James Simpson was named Assistant Athletic Director for Event Management at Webber International University in March 2020.
Previously, Coach Simpson spent seven seasons as the Warriors Head Men's and Women's Cross County Coach from 2014 to 2020.
Coach Simpson has sent one Warrior to nationals during each of the last five seasons (Sean Trainor in 2016, 2017 and 2018; Kendal Clark in 2019 and 2020).
In his second season with the Warriors, Coach Simpson made strides in moving his teams closer to the top. The men finished fourth and the women sixth in The Sun Conference cross country championships, which were both improvements from his first year. The men had two all-conference runners, Christian Vasquez and Gabriel Barron, while Kathi Whitfield earned all-conference accolades for the women. The indoor season was just as impressive, where he coached his first indoor All-American in Jordan Clarke (600m: 4th). Later, during the outdoor campaign, Simpson assisted Clarke in earning his second All-American laurel, this time in the 400m dash where he finished third. The time that he ran at nationals would also be the time that made him a Jamaican Trials Qualifier as well. Adding to the success, the women earned their first conference title in nearly eight years, while the men earned a runner-up finish to close out the year. In 2015 with Triathlon, Simpson coached his first All-American in Melissa Rios La Luz to a fourth-place finish in the fall and third place in the spring nationals events.
In his first season with the Warriors, Simpson's teams’ both recorded eighth-place finishes at The Sun Conference cross country championships. During that time, sophomore Kathi Whitfield broke into the women’s all-time 5k list. During the indoor track campaign, Simpson was instrumental in helping the women’s 4x400m relay team of Kathi Whitfield, Bre’ Shae Pierce, Lauren Ngyren, and Marly Joseph qualify for the NAIA Indoor Championship where they placed. Coach Simpson also helped guide the men and women to seventh-place and runner-up team finishes, respectively, at The Sun Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Prior to joining the Warriors, Simpson had an eight-year tenure at North Point High School. During that time, he coached multiple District and Regional Champions and numerous state qualifiers. In 2012, his boy's team finished as district runner-ups and went on to qualify for the state meet for the first time in school history. In 2013, Simpson's girl's team were District Champions and regional runner-ups. They went on to finish fifth at the 4-A state meet. This was a first qualification as a girls team as well for North Port High School.
Simpson is very familiar with Webber International University. For the past nine summers before joining the Warriors' coaching staff, Simpson worked the Warrior Running Camps which are held on the Babson Park campus. Plus, for the previous seven years, he had helped Dr. Peter Ormsby in the Scenic 17 Sprint Triathlon.
Coach Jim Simpson was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida. Simpson served in the United States Marine Corps for six years. He has two daughters, Meghan and Tabitha, and a son, Thadues.
