explorers' swimming program after serving five years as an assistant coach at Seton Hall University. Nunnally, who graduated in 1992, was an integral part of the Explorers swim team that won four straight MAAC Conference Team Championships (1989-92). Individually, he captured both the 200-free and 500-free conference titles and was also a member of several MAAC Championship relay teams. During the 2008-09 season, Nunnally coached the men's and women's teams to a No. 21 ranking in the Mid-Major Division I polls. Three years prior, during the 2005-06 season, he led the men's team to a No. 25 national ranking in the final polls, climbing as high as number 13. Aside from keeping his teams competitive in the pool, Nunnally has also coached numerous Academic All-America teams while at La Salle. Several Explorer athletes, such as Katie Gifford winning the Most Outstanding Diver award, have earned individual awards during Nunnally's tenure. In 2008-09, Shannon Duval was named to the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference Team and the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team. She was a two-time A-10 Player of the Week, one-time Co-Player of the Week and a Second-Team All-Conference selection at the A-10 Championships. Sean Connors-McBride won the gold in the 200-yard butterfly, while Karo Isajan earned his second consecutive Most Outstanding Diver award on the men's side. Isajan broke a conference record in the 3-meter diving event, which was previously held by former Explorer Jamie Davidson. Both Isajan and McBride were four-time Atlantic 10 champions. Since his graduation from La Salle, Nunnally continues to achieve many of the goals that he sets for himself. He is a 19-year veteran lifeguard at Bradley Beach, NJ, and in the summer of 2003, he captured his third National Lifeguarding Championship high point award in Cape May, NJ. His previous titles were captured in San Diego (2000) and Cape May (1999). As a standout lifeguard, Nunnally has been selected to the U.S. National Team and has competed in the Lifeguarding World Championships in Germany (1992), South Africa (1996) and Sydney, Australia (2000). In 2008, Matt was again a member of the U.S. National Team and competed at the World Lifeguarding Championships in Italy. A native of Avon, NJ, Nunnally earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from La Salle in 1992 and an MBA from the University of Mississippi in 1995. He currently resides in Bryn Mawr, PA. |
||||||||||||||
