James Lemieux begins his third year as the head coach of the women's track & field program.

In his first season at the reigns of the squad during the 2012-13 season, Coach Lemieux helped direct the team to its first-ever New England Alliance Outdoor Championship while also achieving top-10 status at both the indoor and outdoor Division III New England Championships. The Lancers placed 15th at the Open New England Championships and took home seventh at the ECAC Division III Championships for their best-ever scores at both meets.

In his first four years at Worcester State, Coach Lemieux's group has become one of the most competative in the MASCAC and Division III New England. In each of the last two seasons alone, 14 individuals have competed in various throwing events at both the Division III New England and ECAC Division III Championships.

Coach Lemieux has helped a pair of female throwers break the schools indoor and outdoor shot put records while Alyssa Jasper has represented the Lancers in three consecutive NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships in the javelin.

Coming off a season where she shattered an eight-year school mark in the javelin, she captured her second consecutive title at the Division III New England Championships in the 2014 outdoor season while also resetting a six-year record with a crown in the heptathlon. Jasper also claimed All-American honors with eighth place in the heptathlon at the outdoor national meet.

On the men’s side, Coach Lemieux helped multi-event specialist Jason Sliwoski break the previous school records in the indoor heptathlon and the decathlon. In back to back campaigns, Sliwoski had a pair of top-30 point totals in the NCAA Division III decathlon and he won the shot put and discus en route to second at the Division III New England Championships - just 226 points off first place. Sliwoski has also earned All-ECAC accolades twice in the decathlon, taking home second in 2012 with victories in two of the three throwing events.

Prior to his arrival at Worcester State, Coach Lemieux spent eight seasons building up his reputation as one of the best throws coaches in Massachusetts at Lowell High as each one of his athletes has broken a relay record or an individual mark.

Individually, Coach Lemieux has coached back-to-back Division I champions in the girls discus (Katie Lanoune in 2007 and Julia Funaro in 2008) while Funaro was a runner-up at the All-State’s meet in 2008. He also helped guide All-State Division I champion Ryan Davila to finish sixth overall at the Nike Indoor Nationals for All-American status. During the season, Davila would caulk up a mark of 61-1.5 for the best mark in Massachusetts in 2010 as it was also the fifth best mark in state history. Davila was also a part of the shot put relay that broke the meet record at the McIntyre Elite Relays.

Coach Lemieux’s focus is on developing dynamic and explosive strength while working with Olympic lifts and plyo’s. He believes that the more agile and athletic you are, the farther you will throw.

Coach Lemieux graduated from UMass Lowell in 2002. Lemieux competed in the shot put, weight throw, hammer and discus as he was selected as a captain of the indoor and outdoor teams as a senior. His toss in the discus is still the fifth-best throw put up in program history.

Coach Lemieux continues to compete as a member of the Greater Boston Track Club. He currently holds a USATF Level 2 certification in the throws and he is a certified strength and conditioning coach.

Coach Lemieux continues to compete as a member of the Greater Boston Track Club. He currently holds his USATF Level II certification (Throws) and he is a certified strength and conditioning coach. 

Coach Lemieux recently attained his USATF Level 3 and IAAF Level 5 certifications for throwing events - the highest level of certification offered by both the US and International governing bodies.