Garrett Young has been the Head Cross Country at Kansas Wesleyan since June 2022. He also serves as Associate Head Coach for the KWU Track and Field programs.
In 2024, Young led the Coyotes to another NAIA National Championship appearance after finishing second in the KCAC Championships. KWU was ranked as high as No. 14 during the season and finished 22nd at the NAIA National Championships. The Coyotes opened the 2024 season with a second place finish at the Saint Mary Sunset Showdown and never finished lower than sixth in any regular season meet. The Coyotes also excelled academically with 13 Academic All-KCAC picks and eigth Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
In 2023, Young led the Coyotes to the program's first NAIA National Championship appearance as a team since the 2016 season when Coach Young was a student-athlete at Kansas Wesleyan. The Coyotes finished second at the KCAC Championship where the Coyotes placed five in the Top 20, including three in the Top 10. The Coyotes finished second at the JK Gold to start the season, and won the Carol Swenson Invitational. KWU finished ranked No. 20 in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll. KWU finished 14th place in the NAIA National Championships, the highest finish at the national championship in school history. Damion Jackson became the first NAIA Men's Cross Country All-American with a 37th-place finish at the National Championships. KWU had 10 Academic All-KCAC honorees, and eight earn Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.
In 2022, his first season leading the Coyote harriers, KWU finished second in the KCAC Championships, behind conference champion Saint Mary. The Coyotes placed three in the top 20 in Shane Calvin (7th), Austin Hess (14th) and Jake Cruz (19th). Calvin and Hess qualified for the NAIA National Championships in Tallahassee, Fla., and posted finishes of 193rd (Calvin) and 196th (Hess). The Coyotes also had six KCAC Scholar-Athletes and five Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
Young returned to Kansas Wesleyan after spending the previous three seasons at Southwestern College as the head cross country and assistant track coach, where he led the Moundbuilders to a third-place finish in the 2021 KCAC Cross Country Championships, and also coached the 2021 NAIA Outdoor Track National Runner-Up and 2022 NAIA Indoor Track National Runner-Up in the Men's High Jump, and the men's 4x400m relay team that finished third at the 2022 NAIA Outdoor National Championships. He also coached a pair of NAIA National Qualifiers in cross country, nine track national championship qualifiers, nine KCAC indoor track champions and four KCAC Champions of Character Team Award winners.
Prior to Southwestern, Young spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas Wesleyan, serving as assistant cross country and track and field coach, working primarily with distance runners and jumpers. In his time at KWU he coached 14 All-KCAC performers, including three KCAC Champions and four NAIA qualifiers. He also helped coach three school record breaking performances for the Coyotes.
He also spent time as the corporate sales and marketing assistant for the KWU Athletic Department, leading corporate sales efforts for the department, as well as managing game day operations for the department.
He also spent time as a coach for the Salina Burn Track and Field Club.
Young was an All-KCAC performer and NAIA National Qualifier while competing at Kansas Wesleyan for four seasons for the Coyotes. He finished his collegiate running career as a seven-time All-KCAC Selection, including winning the 1000m at the KCAC Championships and was and a national qualifier in the indoor 4x800m relay.
Young is a 2017 graduate of Kansas Wesleyan with a bachelor degree in Business Management, and continued on to receive his MBA in 2019 also from KWU. He will return Salina and live with his wife Hannah, a local radio personality, and fellow Kansas Wesleyan alum.
