Biography:
Nick Baker, Head Coach at Haddonfield since 1982, has been called by the SJTCA "the most successful track and cross country coach in South Jersey history." In cross country Nick Baker has a won-lost record of 356 -16 including 232 straight wins from 1997 through 2021. He has won 39 South Jersey championships which is a state record, including the last 18 in a row. His team has qualified for the Meet of Champions 35 times, which is the most by a public school in New Jersey. Haddonfield has won 19 state championships and in 2001 they won the Meet of Champions. That same year his team was voted the #1 team in the state and the #5 team in the country. The 2001 team was the first team in state history to have 3 runners run under 16 minutes in the same meet at Holmdel Park. His 2021 team was ranked 3rd in New Jersey and won its 4th straight Group 2 State Title, not including 2020, when it was the top ranked team but theState championships were not held. This marks 10 straight years his teams have qualified for the Meet of Champions or its equivalent, with 14 podium finishes and 20 top ten finishes.
Nick Baker's Track teams have been just as impressive. Besides numerous conference, county and sectional championships they won 9 winter track state titles, 6 indoor state relay titles and 5 outdoors state championships. That is a total of 20 track state titles that goes along with the 17 state titles in cross country for an unbelievable 37 state championships. He has also coached 8 National Champions in track. His distance medley won indoor national titles in 2002 and 2010. His 4 mile relay won the indoor national championship in 2002, 2010 and the outdoor title in 2010.
However Nick Baker isn't just a coach at Haddonfield. He is an advocate and innovator for the sport he loved. He was the president of the SJTCA for 20 years and the vice president for 14 years. He started the Haddonfield Invitational and has been the director for over 30 years. He is the meet director of the Haddonfield Distance Night. He started' the Haddonfield winter track and middle school programs and started the Colonial Conference Middle School Championship. Nick was the SJTCA spring banquet chairman for 20 years and for a time oversaw the winter track banquet, the South Jersey Open in track and the SJTCA Hall of Fame.
Nick has been named the SJTCA cross country coach of the year 4 times, the SJTCA track coach of the year twice, the New Jersey cross country and track coach of the year twice and the Northeast Regional Coach of the Year in cross country. A member of the NJ State Coaches Hall of fame since 2002, in 2018 he was inducted into the SJTCA Hall of Fame, and in 2019 into the Camden County Sports Hall of Fame
A native of Dublin, Ireland, Coach Baker moved with his family to New York at age five. He graduated from Mt. Vernon (N.Y.) High School, where he was a member of the state champion cross-country team and the Eastern States champion track team. He graduated from Springfield College (Mass.), where he met his wife Maureen. Mrs. Baker was Haddonfield girls track coach for many years; and coached the middle school runners, developing athletes who went to great success in high school. The Bakers retired from education and are devoting their time to coaching. Mr. Baker, in addition to cross country, is one of the coaches of winter and spring track. The Bakers have two children, Courtney and Colin. Courtney has followed in her parents' footsteps and is a teacher in South Jersey and Head Coach in Cross Country and Track at Haddonfield Middle School. Colin, a star runner at Haddonfield and formerly the school's 1600 record holder, graduated from Penn State and the Master's program at Duke, and now works in finance.
David Stewart.
Assistant Coach, Boys Cross country
Biography:
David Stewart
Assistant Coach, Boys Varsity Cross Country
Assistant Coach, GIrls Varsity Winter Track and Field
Assistant Coach, Middle School Track and Field
Dave Stewart has served as a volunteer assistant with the HMHS cross country and track programs since 2015, and as Assistant Cross Country Coach under Nick Baker since 2017.He is USATF certified as a Level 1 track coach and as a cross country specialist, as well as Accredited as an interscholastic coach by the NFHS. He has also coached with both the boys and girls Winter Track teams, and with the HMS Middle School track team.
He previously served for three years as the Head Cross Country and Assistant Track Coach at Johns Hopkins University and as a volunteer assistant at Ferris High School in Jersey City. He is a graduate of Cherry Hill East, where was named Most Valuable Runner, and of Johns Hopkins, where he was a Captain of the Cross Country team, an individual qualifier for Division III Nationals and Middle Atlantic Conference medalist in the 1500.
He has continued to compete in open and masters competition. As a masters competitor he has won age group awards in races such as the Philadelphia Marathon, Broad Street 10-Miler, Bridge Run and the MAUSATF 1500. He has also served as an NJSIAA track official, as President of the South Jersey Athletic Club, as race director of the Pennypacker Park Open cross country meet and as a coach with the SJTFC youth track team.
All three of his children, Veronica, Miranda and Matt, attended HMHS and competed for either Nick or Maureen Baker. Matt, Class of 2014, was a varsity member of the 2013 State Championship team and a State qualifier in the 3200. He went on to run at RPI, where he was a varsity member of two National Championship qualifying teams. Veronica has gone on to complete three marathons while also gaining a PhD in chemistry from Johns Hopkins. Miranda is completing her Masters in Marine Biology at UC Dublin and still participates in running and open water swimming.
Biography:
Co-Head Coach Matt Cieslik has previously led the Paul VI and Cherry Hill East Cross country teams, coaching Cherry Hill East to its first State Group 4 title in 2014. He was a standout runner for Paul VI, and a member of its 1989 State championship team.