Bio

Matthew Hird begins his 13th season as women's track & field coach at Salve Regina University. Hird has guided the Seahawks to back-to-back Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Invitational Championships in 2016 and 2017. During Hird's tenure, two thirds of the team records have been broken.

Hird, who currently serves as the secretary/treasurer for the New England Women's Division III Cross Country and Track & Field Association, arrived in Newport after serving as head coach of the women's cross country and track and field programs at Rhode Island College. While at RIC, 11 of Hird's student- athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships, and two of his student-athletes were All-America selections, including Annmarie Gower Marino, who was the first female All-America selection in RIC history. The Anchorwomen also earned 30 Division III All-ECAC titles, including three championships.

Against Division I, II, and III competition, Hird's student-athletes have earned seven All-New England awards and one champion (hammer throw), while 18 received Division III All-New England honors – two of which won championships. His teams won two Little East Conference champions, and 22 student-athletes captured outdoor track & field championships.

A 1973 graduate of Colby College with a degree in history, Hird was a member of the cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field teams at Colby. He went on to earn his master's degree in teaching from Brown University, and later began his coaching career at Toll Gate High School, where he coached several all-state athletes. Hird was recently inducted into the RI High School Coaches Hall of Fame.

Hird resides in Warwick and is also the athletic department equipment manager at Salve Regina. His twin brother, Jon, is an assistant track & field coach at UMass Dartmouth.