Aaron Russell’s name is synonymous with Lock Haven cross country and track and field, particularly in the mid-distance and distance events.
The 2023 fall cross country season will mark Russell’s 22nd season as the head men’s and women’s cross country coach at The Haven.
Without question, Russell has built both the men’s and women’s programs in perennial conference and region powers.
A look back at 2022:
Last season, The Haven women finished third at the PSAC Championships before taking third at the 2022 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championships. By way of the third-place finish at the regional meet, Lock Haven booked a trip to the 2022 NCAA DII National Championships.
For the first time in school history, Lock Haven had four runners earn All-Conference honors at last season's conference championship meet. Three of those four return to the lineup for this season. Gwen Lloyd, Krista Jones and Elaina Klinger all finished among the top-10 last season at the PSAC Championships. That front-running trio will power an all-around deep and talented lineup.
Last season's NCAA championship appearance was just the second in school history for the Lock Haven women's program.
In 2022, The Haven men placed fifth in the team standings at the PSAC Championships. Leading the way was Chris Hine who cracked the top-10 with a ninth-place and All-Conference finish. He's one of many talented Bald Eagle returners. A year ago, the Bald Eagles finished ninth at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championships.
In the fall 2021 season Russell's guidance saw the Bald Eagles earn three All-Region honors between the men's and women's teams. The Bald Eagles also excelled in the classroom as seven individuals notched USTFCCCA All-Academic honors and both team's were named All-Academic squads.
On the men's side, the Bald Eagles ran to a third-place finish at the PSAC Championships behind Gage Krall, John Davern and Kohen Stover's All-PSAC performances. Krall went on to also earn All-Region honors at the Atlantic Region Championships. Davern, Chris Hine, Ethan Rogers and Tanner Walter all picked up USTFCCCA All-Academic honors in the postseason.
For the women, Cadie Kiser's seventh-place finish along with Morgan Perry and Elaina Klinger's All-Conference performances helped propel to a third-place finish at the PSAC Championships. Kiser and Perry went on to All-Region finishes at the Atlantic Region Championships and a strong fifth-place team finish. Notching All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA was Kiser, Perry and Klinger.
Russell is also the assistant coach for the women’s indoor track & field team, and the men’s and women’s outdoor track & field team, working primarily with the mid-distance and distance runners.
A quick look at Russell’s Cross Country coaching career (*Pre 2022)
• 13 NCAA Division II All-Americans
• 117 All-PSAC student-athletes
• 86 All-Region student-athletes
• Seven Atlantic Region Individual Champions
• Nine PSAC Individual Champions
• Three Individual NCAA Qualifiers
• 14 NCAA Team Qualifiers
• Four PSAC Rookies of the Year
• Nine PSAC Athletes of the Year
• Seven Atlantic Region Athletes of the Year
• 32 All-Academic Teams
• 107 All-Academic Individuals
• One PSAC Scholar Athlete of the Year
• Two COSIDA Academic All-District student-athletes
• Six PSAC Top-10 student-athletes
Year-by-Year highlights:
In all, Russell has been named Region Coach of the Year six times (2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013 & 2014) and has won seven PSAC Men’s Coach of the Year honors (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013 & 2014).
In 2021, the men capped another strong season with a third-place finish at the PSAC Championships, marking the seventeenth time the team has accomplished the feat in the last eighteen championship outings. In 2021 (spring) the Haven placed five all-conference finishers in Zack Skrabski, Gage Krall, Tanner Walter, Aaron Pfeil and John Davern.
The Haven Women had another historic spring in 2021. They finished second at the PSAC Championships, matching the best team finish in school history. Steeplechase All-American Laurel Moyer finished runner-up at the championships. She was joined in the top-10 by All-Conference finishers Cadie Kiser and Elaina Klinger to help propel the team to its runner-up status. Following the season, standout Laurel Moyer was named to the PSAC Top-12.
The 2019 season was unique in a myriad of ways.
On the men’s side under the guidance of head coach Aaron Russell, the Bald Eagles ran their way to success early and often as they won the team title at the LHU Invite (Sept 21). They went on to collect runner-up honors at the PSAC Championship as four men ran to All-Conference honors, the most since 2016. At the DII Atlantic Region Championships, junior Aaron Pfeil finished runner up while Luke Vanderhoff and John Davern finished the race with All-Region honors. The team finished fourth in the region, while Pfeil’s finish would propel him to the NCAA Championship race where he would finish top-100.
The women also impressed on the heels of All-Conference runners Laurel Moyer, Cadie Kiser and Karlee Noel. The team finished 6th at the PSAC Championships. At the 2019 Regional Championship Laurel Moyer and Cadie Kiser made history as they finished third and sixth respectively, punching their tickets to the NCAA Championship race. The team finished fifth at the Region Championship.
In 2018, both the men and women continued to run to impressive heights.
The men finished third at the PSAC Championships thanks to a strong front-running pack. LHU saw three men run to All-Conference honors and Aaron Pfeil also grabbed All-Region status.
On the women’s side, the Bald Eagles had a special season. LHU finished fifth at the PSAC Championships behind three All-Conference performers. Last season's ('18) conference meet marked the first time in history where Lock Haven crowned three All-Conference runners on the women's side. Laurel Moyer, Cadie Kiser and Amanda Shultz all ran to All-Conference honors by way of their top-30 finishes. As a team, the Bald Eagles finished fifth out of 17 teams and LHU was just two points behind fourth-place Seton Hill last fall. Moyer was fourth overall with a time of 24:08 (6K). Her fourth-place finish marked the best showing from a Bald Eagle since Shala Simms placed sixth in 2005. No LHU woman runner had placed fourth at the PSAC Championships since 1988.
