Coaching veteran tabbed to lead cross country

Grand Canyon has hired Shayla Houlihan to lead the cross country program and to serve as track and field assistant coach for distance.

A decorated runner in her own right, Houlihan has gone on to compile an impressive coaching resume that includes several top-10 recruiting classes, appearances at NCAA Championships, conference titles, All-Americans, national team coaching experience and academic success.

"I'm thrilled to have found my home at GCU and am eager to work hard to elevate our distance program to national prominence," Houlihan said. "As we transition from the WAC to the WCC, it will be vital to make the competitive jump in this distance-heavy, national-caliber conference. I want to thank the administration — (sport administrator) Anthony Martinez, (deputy athletic director) Nick Ojea and (athletic director) Jamie Boggs — for entrusting my vision for the future of our program here at GCU."

Working alongside track and field head coach Tom Flood, Houlihan will oversee the distance component of the program including leading the cross country teams and assisting with distance runners for track and field.

"Shayla has produced elite results in every aspect of her career from her time as a student-athlete, to her career as a professional runner, to her results as a head coach producing nationally ranked recruiting classes and championship performances," GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs said. "She is highly respected in the running world as a coach and, more importantly, as a great person who cares for and deeply invests in her student-athletes. We are excited to have her lead our cross country program."

A record-setting runner in college, Houlihan competed for Northern Iowa and Utah. She set Utah's 3,000-meter steeplechase record in 2008 and placed in the top 10 in two events at the Mountain West Championships.

Houlihan's running career continued into the professional ranks where she competed in the steeple. She posted a personal record of 9:51.26 in 2011 which qualified as an Olympic Trials A Standard time. She was ranked seventh in the country in the event by Track & Field News in 2010. Her career culminated with a top-25 finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2012.

While still competing, Houlihan began the early stages of her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Utah (2007-10) and then an assistant coach at Team Run Flagstaff (2010-12).

After the completion of her competitive running career, Houlihan started a seven-year stint at Cal. In that span, she was expeditiously promoted up the ladder from assistant coach to assistant head coach to associate head coach and, ultimately, cross country head coach. In her seven seasons on staff, Cal had top-10 recruiting classes four times by identifying national and international talent.

Leading the Golden Bears cross country teams for two seasons, Houlihan led both the men's and women's teams to appearances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. In 2017, Cal's women's team placed 22nd at the NCAA Championships with two All-American finishes. One of Houlihan's most decorated runners, Bethan Knights, also achieved All-American status in 2016 and 2017 at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. In her first season as head coach, both the men's and women's teams were the most improved academically in Cal's athletic department. The men's team had the department's top GPA in 2016 and 2017.

Houlihan returned to the Grand Canyon State in 2019 to help found Under Armour's Dark Sky Distance, a professional running club in Flagstaff. She served as a co-head coach and recruited national-level talent to join the team. In her two years with Dark Sky Distance, five Olympic-qualifying time standards were achieved by runners.

Returning to the collegiate coaching ranks, Houlihan took the reins of UC Santa Barbara's cross country program in 2021 and led the Gauchos for two seasons. Her impact was felt immediately, leading the men's team to the 2021 Big West Championship and picking up the conference's coach of the year award. In both of her seasons leading the cross country program, UCSB had the Big West's Freshman of the Year on the men's side.

Houlihan also has built a national reputation after serving as the men's national distance coach for USA Track & Field in 2022 as well as holding national positions with the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coach's Association.

Houlihan spent the last year in her home state of Iowa serving on the track and field and cross country staff of the Hawkeyes.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"Shayla is an incredible coach with international and national coaching experience and is more importantly an amazing person. It will be a lot of fun watching her bring GCU Cross Country and our distance program to new heights in both the WAC this year and the WCC in the future. I feel truly blessed to have Shayla leading our distance programs and excited to have her in our GCU Track and Field and Cross Country family."
- Tom Flood, GCU director of track and field

"Shayla Houlihan is an outstanding leader of men and women. She rose from being an unrecruited distance runner at Northern Iowa University to race professionally post college in the US and European circuit for a number of years. She knows how to guide and develop young men and women runners to be outstanding student-athletes."
- Tony Sandoval, former Cal director of track and field

Grand Canyon University Athletics

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

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