NASHVILLE, Tenn. –The Trevecca Nazarene University Cross Country teams will have a new coach when their seasons starts in September. Brad Peterson was named the new leader for the Trojans by Director of Athletics Mark Elliott.
"I am really excited to work with Brad, because if you look at his past history, he has a record of improving not just the competitive level of his runners, but also the entire culture of his cross country and track programs," Elliott said.
Elliott sees Peterson as the answer now and for building the program in the future. "He is a solid recruiter and is technically very strong. I also like the fact that his father is a Hall of Fame Track coach in Indiana. Another important aspect of Brad's hiring is his experience with Track and Field. He could play a vital role in the future development of Trevecca's potential Track program."
Video: Why Trevecca with Brad Peterson
Video: One on One with Brad Peterson
Peterson comes to Trevecca having spent the previous four years at Friends University, an NAIA school in Wichita, Kansas.
During his time at Friends, Peterson took the cross country and track and field programs with no past success and made them both nationally ranked. Last season, his cross country teams won their conference championships to qualify for nationals for the first time in school history. The men's conference title ended a 31-year conference championship streak by Southwestern College. At nationals Peterson's teams combined to finish third.
Peterson's track and field accolades are impressive too. In 2012, his men's and women's indoor track and field teams won the indoor conference for the first time in school history. Also in 2012 outdoor track, both men's and women's teams won the conference title. This was the first time in school history that the men won outdoor conference and it broke the 29-year title streak of Southwestern. For the women, it was their third consecutive title.
Prior to Friends, Peterson coached at Indiana Tech University in Fort Wayne. After starting the program from scratch, in just its first season, Peterson led both cross country teams to the national championships. By the second season, both teams were ranked in the top five nationally.
One of Peterson's prized runners was Alissa McKaig. Under Peterson's direction, she won national titles in cross country and track and field. To date, McKaig runs professionally for Zap Fitness and also was a top-10 finisher in the Olympic trials.
In six years of college coaching, Peterson has coached more than 30 individual conference championships, 15 track and field All-Americans and four individual national champions. For cross country, he has coached six All-Americans and one individual national champion.
Peterson's teams at Friends and Indiana Tech had several impressive seasons. In 2007 while at Indiana Tech, his women's cross country team finished ninth while the men finished 20th, nationally. In '08 both teams finished in the top as the men were fifth and women seventh. At Friends in 2011, his women finished fifth while the men finished 16th.
Peterson began his coaching career at stops for Ft. Wayne Northrop High School and Ft. Wayne Concordia High School.
While at Northrop, he coached five different state champions in the one-class Indiana system. At Concordia, Peterson coached nine different state champions over the course of six years.
In 10 combined seasons at these schools Peterson had five men's cross country team conference titles, nine women's titles in 10 seasons, four track and field titles for both men and women. He also coached five individual national champions.