Highlighting the 2017-18 academic year was the LHU men’s and women’s cross country teams being named the recipient of the 2017 PSAC Sportsmanship Award.
The women’s team received an USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award and six members of the team took home individual academic honors. The men’s team also took home Team Academic honors and four Bald Eagles earned individual accolades.
On the course, the women were eighth at the PSAC championships and sixth at the regional championships. The women saw two runners finish as All-Conference and All-Region athletes. The men finished fourth at PSAC’s and fifth at the Atlantic Region championships. In all, three men were All-Conference and three were All-Region.
The 2016 season saw both the men’s and women’s teams achieve success.
The men’s program finished second at both the PSAC championships and the Atlantic Regional championship. Addison Monroe was the individual champion at both meets. The Haven placed seven runners on the PSAC All-Conference team, while four earned Atlantic All-Region honors for their performances. The Haven men finished their year at the NCAA Division II National Championships where Addison Monroe capped off his phenomenal season by placing 32nd, which earned him All-American status and led the team to a 23rd place finish.
The women’s team was led by the freshmen duo of Amanda Shultz and Caroline Stickley as both earned All-Conference honors and helped lead the team to a fourth place finish at the PSAC Championships. This marked the second time in program history that two runners earned All-Conference honors. The team was ranked in the regional polls for a majority of the season climbing to as high as the No. 4 spot. At the Atlantic Regional championship the team finished tied for fifth place and Amanda Shultz earned All-Region honors, as she finished in 14th.
The 2015 season saw the men’s program win the PSAC title making it three years in a row. Seven runners earned All-Conference honors including the individual champion Dylan Mountain. The Haven then placed second in the Atlantic Region championship, also placing seven runners on the Atlantic All-Region team.
The men’s team capped off their year by placing 11th at the 2015 NCAA Division II National Championships where Dylan Mountain earned another All-American status.
The women’s program lead by a young group was again ranked regionally throughout the season. The Bald Eagles finished ninth at the PSAC championship, and then used that momentum to finish eighth at the regional championship, where Alexis Arnold earned All-Region honors.
Following another banner year for the LHU men’s cross country team, Russell was named the 2014 Men’s Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and the 2014 PSAC Men’s Coach of the Year.
At the 2014 regional championships, the Bald Eagles dominated the field on the way to the title. All seven of Lock Haven's runners earned individual All-Region status, as the Bald Eagles dismantled the talented field. LHU put three guys in the top-10 and beat second-place Shippensburg by 27 points. The Bald Eagles rolled to the PSAC title. It was Lock Haven's second straight. LHU put four guys in the top-10 and a total of eight Bald Eagles earned individual All-Conference honors. The LHU men finished 12th at the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championships with Dylan Mountain earning All-American status.
The Haven women also made some noise during the 2014 season, finishing LHU fourth at both the PSAC and NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championships.
In 2013, the LHU men’s team continued to climb the ladder on the national stage. The Bald Eagles won the 2013 PSAC title, their first since 2009 and sixth overall. The Haven men went on to win the Atlantic Region title and finished 12th at the NCAA Championships. Leading the way in 2013 was Alex Monroe, who was third at the NCAA Championships and became the first four-time All-American in LHU history. This came after he claimed his third straight Region Athlete of the Year honor. Monroe’s 2013 Region Athlete of the Year award marked four in a row for the Bald Eagles, as Nathan Zondlo was named Region Athlete of the Year in 2009. Monroe won three straight PSAC and Region Individual titles (2013, ’12 & ’11).
In 2013, the LHU women were 14th at the PSAC Championships and moved up one spot to 13th at the 2014 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championships.
Since becoming the head coach of the men’s cross & women’s country teams in 2002, Russell has taken The Haven to uncharted territory. On the men’s side, LHU has finished in the top-three of the PSAC 13 times and the LHU men have claimed eight conference titles.
From 2010-12, Russell took the men’s cross country team to three straight NCAA appearances. In each of those years, the team finished top-three in the PSAC and top-two in the region, winning it all in 2010. Also in 2010, Russell guided the Bald Eagles to their third-best finish in at NCAA championships as LHU finished 11th. 2012 ended with six All-PSAC and All-Region student-athletes. Russell earned Atlantic Region Coach of the Year honors in 2010.
In 2011, Russell led the women’s cross country team to their first ever NCAA post-season appearance. After finishing third in the PSAC meet and second in the Atlantic Regional, the Lady Eagles went on to end their season by finishing in 20th place at the NCAA championships. Five Lady Eagles were awarded with All-PSAC honors and three were named All-Region student-athletes, the highest in Russell’s tenure.
For the first time in school history, the LHU women achieved a national-ranking in 2011.
2003 marked just his second year at helm of the program, but it started a streak of four straight PSAC titles (2003-06) for Russell and the men’s team. During that same stretch, the Bald Eagles won three Atlantic Region championships while finishing 16th, ninth, 10th and 11th at the NCAA championships. Russell won PSAC Coach of the Year in each of those four years and won Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2006 while coaching four runners to All-American status. The ninth-place finish at NCAA’s in 2004 was the highest in LHU men’s cross country history.
Before his time at LHU, Russell served as an assistant at Eastern Kentucky University, where he helped coach three cross country teams to Ohio Valley Conference titles, seven OVC Athletes of the Year, three All-Americans and numerous Academic All-Americans.
Russell received his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and mass communication from Lock Haven University in 1996. He earned his Master of Science degree in sport administration from Eastern Kentucky University in 1998.
While at The Haven as a student-athlete on the cross country and track & field teams, Russell was a two-year captain, a multiple PSAC Scholar-Athlete honoree and an ECAC qualifier in track & field.
*Updated: August 2023
