Vince Brown

Vince Brown was on the varsity basketball team for three years during his time at Emory & Henry from 1963-1966. However, it is his distinguished coaching career that earned him induction into the E&H Sports Hall of fame in 2006.

After graduating from Emory & Henry, Brown began coaching at Chilhowie High School in Southwest Virginia, where he served as head track coach and assistant football and basketball coach for four years. He then moved to Blacksburg High School, where his teams won a state title, eight regional championships, and ten district championships in six years. After this, he served as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech for two years while earning a Master of Science in Education. In 1976, after two years as an assistant at Virginia Tech, Brown took over as Hampton High School track and cross country coach, a position he held for four years.

Brown went to Christopher Newport University (then Christopher Newport College) in 1980 to coach cross country and track & field. Under his direction, CNU won 12 NCAA Division III titles and countless conference championships. He coached 70 different athletes who achieved All-American status – accumulating an incredible 444 All-American awards in total. Brown was twice awarded National Coach of the Year from the NCAA Division III Coaches Association. He received the Distinguished Service Medallion for his outstanding contribution to the development of the college in 1990 and was named Man of the Year by the Peninsula Sports Club in 1990.

Upon Brown’s retirement in 2005, after 25 years as a collegiate head track & field and cross country coach, he was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was inducted into the Lower Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of Christopher Newport University’s Athletic Hall of Fame and CNU’s indoor track has been named in his honor.