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Written by Jonah Billings, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin University of California, Berkeley has hired former Cal Poly assistant coach Brandon Lawrence as the program's next head cross country and distance coach, the school announced on Saturday, July 20th. Lawrence, who spent two years at Cal Poly working under Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, Ryan Vanhoy, also served as an assistant coach at Wake Forest University and a graduate assistant at Fort Hays State University. He will now take over for former head cross country coach Bobby Lockhart, who previously coached Golden Bear distance runners since 2019. During his time as an assistant coach, Lawrence has seen success at nearly every stage of his relatively young career. His brief stint at Fort Hays State (Division Two) in 2021 and 2022 saw the Tigers send two distance athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, one over 10,000 meters and one over 800 meters. In his two years at Wake Forest, Lawrence assisted in developing distance stars such as Zach Facioni, Luke Tewalt and Rocky Hansen. The Demon Deacons also snapped a 28-year ACC cross country title drought in Lawrence’s first season of assisting the program in 2022. The Demon Deacon men proceeded to finish 5th at the NCAA XC Championships. Most recently, Lawrence contributed to two years of Cal Poly cross country dominance in the Big West Conference. Lawrence was also present for the recent success of middle distance Mustang standouts such as Aidan McCarthy, Chris Caudillo, Carson Smith and Tatiana Cornejo on the track. Coach Brandon Lawrence cheering on Cal Poly athletes // Photo via Instagram Lawrence will now take the helm of both the men’s and women’s distance programs at California. The Golden Bears' distance program has had a few individual success stories in recent years, but have struggled to record high finishes at the ACC XC Championships and the since-revamped PAC-12 XC Championships. The California men last qualified for the NCAA XC Championship in 2016. The women's team last advanced in the fall of 2017, per Track & Field News.

Written by Jonah Billings, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin The Stride Report has confirmed that Brent Ewing, the now-former Head Coach at Indian Hills Community College, has officially been hired by Kansas State as an Assistant Coach specializing in the middle distance events. Ewing’s decision to head to Manhattan ends his eight-year tenure of leading Indian Hills CC's cross country and track and field programs. During his time at the helm, Ewing built the Warriors into one of the most consistently competitive programs in the National Junior College Athletic Association, winning the NJCAA D1 men's indoor track and field national title in 2024. Brent Ewing after leading IHCC to team gold at the 2024 NJCAA Indoor Championships // Photo via Instagram Highlighting his coaching resume are 12 NJCAA individual national titles that his athletes have racked up, six of which were in the 800-meter discipline that he will take charge of at Kansas State. Most recently, Ewing was responsible for developing Raynier Galvez, an 800-meter superstar who ran 1:44.14 over that distance this past spring. In doing so, he took down Arkansas' elite 1-2 punch of Tyrice Taylor and Rivaldo Marshall on their home track. It should be noted that both Taylor and Marshall are also former JUCO products who were previously coached by Ewing. Galvez was initially expected to transfer to Penn State at the conclusion of this past academic year. However, the JUCO phenom may be switching his allegiance to Auburn after it was announced that Kara and Ryan Foster have joined the Tigers as the program's next distance coaches. A photo of him donning an Auburn singlet can be seen in Joshua Sharp's commitment post on Instagram. Moving forward, Ewing will have a small collection of solid and young middle distance talents to work with at Kansas State. Tavon Underwood, who also competed on Kansas State’s 4x400-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, headlined the Wildcats’ 800-meter squad last spring with a 1:48.30 clocking at the Stanford Invitational. Jackson Steger and Vance Krudwig also boast 800-meter personal bests under the 1:51 barrier. On the women’s side, now-former freshman Anna Pozdeeva ran a team-best mark of 2:06.52 (800) at the Kansas State Ward Haylett Invitational. Meanwhile, Anna Baum ran 4:30 (1500) at the Oregon Team Invitational, also as a freshman. Kansas State placed 4th on the men’s side and 9th on the women’s side at the highly competitive BIG 12 Outdoor Championships this past spring, receiving very little scoring help from their middle and long distance event groups. Ewing’s hiring may signal a renewed effort to maximize scoring in those areas, both of which are fairly young parts of the Wildcats' roster.

