NEWS: Arizona Hires New Coaching Staff, Andrew Dubs Lands Head Coaching Role While Jay Koloseus Will Oversee Distance Events

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Earlier this month, the University of Arizona announced that they have hired Andrew Dubs as the program's next Head Coach of Track & Field and Cross Country. The former Associate Head Coach for Virginia Tech previously spent seven years with the Hokies where he oversaw the team's throws events.

Earlier today, Arizona also announced the support staff who will be working under Dubs. Jay Koloseus, the former distance coach at Drake University since 2017, has been hired to oversee the distance events for the Wildcats moving forward.

The coaching staff revamp in Tucson, Arizona comes after Coach Fred Harvey opted to retire after 38 years at the university. Bernard Lagat, one of the greatest distance runners in American history and the Wildcats' former distance coach, has also departed as a result of the recent coaching change.

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While in Blacksburg, the Virginia Tech men and women found tremendous success in the throws events. In the winter of 2023, Dubs' athletes posted, "one of the highest point productions by a throws group in ACC history," per Virginia Tech Athletics. Multiple All-American throwers have come out of Virginia Tech by developing under Dubs.

Jay Koloseus, meanwhile, allowed the Drake men and women to find respectable success in the distance events despite the limited resources the Bulldogs had compared to larger, more established programs.

During his time at Drake, Koloseus was responsible for developing Isaac Basten. The multi-time All-American over the 1500 meters and the mile evolved into one of the most elite tacticians in the NCAA throughout his time at the collegiate level. Basten currently holds school records for Drake over 800 meters (indoor and outdoor), 1500 meters and the mile. Basten has since turned pro and currently competes for Boston Athletic Association, an Adidas-backed pro group.

Adam Fogg was another strong tactician at the mile distance who also earned the school record for Drake over 3000 meters. The British miler posted a handful of outstanding times, was an All-American in the winter of 2021 and has since gone pro with Under Armour. During his time as a pro, Fogg has run a head-turning indoor mile time of 3:49.

Brooke Mullins was another key individual. The former Drake runner, who recently wrapped up her eligibility with Florida State as a graduate transfer, set a school record with the Bulldogs in the 3000-meter steeplechase after running a time of 10:08 over the barriers and water pits. She also qualified for the NCAA XC Championships as an individual in the fall of 2023.

Koloseus also led the Drake men to a pair of team titles at the Missouri Valley Conference XC Championships.

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According to one source familiar with the new coaching hires, Head Coach Andrew Dubs is expected to, "try and replicate the [Virginia Tech] model," at Arizona. On paper, that means the Wildcats will aim to have a well-rounded track and field program centered around multiple stars in the field events, scattered individual standouts in the sprint events and consistently elite middle distance runners.

And given the success that Jay Koloseus had with All-American milers such as Isaac Basten and Adam Fogg, that middle distance focus seems doable, albeit, incredibly challenging.

Admittedly, the Arizona men and women have not been major factors at the conference or national levels in the distance events for the last two decades. The last time the Wildcat men qualified for the NCAA XC Championships was in 2006. The women have not qualified for the cross country national meet since 2013.

Arizona's overall track and field success has also been limited. In the Wildcats' first year in the BIG 12 (2025), the men and women from Tucson failed to finish higher than 7th place in the team standings at either conference meet on the track.