New Mexico State University

Head coach Rick Pratt enters his 18th season at the helm of the Aggie swimming and diving program. Pratt first came to NM State in 2005, which was also the first season for the program in the Western Athletic Conference. In his career at NM State, Pratt has coached the program only two NCAA qualifiers in 2009 and 2012. In his tenure, his teams have set or broken 67 school records, and have claimed 20 individual WAC Championship titles. Pratt has garnered his share of personal accolades as well, earning WAC Coach of the Year in 2009, 2010, 2017 and 2019. Pratt’s teams have been just as successful in the classroom as they are in the pool. Since he became head coach, the program has not posted a team GPA below 3.2 and is frequently in the top-10 in the nation in GPA. Pratt came to NM State after two seasons as an assistant coach at UNLV where he specialized in coaching the breaststroke/IM group and recruiting coordinator. In 2004-05, Pratt helped coach both the men’s and women’s squads to Mountain West Conference titles, the first for each in school history. Prior to his stint as an assistant with the Rebels, Pratt was an assistant coach at Rutgers where he worked with the middle distance and distance swimmers for the Scarlet Knights. He worked with swimmers who lowered 22 school records during the 2002-03 season. Pratt began his coaching career at his alma mater, Alabama, as a volunteer assistant working with the middle distance and sprint groups. One of the swimmers he worked with, Anne Poleska went on to win the silver medal in the 200 breast at the 2005 NCAA Championships and the 2005 World Championships while also taking the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Pratt also spent two seasons as head coach of the Crimson Tide Aquatics club team. As a competitor, Pratt was a two-year letterwinner and captain of the Alabama swim team until graduating in 2001. While swimming with the Crimson Tide, Pratt was the recipient of the Marshall Shoemaker Award for efforts in practice. He also participated in the 1996 Canadian Olympic Trials. Pratt, a native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and his wife, Melissa, have two children, Jacob (14) and Olivia (12).

The 16-year coaching veteran starts his first season with the Aggies after spending the past nine seasons as the Head Diving Coach and Assistant Coach at George Mason where he was a three-time Atlantic-10 Diving Coach of the Year. At George Mason, he also played a part in developing four conference champions and an NCAA qualifier. "We are extremely excited to welcome Coach Zachary Hawley as our new Diving Coach," Head Coach Rick Pratt said. "We were looking for a coach with the knowledge and experience to help take our diving program to the next level, and we found a great one in coach Hawley. His process for developing divers is remarkable and he has the experience to lead our diving squad and compete at the highest level." With George Mason, Hawley also coached three A-10 Diver of the Year award recipients and has led 13 individuals to Division I NCAA Zone Qualifiers, including five DI NCAA Zone Springboard Finalists and four DI NCAA Zone Platform Finalists. Hawley made quite a name for himself while in Fairfax, Virginia, as he also was the owner and CEO of the Mason Dive Academy which provides a dive program for athletes of all ages and skill levels. Coach Hawley made it his mission to build and develop strong, successful and confident young individuals in the sport of diving with the ultimate goal of getting these values to carry over to other facets of life. Prior to his tenure at George Mason, Hawley spent two years with South Dakota State University as a graduate assistant where he played a vital role in SDSU's transition into a Division I program. While at South Dakota State, his athletes broke all the program's diving records and Hawley helped guide the Jackrabbits to their first NCAA Zone Qualifiers in school history. From 2010-2012, Hawley traveled across the nation during the summer to spend time with some of the top coaches in the nation. These trips included spending time working at several collegiate camps including camps at The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Indiana and The University of Missouri. He also performed in High Dive shows, where his responsibilities included lighting himself on fire and diving from 70 feet into 10 feet of water. "I am very excited for the opportunity to join coach Pratt and the rest of the athletic department at NM State," Hawley explained. "Coach Pratt has an excellent reputation for being supportive of swimming and diving and working together as a cohesive unit. I greatly enjoyed my conversations with the administration, academic services, and athletic training. "It feels like the athletic department is very welcoming and is looking out for the needs of their athletes. There is a fantastic support system in place to help them reach their goals not just athletically, but to help them succeed in their academic endeavors."