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  Margie Foster-Cunningham

Margie Foster-Cunningham

Player Profile

Hometown:
Gloversville, NY

Last College:
Alma Mater: Penn St. '82

Position:
Head Coach

Experience:
24th year at GW

E-mail:
mfcgym@aol.com

Two-time NCAA Southern Region Coach of the Year (1991 & 1992)
Four-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (1988, 1998, 1999 & 2001)
10 NCAA Regional Appearances


Margie Foster-Cunningham begins her 24th year at the helm of The George Washington University Gymnastics program. As the longest tenured head coach at GW, Foster-Cunningham leads the Colonials into their fifth season as a member of the competitive East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) in 2009.

In the Colonials' four seasons in the EAGL, Foster-Cunningham has helped seven gymnasts receive 12 All-Conference honors. Four of those gymnasts went on to qualify for NCAA Regional competition. Additionally, 19 of her gymnasts in those four seasons have combined for 34 Academic All-EAGL certificates.

Prior to joining the EAGL, Foster-Cunningham experienced tremendous success with the Colonials in the Atlantic 10 Conference as she led GW to five consecutive league titles in the final five years of the A-10, and was voted Coach of the Year four times for her accomplishments. She also had the privilege to coach three A-10 Most Outstanding Performers and three Most Outstanding Rookie Performers.

After graduating from Penn State in 1982, Foster-Cunningham remained in University Park to work toward her master's degree in health and physical education at the Motor Learning/Motor Control Sports Research Institute. The A-10 Coach of the Year in 1988, 1998, 1999 and 2001, Foster-Cunningham's impact has been felt most in the Colonials' record book, having coached every gymnast in GW's Top 10 for each event.

As an athlete, Foster-Cunningham was a five-time All-America at Penn State and led the Nittany Lions to a national championship in 1980. That year she was a finalist for the prestigious Broderick Award, given to the most outstanding collegiate gymnast.

The Gloversville, NY, native represented the United States at the 1979 World University Games and helped the U.S. place third, its highest finish in the history of the Games at the time.

The former Nittany Lion just completed a two-year team as the NCAA Southeast Regional Chair and was recently elected the Vice President of the National Coaches Association.

Foster-Cunningham is one of five members in the NCAA Ethics Committee for Gymnastics and is also in her second year of serving as the vice president of the National Coaches Association. She is in her third year of a four-year term on the Ethics committee.

A former board member on the NACGC for eight years, Foster-Cunningham also owns the Chantilly Academy of Gymnastics in Northern Virginia. She resides in Ashburn, VA, with her husband Jerry, and their three children: Jeremiah, Jessie and Connor. Jeremiah is a junior currently playing Division I Ice Hockey at St. Lawrence University. Jessie is a sophomore on the East Carolina Women's Soccer Team and Connor is a high school junior at the Salisbury School in Connecticut where he plays varsity ice hockey.

Foster-Cunningham's Year-By-Year Record
(as a Head Coach)

YearSchoolW-L-TConference FinishNotes
1986 GW11-18 6th*
1987 GW15-20 6th*
1988 GW19-21 6th*
1989 GW18-19 5th*
1990 GW18-23 6th*
1991 GW27-11 T-3rd*NCAA Regionals / Southern Region Coach of the Year
1992 GW27-6 2nd*NCAA Southern Region Coach of the Year
1993 GW26-10 2nd*NCAA Regionals
1994 GW30-15 2nd*NCAA Regionals
1995 GW26-18 2nd*NCAA Regionals
1996 GW27-8 2nd*NCAA Regionals
1997 GW17-14 2nd*NCAA Regionals
1998 GW20-18 1st*NCAA Regionals
1999 GW14-16 1st*
2000 GW21-11 1st*NCAA Regionals
2001 GW22-12 1st*NCAA Regionals
2002 GW19-14 1st*NCAA Regionals
2003 GW14-11 --
2004 GW16-8 --
2005 GW17-17 5th^
2006 GW12-22 6th^
2007 GW15-24 5th^
2008 GW13-18 6th^
TOTALS 23 Seasons 444-354 .556

* Atlantic 10 Conference Finish
^ EAGL Conference Finish
GW was Independent from 2003-04