Head coach of men’s cross country and track Erik Nedeau resigned on Jan. 25 after 20 seasons with the team due to “personal and family reasons,” according to Director of Athletics Don Faulstick.

Since joining the college’s athletics department in 1995, Nedeau has led the college’s men’s and women’s teams to four NCAA championships, 73 All-American performances, two Junior National medals and a number of New England, NESCAC and ECAC championships. He was first named the head coach of the men’s cross country program for the 1997-1998 season and was named the 2007 New England Regional Coach of the Year. Nedeau also coached the team to its first NCAA regional championship title in 2007.

Faulstick said in an email interview that he first informed assistant coaches and cross country and track team members at a team meeting and then shared Nedeau’s resignation with other teams’ head coaches via email.

The athletics department will conduct a national search later this spring to fill the head coach position, said Faulstick. As of now, assistant coaches Luke Maher and Selwyn Maxwell continue to lead the team.

No further information was publicized, according to Faulstick, because “disseminating such news beyond an employee’s department is very rarely done. On those few occasions when it does happen, it involves a member of the president’s senior staff or an employee who has served the college for many decades.”

Senior Associate Athletics Director David Hixon, Assistant Athletic Director Billy McBride and Chief Student Affairs Officer and former Director of Athletics Suzanne Coffey declined to comment for the story.

Team members and co-captains Raymond Meijer ’17 and Kevin Connors ’17 also declined to comment, citing lack of knowledge about the circumstances of Nedeau’s resignation.

Nedeau’s resignation comes nearly a month after The Indicator, a student publication, reported on a chain of offensive emails exchanged between members of the men’s cross country team.

The administration responded by launching an investigation of the team. After the investigation’s conclusion, the team was placed on athletic probation for four seasons, and members who were personally involved in the email incident were suspended from the team for varying durations depending on level of involvement.