UNCP Athletics

A 20-year college coaching veteran with stops at both Florida State and Central Florida, Dr. Peter Ormsby was named head coach of the UNC Pembroke cross country and track & field programs in July 2014 and will enter his 12th year at the helm of the programs in 2025-26.
 
Ormsby came to Pembroke from Babson Park, Fla., where he served as head coach of a multitude of programs at Webber International.
 
UNCP’s cross country and track & field programs are in the midst of a golden era with Ormsby at the reins. The men’s cross country team finished among the top two programs in the Peach Belt Conference three times under his watch, including a dominant performance in 2015 that produced UNCP’s first cross country title in 27 years, and the first as a member of the PBC. The women’s program registered its highest finish in 13 years with a third-place showing at the 2015 PBC Championships. The Braves joined Conference Carolinas at the start of the 2021-22 season where both the men's and women's programs brought home runner-up trophies at the conference meet. The 2022 season saw the men's program take home the Conference Carolinas championship, while the women's would take third. 2023 brought more success as the men's program would repeat as conference champions, while the women took home second place. The men's program would make it a Conference Carolinas three-peat during the 2024 season, while the women placed third at the conference championship. 
 
The men’s and women’s cross country teams have combined to rake in 39 all-conference selections over the last five seasons, as well as four PBC Runner of the Year awards, four PBC Freshman of the Year laurels, six Conference Carolinas Runner of the Year recognitions, and three Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year titles. The programs have also collected six all-region honors over that span as well. Silus Kipkoech captured both the PBC and NCAA Southeast Region titles in 2017, while also qualifying for the 2017 NCAA Division II Championships. Joshua Chepkesir claimed both the PBC and NCAA Southeast Region titles in 2018 and 2019, while also qualifying for the NCAA Division II Championships. In 2019, Chepkesir earned All-America status finishing in eighth place. Chepkesir won the Conference Carolinas title in 2021 and earned All-American status with an eighth place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships. The 2024 season saw Kelvin Kibet named Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, while Moureen Kimaiyo won her second-straight Conference Carolinas championship in 2024, also qualifying for the NCAA Division II Championships. 
 
The track & field programs have spun the wheel of success on a handful of occasions as well. The men’s team made four-straight trips to the medal stand at the PBC Championships dating back to 2016, including taking top honors at the Montevallo-hosted event in 2017. That title marked the first conference crown for the Braves in 30 years, and the first as a member of the PBC. The women’s team posted a runner-up finish at the 2017 PBC Championships – its highest finish at a PBC championship in program history.

During the 2020-21 indoor track & field season, the Braves competed in Conference Carolinas where the women's program brought home the conference championship. Dr. Peter Ormsby was named as the women's track coach of the year, and was later honored as the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year. 

The Braves made their first appearance in the Mountain East Conference in during the 2019-20 season where the programs wasted no time making a name for themselves. At the MEC Conference Championship in Huntington, West Virginia, the women's team claimed the first indoor track & field championship in school history while the men's team posted a runner-up finish. Ormsby was named MEC Coach of the Year for the women's program. The Braves brought home a lot of hardware after Erman Jepleting was named Female Track Athlete of the Year. Joshua Chepkesir claimed Male Track Athlete of the Year along with Men's Most Outstanding Performer. Chepkesir also earned a bid to the NCAA Division II National Championship in the 3000-meter run as well as the 5000-meter run. 
 
UNCP’s outdoor track & field student-athletes have collected 94 all-conference nods since joining Conference Carolinas in the 2021-22 season, while also staking claim to 25 event titles at the Conference Carolinas Championships. That span has also produced one All-American, two NCAA qualifiers and 21 all-region honors.

Under Ormsby's tutelage, ten student-athletes have captured a conference track or field athlete of the year recognition, while nine others have brought home freshman track or field athlete of the year honors. Ormsby won PBC Men’s Coach of the Year recognition following both the 2015 and 2018 championships, and was named as the PBC Women's Co-Coach of the Year at the 2021 championships.
 
Ormsby had the reigns of dominant cross country and track & field programs at Webber International from 2008-14. The cross country programs in Babson Park recorded 12 national qualifiers, four conference champions and 11 top-5 finishes at the conference championships under Ormsby’s watch, while the track & field programs boasted 28 conference champions, 124 all-conference laurels and a dozen all-Americans. The women’s track & field program took home the 2008 league crown and finished second at the conference championships in 2014, while the men’s track & field team registered five-straight runner-up finishes at the conference championships from 2009-13.
 
A five-time league coach of the year selection and the 2012 conference coach of the year honoree in men’s cross country, Ormsby also headed up the triathlon programs (men’s and women’s) at WIU.
 
A native of Annapolis, Md., Ormsby spent four seasons on the coaching staff at Florida State as both a volunteer coach (2001-04) and an administrative assistant coach (2004-05). While in Tallahassee, Florida State’s women’s cross country teams combined for four appearances at the NCAA Championships, while the track & field squads reeled off five Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships, as well as captured the 2005 NCAA East Regional title. That 2005 squad would go on to finish in a tie for fourth at the NCAA Championships.
 
His recipe for success would eventually follow him to nearby Orlando where he helped construct a highly competitive program at Central Florida from 2005-07. During his two-year stint with the Knights, UCF’s men’s cross country program turned in a pair of top-15 finishes in NCAA Regional competition, while a trio of student-athletes were decorated with All-Conference USA distinction.
 
A four-year letterwinner in cross country at Elon, Ormsby was a member of two (1994, 1996) South Atlantic Conference (SAC) championship squads and earned all-conference honors as a freshman in 1994. A four-time SAC All-Academic Team selection, he earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll nods eight times and was a six-time member of the SAC Honor Roll.
 
Ormsby earned his bachelor’s degree in sports medicine and psychology from Elon in 1998, and earned his master’s degree in human performance and sports studies from Tennessee in 1999. He would go on to earn his doctorate in educational psychology from Florida State in 2006. He holds USA Track & Field certifications in both coaching (Level I) and endurance coaching (Level II), while also possessing Level I USA Triathlon certifications in both triathlon coaching and triathlon race director.
 
Ormsby and his wife, Tracy, have two children, Ean and Sara. He continues to train and compete in both road races and triathlons, having completed Ironman Wisconsin in 2002 and the Challenge Roth in 2024. Ormsby also coaches a small group of post-collegiate marathoners of various abilities.

Updated: June 2025