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BREAKING: Penn State's Ryan & Kara Foster Hired as Auburn's Next Distance Coaches
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jul 8
- 3 min read
Earlier today, The Stride Report confirmed that Penn State's Ryan Foster and Kara Foster (spouses) have been hired as the next distance coaches at Auburn.
The move comes shortly after Leroy Burrell left Auburn to join Texas A&M as the school's next Director of Cross Country and Track & Field last month. Since then, Ken Harnden has been promoted to the Director role at Auburn, thus creating staff turnover.
With their move, the Fosters are expected to replace Aaron Kindt, the program's most recent distance coach.
At Penn State, Ryan Foster oversaw the men's and women's 800-meter groups, as well as the women's 1500-meter runners. Separately, Kara Foster has overseen the the development of the women's 5000-meter and 10,000-meter squads.
During their time in Happy Valley, the Fosters had fantastic success while working under and alongside Coach John Gondak.
While under Ryan Foster, the Nittany Lion men and women not only maintained their (occasionally debated) title as "800U," but further established their dominance in that event.
This past winter, the Penn State men had five athletes run 1:47 or faster at the half-mile distance. Four of those men -- Handal Roban, Allon Clay, Yukichi Ishii and Niko Schultz -- qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in that event, with the former three names earning All-American honors.
On the outdoor oval, the Penn State men produced similar levels of both fast times and middle distance depth -- all without Handal Roban, who redshirted the 2026 outdoor track season. This time, Clay, Ishii and Schultz all qualified for the national meet, with the former and latter names earning All-American honors.
When it comes to the women's middle distance group, Ryan Foster was also responsible for developing superstar ace, Hayley Kitching. The Aussie star ran 1:57.65 over 800 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this past spring, earning a silver medal as well as an NCAA #2 all-time mark. Kitching also produced an excellent result of 4:05 for 1500 meters this past spring.
Other notable middle distance women to come through Penn State's program over the last few years includes Allison Johnson, Boh Ritchie, Tayissa Buchanan, Kileigh Kane, Madaline Ullom, Victoria Vanriele, Rachel Gearing and Victoria Tachinski.
Under Kara Foster, the Nittany Lion's women's long distance group showcased tremendous growth, both on the grass and the track.
The ladies of Penn State advanced to the NCAA XC Championships (as a team) three times under Kara Foster. Last fall, the State College-based women were fantastic, securing 10th place on the national stage one year after taking 15th place.
Individually, Florence Caron thrived over 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. Not only did she run times of 15:25 (5k) and 32:23 (10k), but Caron also earned two top-20 All-American finishes in three appearances at the NCAA XC Championships. The current Hoka pro also qualified the NCAA Indoor & Outdoor Championships multiple times, even earning 8th place All-American honors in 2024 via Penn State's DMR.
Other notable long distance women to come out of Penn State in recent years includes Faith DeMars, Charlotte Costich and Sophia Toti.
Seeing the Fosters venture south leaves plenty of questions in the wake of their decision. Who will Penn State hire to replace the Fosters? And what role(s) will the replacement(s) have with the program?
When it comes to Auburn, what kind of impact will the Tigers see under Ryan and Kara Foster, both immediately and over the long-term? Will the Fosters be given greater recruiting resources for the middle and long distances than the previous coaching regime at Auburn had? And is it fair to wonder if we'll see certain Penn State athletes follow the Fosters to the SEC?
Only time will tell how this coaching shake-up reshapes the futures of both programs.