Written by Jonah Billings, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin Yesterday, Ole Miss announced the hiring of Brandon Hazouri as the program's next Associate Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track and Field Coach. Hazouri previously worked as an Assistant Coach at Wake Forest University where he also led recruiting efforts. Hazouri’s hiring comes in the wake of Adam Smith's, the Rebels' former Associate Head Coach, unexpected departure to William & Mary after four years at the helm of Ole Miss' distance programs. "We are excited to welcome Brandon to our staff," Ole Miss Director Connie Price-Smith said in a statement. "He has had great success at each stop during his career in recruiting and coaching top tier student-athletes, and we look forward to the impact he will have on our cross country and distance programs." During his time at Wake Forest, Hazouri worked alongside Director John Hayes to guide one of the NCAA’s premier men's cross country programs. During his tenure with the Demon Deacons, the men's team racked up three top-10 finishes at the NCAA XC Championships. Brandon Hazouri coached a Wake Forest athlete at the Raleigh Relays // Photo via Matt Pedicano Hazouri also developed a strong record of success with middle distance athletes on the track. A few examples include Thomas Vanoppen, the 2022 ACC champion over 1500 meters, as well as 800-meter program record holder, Rynard Swanepoel. In theory, that prior middle distance experience should make Hazouri an ideal fit for Ole Miss. The Rebel men, in particular, have seen immense success with their 800-meter event groups over the last decade. Just this past spring, Max Armstrong (1:46), Chase Rose (1:46) and Carson Turner (1:47) each cracked the 1:48 barrier over the half-mile distance. "It's a tremendous honor to have been given the opportunity to lead this group of young men and women," Hazouri said in the Rebels' press release. "I want to thank Coach Connie Price-Smith for her trust and belief in my ability to help contribute to the overall vision of the Ole Miss track & field team." Brandon Hazouri celebrates with a Wake Forest athlete // Photo via Wake Forest Athletics The Rebels enter the 2026-27 academic year expecting to lose multiple men from their 2025 cross country lineup which qualified for the NCAA XC Championships (where they placed 22nd overall). Those expected departures include Toby Gillen, Evan Thornton-Sherman and Marco Perez, as well as key standouts on the track names such as Aiden Britt, Chase Rose, Carson Turner, etc. The Ole Miss men do, however, return Kidus Misgina, a top cross country talent who has run times of 13:31 (5k) and 28:17 (10k). He has also qualified for multiple NCAA Championships across all three seasons of competition. The Ole Miss women will also be looking for a rebound cross country season after failing to make it to the national meet both last fall and the year before. The Lady Rebels did, however, qualify for the NCAA XC Championships as a team in 2023 and earned their best-ever finish of 10th place on that stage in the fall of 2021.

Production via Wyatt Barnsley On this week’s episode of The Stride Report Podcast, Ben and Garrett react to some of the biggest offseason news yet as Habtom Samuel officially turns pro. The guys discuss what his departure means for New Mexico’s national title hopes and the future of one of the NCAA’s premier distance programs. The guys also break down the finalists for The Bowerman on both the men’s and women’s sides, debating who deserves collegiate track and field’s highest individual honor. They then shift to the transfer portal with Evan Jenkins heading to Oregon before analyzing two major coaching moves: Kara and Ryan Foster leaving Penn State to lead Auburn’s distance program and Ann Dunn taking over as North Carolina’s new women’s distance coach. From pro announcements to coaching changes and transfer news, Ben and Garrett cover it all. Be sure to listen, subscribe and review! (2:33) Habtom Samuel Turns Pro (17:50) Men’s Finalists for The Bowerman (25:49) Women’s Finalists for The Bowerman (34:03) Evan Jenkins Transfers to Oregon (44:27) Auburn Hires Penn State’s Kara & Ryan Foster as Next Distance Coaches (50:17) UNC Hires Ann Dunn as Next Women’s Distance Coach You can listen to that episode (and others) on our PODCASTS page! You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Soundcloud. If you like it, be sure to leave us a rating and a review! Note: If you're having issues loading the episode on the site via mobile, try refreshing the episode page. We will look into this issue for future episodes.

Written by Angelina Napoleon, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin Last week, the University of North Carolina announced that they have hired Ann Dunn as the program's next leader for their women's distance program. Officially, Dunn will join the Tar Heels as a head coach for women's cross country and will hold an assistant coach title for the indoor track and outdoor track seasons. Dunn brings a wide range of athletic and coaching experience to Chapel Hill. Most recently, she served as the head cross country and track and field coach at The Covenant School in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, her distance program found great success, with The Covenant girls winning Virginia cross country state titles in 2022 and 2023 while the boys won state gold in 2024. Individual standouts to come out of The Covenant's distance program include Jon Nathan Lawrence, Sadie Adams, Reese Dalton and Maddie Gardiner. It is important to note that both Dalton and Gardiner will be juniors at UNC this fall when they reunite with their high school coach. The Covenant's Jon Nathan Lawrence celebrates after winning the mile title at the Penn Relays // Photo via Scott Boldt Collegiately, Dunn has also spent time at Oklahoma, Kentucky and California. In addition to her coaching background, Dunn is the owner of Formula, a running and strength-training fitness studio, as well as Formula Track Club. In a press release welcoming Dunn to the program, UNC's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, Chris Miltenberg, expressed his excitement about the hire. “Throughout a national search, I kept coming back to Ann because she is absolutely the perfect person for this role at the perfect time.” In the same press release, Miltenberg further highlighted Dunn's background noting her extensive knowledge surrounding training philosophies. UNC women competing at the 2025 Nuttycombe Invite // Photo via Andrew LeMay As an athlete, Dunn was a multi-time NCAA Championship qualifier for both indoor track and outdoor track. She earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin before earning her master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of Oklahoma. Dunn will now oversee an accomplished North Carolina women's distance program that has placed 11th (2025), 11th (2024), 5th (2022), 14th (2021, fall) and 14th (2021, winter) at the NCAA XC Championships in recent years.