Cross Country Coaching Staff

Cross Country Coaching Staff

Bruce Tracy

Head Coach
Bruce Tracy graduated in 1972 from Galesburg High School, where he was a member of the cross country and track programs. After high school, Tracy attended Carl Sandburg College and graduated in 1975. While a student at Sandburg, he participated in the cross country program and was the runner-up in the 1973 Arrowhead Conference cross country meet. He returned a year later to the meet and walked away with the championship. Coach Tracy lives in Rio with his wife, Kay, and his sons Austin and Collin. His oldest son, Eric, lives near Raleigh, N.C., with his wife, Beth. Coach Tracy's daughter, Allison Shepard, lives in Glasgow, Ky., with her husband, Daniel. Coach Tracy has three grandsons.

Karen Brophy

Assistant Coach
Karen Brophy is in her second season as an assistant cross country coach for the Carl Sandburg College men’s and women’s cross country teams. Brophy competed on Sandburg's 2005 and 2006 women’s team and was part of the qualifying team in 2005 to run at nationals and qualified as an individual in 2006 for the national meet. Brophy was also a George Washington Gale Scholar. After receiving an Associate in Science degree May 2007 from Sandburg, she transferred into Knox College to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Sociology and graduated in June 2009. Brophy competed in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field while at Knox College. After Knox, Brophy started graduate school at Western Illinois University to achieve a Master’s Degree in Sociology. Coach Brophy is currently finishing up her Master’s thesis and plans to graduate from WIU in December 2011 with her Master’s degree in Sociology. Brophy has run four marathons and all of which have been Boston qualifiers. Coach Brophy ran in the Boston Marathon for the first time April 2011 and set a personal best and two months later setting another personal best by about 12 minutes in the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn. in June 2011 with a time of 3:14:39. Coach Brophy plans on running the Boston Marathon in 2012.

Karen’s twin sister Kelly achieved an Associate in Arts degree from Sandburg in May 2008 and recently graduated in May 2011 from Western Illinois University with a Bachelors in Sociology.  Her little sister Kacie, who is a George Washington Gale Scholar, received an Associate in Arts degree from Sandburg in the summer of 2011, and recently started her junior year at Knox College. Karen’s little sister Kourtni, [Kacie’s twin] is currently completing her studies at Sandburg. Karen and Kelly graduated from Galesburg High School in 2005 and Kourtni and Kacie graduated from Galesburg High School in 2009. Brophy’s mother Hazel is very supportive in the individual studies and interests of all four girls. Coach Brophy resides in Galesburg.