West Hartford, Conn.-
 
The University of Hartford track and field team has named Jesse Fuca and Daniel Johnson as assistant coaches, Head Coach Stacie Wentz announced today. Fuca comes to Hartford from Xavier University where he served as an assistant cross country & track and field coach, as Johnson comes to Hartford from Virginia Commonwealth University where he served as a Graduate Assistant.
 
"It's a new era for the University of Hartford Cross Country and Track & Field program." Wentz said. "These two hires are just what we needed to move the program in a new competitive direction.  I can't wait to get them started and working with our student-athletes." 
 
During his time at Xavier, Fuca assisted in all aspects of the team, focusing on the sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers. Under his guidance, the Musketeers won six individual Big East titles, 25 All-Big East honors, and broke 16 school records in sprints, relays, jumps and hurdles. In 2017, Fuca coached two student-athletes who were named the Big East High Point Performer of the indoor and outdoor championship.   
 
"Jesse is a former America East Champion who is coming back to the conference." Wentz said. "He is well-respected among his peers and has strong recruiting ties to the area.  I've gotten to know Jesse though the years and he's a great addition to our team!"
 
Prior to arriving at Xavier, he served as an assistant coach at George Washington University during its inaugural season. In this role, he worked with the mid-distance runners and sprinters. Under his tutelage, six student-athletes were named All-Atlantic 10 in track and cross country.
 
He started his coaching career at The Catholic University of America, serving as a graduate assistant. During his two years with the program, he helped lead the team to the 2012 Landmark Conference women's cross country title, five all-conference honorees, and seven school records. The coaching staff was named Landmark Conference Women's Coaching Staff of the Year during the 2012 cross country and 2013 outdoor track seasons.
 
As a collegiate runner at Binghamton University, he served as a three-year captain. He won the America East Conference Championship in the 110-meter hurdles in 2012 and was an All-America East selection in the 60-meter and 110-meter hurdles. He currently holds the Binghamton school record in the 60-meter hurdle and 4x100-meter relay. The six time IC4A Qualifier was also named to the America East All-Academic Team twice.
 
During his extraordinary high school career, he was a two-time New York State Champion in the 110-meter hurdles, and was a two-time All-American recipient.
 
He graduated Cum Laude from Binghamton with a bachelor's degree in English in 2012. He went on to earn his master's in secondary education from Catholic. 
 
During his time at VCU, Johnson worked directly with vertical and horizontal jumpers as well as multi-athletes.  He was part of the staff that won the Women's Atlantic-10 team indoor title in 2017.  In addition, his student-athlete won the Atantic-10 60-meter hurdles title and had a school-record performance in the women's 400-meter hurdles.   
 
"Dan is a former All-America decathlete and just the kind of coach we need here at the University of Hartford." Wentz said. "His hire allows us to fully cover all the track and field events within our program and that's something we weren't able to do in the past.  Our team will thrive with his leadership background as a captain in the U.S. Army and he is a perfect complement to our staff in the program." 
 
Prior to his stint at VCU, he served as the head men's track and field coach at the Mililani High School in Mililani, Hawaii. In that role, he oversaw all aspects of the track and field teams, organized four home meets per season and headed the program's fundraising efforts.  While at Mililani he also coached Khalil Stevens to the state high jump record. 
 
As a collegiate runner at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, he was named a NCAA Division II All-America Decathlete in 2012. He also received USTFCCCA Academic All-America honors in 2012.
 
He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in sociology and a minor in political science from East Stroudsburg while also a member of the ROTC program.  He is currently finishing his master's in education through the center of sports leadership at VCU.
 
The York, Pa., native is a U.S. Army veteran, serving as a captain in the Military Police Corps for four years.