NEWS: Winona State Coach John Hibshman to Retire

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Written by Aimee Mackenzie, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin

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John Hibshman, the head coach of Winona State University’s cross country program, and the assistant coach of the team's track and field program, has announced his retirement.

This past fall, Hibshman coached his women’s cross country squad to team titles at the 2025 NCAA D2 Central Regional XC Championships and the 2025 NSIC XC Championships. The Warriors ended their fall campaign with an 11th place finish at the 2025 NCAA D2 XC Championships.

Hibshman’s five-year tenure at Winona State guided four Warriors women’s teams to the NCAA D2 XC Championships (2022 through 2025). At the 2023 D2 XC Championships, the women’s team produced a 5th place team, just one spot off of the podium. The women’s team also swept the regional and conference titles during the 2023 and 2025 seasons.

However, maybe more importantly, Hibshman played a pivotal role in developing four All-American individual runners including Lindsay Cunningham (nine-time All-American), Kaylee Beyer (nine-time All-American), Sophia Taarud (two-time All-American) and McKenna Taylor (2024 cross country All-American). Cunningham won an outstanding four individual D2 national titles between cross country, the 5000 meters and the 10,000 meters.

In 2021, Hibshman also coached Josh Jarpey to an individual national cross country qualifying spot.

Winona State alum and former D2 star, Kaylee Beyer, reflected on her time being coached by Hibshman...

"Coach Hibshman cared about the person you were becoming just as much as he cared about the success you had as an athlete. He understood the challenges in life and helped me and others face the battles in our running careers or personal lives by believing in us and showing us how we can believe in ourselves. Coach Hibs doesn't give himself enough credit for the talented program he built at Winona State."

There has been no mention by Winona State on who will replace John Hibshman as the team's distance coach moving forward.