Jacob Pettinga

Biography

Jacob Pettinga is in his third year as an assistant coach for the University of Michigan track and field team in the 2025-26 season, primarily working with the men’s distance runners after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for two seasons. Pettinga by the Numbers Empty heading Has helped coached 27 All-Americans between cross country and track and field Help led 12 cross country athletes to All-Region awards Has helped produce eight Big Ten track and field champions AT MICHIGAN In 2025, the men's distance squad captured a pair of medals at the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships, with Trent McFarland taking first in the mile run (4:03.56) and Caleb Jarema finishing second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:42.53). McFarland set the mile run Big Ten Indoor Championships meet record with a 3:59.29 in the preliminary round, breaking the previous record of 4:00.56 set by Kevin Sullivan in 1998, and ran four sub-four-minute miles in the indoor season. McFarland also set the program’s indoor 800-meter run record (1:47.22), while the 4x800m relay team of Camden Law, McFarland, Henry Johnson, and Brendan Herger broke a 39-year-old record and shaved more than three seconds off the previous standard with a time of 7:24.65 to finish second at the Penn Relays. Herger and McFarland represented Michigan distance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, both advancing to the finals in the 1,500-meter run and placing ninth (3:47.88) and 11th (3:47.94), respectively. Herger was the lone f