The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Men's Cross Country

Updated: December 2025 Tennessee Director of Track & Field Duane Ross announced the hiring of Justin Duncan as the program’s head coach of men’s and women’s cross country on August 3, 2024. Duncan also oversees the development of Tennessee’s distance runners during the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. Through his first two seasons leading the Tennessee cross country programs, Duncan has guided the Lady Vols to back-to-back appearances at the NCAA Championships and coached two individual men’s national qualifiers. Across men’s and women’s cross country, his athletes have combined for six All-SEC honors, 11 All-Region performances and one All-America certificate. The 2025 cross country season marked continued postseason success and growth for both programs. The Lady Vols placed seventh at the SEC Championships and finished runner-up at the NCAA South Region Championships, earning their third consecutive NCAA Championships berth. Freshman Mary Nyaboke Ogwoka jumpstarted the postseason run with All-SEC and All-Region honors before finishing 24th at nationals to become Tennessee’s first cross country All-American since 2015, while three additional Lady Vols earned All-Region recognition. That same season, the men’s team finished ninth at the SEC Championships and fourth at the NCAA South Region Championships. Zouhair Redouane and Ty Steorts earned All-Region honors, with Redouane advancing individually to the NCAA Championships where he placed 78th overall. Duncan’s first

Updated: December 2025 Amy Rudolph joined the Tennessee cross country and track & field staff in August 2024 as an assistant coach for UT's distance runners ...

Assistant Director of Olympic Sports Performance Barry Cain has worked to enhance the performance of Tennessee student-athletes for more than a decade. He currently oversees training efforts for UT's track & field/cross country program. He also previously worked closely with the Lady Vols' volleyball program. Cain worked for the Vols as a student-assistant from 1998-2001 and again as both an intern and full-time performance coach from 2003-07. He earned a B.S. in physics from Clemson in 1993 then collected both undergraduate (Exercise Science) and master's (Human Performance and Sport Studies) degrees from Tennessee in 2002.

Updated: December 2025 Brian Biekert serves as an assistant coach for Tennessee men’s and women’s cross country and works with the Vols’ and Lady Vols’ distance runners during the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. He enters his second year with the program in 2025-26. In his time on Rocky Top, Biekert has helped guide the Lady Vols to back-to-back appearances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships while assisting in the development of two individual men’s national qualifiers. Tennessee distance athletes under his guidance have combined for six All-SEC honors, 11 All-Region performances and one All-America certificate. The 2025 cross country season marked continued postseason success for both programs. The Lady Vols finished seventh at the SEC Championships and runner-up at the NCAA South Region to earn their third consecutive NCAA Championships berth, highlighted by freshman Mary Nyaboke Ogwoka’s All-SEC and All-Region honors and a 24th-place finish at nationals to become Tennessee’s first cross country All-American since 2015. On the men’s side, Tennessee placed ninth at SECs and fourth at regionals, with Zouhair Redouane and Ty Steorts earning All-Region honors and Redouane advancing individually to the NCAA Championships. Biekert has also played a role in Tennessee’s success on the track. Graduate student Zach Jaeger earned bronze in the steeplechase at the SEC Outdoor Championships, while the Vols and Lady Vols recorded 11 UT all-time top-10 performances during t

Taylor Whitter joined the University of Tennessee Sports Medicine Staff in July 2024 and serves as an Athletic Trainer for M/W Cross Country and M/W Track & ...