Bernard Lagat has been elevated to full-time UA cross country coach after spending last season in an interim role, the athletic department announced Wednesday.
Lagat will also serve as an assistant coach with the track and field program while he coaches the distance runners, the school said. Lagat had been an interim coach since November, when he, former Catalina Foothills High School coach Doug Keen and former UA head coach Dave Murray were tabbed to replace the retiring James Li and Hanna Peterson, who was not retained. Their departures came on the heels of an athletic department investigation into the team’s culture following complaints from several current and former distance runners.
Lagat, a two-time Olympic medalist and 11-time All-American, was a volunteer assistant coach at the UA for 15 years before his promotion. He said he was "extremely grateful for the opportunity."
“I have lived and trained in Tucson for almost 20 years, and I truly believe this is the best place for a runner to train year-round," he said. "I am excited to pass my experiences to the next generation of Wildcats.”
As recently as March, Lagat told the Star's Greg Hansen that he wanted the job full-time.
“I would, I’d like this to be long term,” he said then. “Funny, if you had told me about this even a year ago — if you asked if I could see myself coaching — I’d be like, ‘Ah, no.’ But that has changed 100%. I would love to continue. The job grows on you. I want to see my relationships with the athletes grow.”
A distance-running legend, Lagat is a six-time American record-holder and an eight-time Wanamaker Mile winner.
Since 2000, Lagat — who turns 46 next month — has competed in five Olympic Games. In the 2004 Olympics, Lagat won a silver medal in the 1,500 meters. He won a bronze medal in the same event in 2000, finished fourth in the 5,000 meters at the 2012 Olympics and fifth in 2016. The Kenyan-born Lagat became a U.S. resident in 1996. He graduated from Washington State, where he ran for Li.
Compiled in part from a news release.
