After 29 years at the helm of the Western Connecticut State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, Ed Farrington has announced he will depart on January 31, 2016.
Since his arrival in 1986, Western’s programs have made 62 NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, led by the women’s basketball’s 12 showings. The softball and women’s soccer programs have each appeared in 11 NCAA Tournaments. On the men’s side, basketball and soccer have appeared in the NCAAs nine and seven times, respectively. In 2002, the softball team advanced to the Division III College World Series in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The women’s soccer team advanced to the Division III Finals in Lake Buena Vista, Florida in 2007.
Farrington has been a member of the Executive Committee for the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors of America (NACDA) and the Little East Conference. In 2013, he was the recipient of the NACDA Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award.
At Western, he has overseen a department that includes approximately 350 student-athletes each year in 14 varsity sports. While at his post, women’s soccer was added in 1994 and women’s swimming and diving during the winter of 1996. In 1998, women’s lacrosse was added to the Colonials’ slate. Western added men’s lacrosse as a varsity program in the spring of 2004. Field hockey was re-established in the fall of 2005 after a 14-year hiatus.
Western’s acceptance into The Little East Conference, in 1993, further enhanced the stature of Western Athletics. The Colonials’ football program most recently became an affiliated member in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference in the fall of 2013. Farrington was the impetus behind Western Connecticut being selected to host the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Final Four for three years from 1999 to 2001.