MCLA hires two new coaches to lead Cross Country and Tennis programs

NORTH ADAMS, MA – Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) has announced its athletics department has announced Rob Colantuono as the new women's cross country head coach and Andres Lima to lead the men's tennis program. Colantuono is the first head coach in the program's history, while Lima takes over a men's tennis program that has been restarted.

Colantuono has an extensive background in coaching and education throughout Berkshire County.  He coached at the college level from 1991-1993 at Williams College, where he led the women's cross country program. He also has coached at the varsity level at Lenox, Pittsfield and Drury high schools, respectively. 

Colantuono's teams at Williams competed on the national stage for his two seasons there, and he won numerous championships within the county during his tenure with the high schools. He gave up coaching to focus on education in the mid-1990s when he became the principal at Crosby Elementary School in Pittsfield.  Most recently, he served as the principal at Thoreau Elementary School in Concord, Mass., for the past five years. 

The women's cross country program will open with a meet at Smith College.

Lima currently teaches tennis at the Country Club of Pittsfield.  He has instructed at other various county clubs as well, including Stockbridge Country Club, Berkshire West Athletic Club and Canyon Ranch.

A current member of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), Lima also was a tennis professional in Ecuador.  He provided professional training while ranking as high as number 39 in the country during his tenure in the early 2000s. 

Lima will build a program that will begin varsity competition this fall and continue into the spring semester. MCLA will play a 10-match schedule over the course of the academic year.