Jeremy Winzer begins tenure as Pride cross country head coach

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Clarke University Athletics and Director of Athletics Curt Long are excited to announce the hiring of Jeremy Winzer as the latest head coach of the Pride cross country program.

Winzer comes to CU from fellow NAIA institution Park University Gilbert in Gilbert, Ariz. where he led the cross country and track and field programs during the 2022 fall semester. During the 2022 cross country season, the Buccaneer women's team finished third at the Cal Pac Conference Championships with the men placing fifth.

"Jeremy comes to Clarke with a fine background in cross country and track," Long said. "We are looking forward to seeing his influence on both programs going forward."

Along with the cross country responsibilities, Winzer will also coach and train the track and field distance runners as an assistant coach for the Director of Track and Field/Cross Country and Track and Field Head Coach Bradley Johnson.

"Coach Winzer is exactly what the XC/T&F program needs to continue it's progress toward the top of the conference," Johnson said. "His expertise and work ethic are going to help fill a huge hole that our team currently has on the men's and women's teams. On top of that he is extremely personable and is great with connecting with the athletes. Can't wait to see what kind of impact he makes on the team in the upcoming years."

Prior to his time at Park-Gilbert, Winzer was an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator and athletic academic advisor at Division I Mississippi Valley State in Itta Bena, Miss., where he recruited the athletes who won the 2017 SWAC cross country title and finished runner up in 2016. The 2017 team also finished second in the 2017 SWAC Indoor Championships. At Mississippi Valley State, he formulated the programs recruiting standards as well as advised student-athletes on academic policies and procedures. He also designed and conducted academic success workshops.

Prior to his time at MVS, he was the head cross country coach and assistant track coach in charge of recruiting at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo. He was in charge of designing programming and practice plans for the distance program and led the cross-country program to its best finish in school history at the conference championships and had a NAIA national qualifier in the 800 meters.

He also helmed successful high school programs, as he was the head coach at Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kan., where he led the boys track program to its first state championship appearance in eight years and his team finished fifth in the state. He had all-state runners in the 400 and 800 meters as well as the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 meter relay races. The latter race he had all-state members on both the boys' and girls' side.

In his first high school job at Northwood High School in Shreveport, La., he restarted the cross-country program and immediately turned it into a top-5 program in the state and had a runner win the state cross country championship. He won two 4A district championships, a 4A regional championship and had five athletes who went on to Division I programs. He also had two all-state hurdlers and the girls' runner up in the 800 meters at the state championship.

Winzer graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 2014 with a BS in General Studies with a concentration in English and Journalism. He is currently working on his Masters in Exercise Science and Health Promotion from California University at Pennsylvania.