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.
2024 ended up being one of the best seasons in women's cross country history for the Coyotes. KWU finished second in the KCAC Championships, with six runners earning All-KCAC honors led by first teamers Josie Koppes and Kierra Jensen with Top 10 finishes. The Coyotes headed into the NAIA National Championships ranked No. 13 in the NAIA Top 25 poll and finished with a program best 14th place finish at the National Championships. Madisyn Ehrlich just missed NAIA All-America status with a 49th place finish. KWU had nine Academic All-KCAC selections and nine Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
In 2023, Young again led the Coyotes to a third place finish at the KCAC Championships as Josie Koppes finished 11th, Madisyn Ehrlich was 12 and Charlee Lind placed 18th. All three student-athletes qualified for the NAIA National Championships, led by a 101st place finish by Ehrlich, improving over her finish by over 150 spots from her freshman appearance in the NAIA National Championships a year ago. KWU also had six Academic All-KCAC selections and five earned Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Ehrlich was also selected as the Mary Virginia Bevan Female Student-Athlete of the Year at the Yotee Awards in May.
In 2022, his first season leading the Coyotes, Young led the women's program to a third place finish at the KCAC Championships. Freshman Madisyn Ehrlich posted a 10th place finish in the KCAC Championships, and qualified for the NAIA National Championships, where she posted a 259th place finish. Five student-athletes were named as KCAC Scholar-Athletes and 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 lives in Salina with his wife Hannah, a local radio personality, and fellow Kansas Wesleyan alum.
