The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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John Hayes recently completed his fifth season with the Texas men's track and field and cross country teams, focusing on the distance and middle distance events. He also served as the head coach for Longhorn women's cross country and assistant coach for the women's track and field team from 2001-04.
Over the last eight years, Hayes has coached his athletes to seven NCAA titles and 23 All-America honors in every event from 800 meters through cross country. While at Texas, Hayes' athletes have set six school records and , earned 87 All-Big 12 honors. In addition, the cross country team has and improved upon itstheir team finish at in cross country both at conference and nationals four years in a row.
The Longhorns are coming off a ninth-place showing at the 2012 NCAA Cross Country Championships, led by Ryan Dohner's 19th-place effort which earned him All-America honors. Texas automatically qualified for the NCAAs by winning the South Central Region Championships, and Hayes was named USTFCCCA Region Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. The Horns finished second at the 2012 Big 12 Championships, behind only eventual national champion Oklahoma State. This matched the Horns' best showing at the Big 12 meet in school history. Four of the seven Longhorns who competed earned all-league honors at the Big 12 Championships, while six earned all-region accolades.
During the 2013 track season, Hayes' athletes tallied 27 All-Big 12 honors to help UT claim Big 12 Championship team titles both indoors and outdoors. Notably, senior Joe Stilin set school records in the indoor mile and 3,000 meters, while senior Trevor Van Ackeren claimed the 3,000- meter steeplechase title. Nine athletes qualified for the first round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and sophomore Craig Lutz went on to finish third in the 10,000 meters, his second All-America honor.
In 2011, Texas placed 11th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, won the South Central Regional (UT's first region title), and took third at the Big 12 Championships. For his efforts, Hayes received his first USTFCCCA Region Coach of the Year award as an assistant on the men's side. He guided Lutz, then a freshman, to All-America honors with a 33rd-place finish at the national meet, which was the highest finish by a true freshman across all teams that year (the second year in a row for UT). Six runners were chosen to the all-region team and two finished in the top 15 of the Big 12 Championships for all-league honors.
During the 2012 indoor and outdoor seasons, Hayes guided seven of his athletes to 14 All-Big 12 honors, helping the Longhorns to two second-place team finishes. Leading the UT distance squad, Dohner finished fourth in the 10,000 meters and seventh in the 5,000 outdoors after claiming sixth in the 5,000 and seventh in the 3,000 indoors. Freshman Kyle Thompson also shined at the conference meet, finishing third indoors and fifth outdoors in the 800 meters. Nine athletes qualified for the NCAA West Region Outdoor Championships, and Dohner went on to finish seventh in the 10,000 at the national meet, becoming the first Longhorn to earn All-America honors in the event since 1993 and helping UT to a ninth-place team finish at nationals.
In 2010, Hayes guided the cross country squad to a second-place showing at the South Central Regional and earned another automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, finishing 26th overall. Five runners earned all-region honors, and Dohner was UT's top finisher and the highest-placing true freshman across all teams at the national meet. During the 2011 indoor and outdoor track seasons, Hayes guided his athletes to 13 All-Big 12 honors. Patrick McGregor paced the group, with a school record and first-place finish in the 1,000 meters and second place showings in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500 meters.
Hayes' early success continued in his second year back with the Longhorns, as the cross country squad was one of only 31 teams to earn a berth to the 2009 NCAA Championships. In the 2010 indoor season, the Longhorns were propelled at the Big 12 meet by scoring efforts in the 1,000 meters by two-time champion Patrick Todd and Logan Gonzales. In addition, the distance medley relay team of Gonzales, Danzell Fortson, Tevas Everett and Todd finished eighth overall at the NCAA Championships, earning All-America honors for the second-consecutive year.
In his first season back with the Longhorns, Hayes enjoyed instant success. He guided Jacob Hernandez to the 2009 national title in the indoor 800 meters and Tevan Everett to a sixth-place finish in the event, which helped the Longhorns finish 10th at NCAAs. Hayes also led three middle distance runners to Big 12 Indoor titles (Tevan Everett, 600 yards; Jacob Hernandez, 800 meters; Patrick Todd, 1,000 meters). He coached the Big 12 Champion distance medley relay of Hernandez, Everett, Fortson and Jake Morse, which went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. At the Big 12 Indoor Championships, Hayes' athletes tallied 73 points to help lead the Longhorns to a team title.
In the 2009 outdoor season, Hayes helped Tevan Everett (800 meters) and Morse (steeplechase) to outdoor conference titles. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Hayes coached Tevan Everett to a second-place finish in the 800 meters and helped Morse finish fourth in the steeplechase. Overall in 2009, Hayes' athletes won one national title and nine individual Big 12 titles. They also garnered seven All-America and 21 All-Big 12 honors.
In addition to his work at UT, Hayes mentored Lopez Lomong, whom he coached while at Northern Arizona University, to two U.S. national titles and an eighth-place finish in the 1,500 meters at the 2009 World Championships. Lomong also served as the U.S. flag bearer during the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremonies before reaching the Olympic semifinals in his first international competition.
In his lone season as head cross country and assistant track and field coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy (2007-08), Hayes guided the men's cross country team to a third-place finish at the Mountain West Championships. He also coached Matt Williams to an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships, the Falcons' first appearance at the national meet in four years. His runners accounted for two selections to the all-region team and four all-conference accolades. During the track and field seasons, Hayes helped produce four conference champions, 16 all-time Top 10 performances and six regional qualifiers.
Prior to his position at the Academy, Hayes served in the same capacity at Northern Arizona. During his three years with the Lumberjacks (2004-07), Hayes coached his athletes to six individual NCAA titles, nine All-America honors and 10 school records. A two-time Big Sky Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year, Hayes guided his teams to four Big Sky titles, while accounting for five of six individual titles. Under Hayes' direction, Johanna Nilsson won the NCAA Cross Country Championship title, set a new course record, and was named NCAA Cross Country Athlete of the Year, pacing the team to a 12th place finish at the national meet. Nilsson went on to finish third at the 2005 European Cross Country Championships the same year.
Backed by Hayes' athletes, the NAU women won both the indoor and outdoor Big Sky Conference Track Championships in 2006. Nilsson claimed NCAA championship titles in the indoor mile and 3,000-meter run, pacing NAU to a tenth-place team finish en route to being named NCAA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. One year earlier, Hayes coached Ida Nilsson to an NCAA Indoor Championship in the 5,000 meters.
In his final season with the Lumberjacks, Hayes coached three NCAA Cross Country Championship individual qualifiers, while helping the men's track and field team to the Big Sky outdoor title. He also coached Lomong to NCAA titles in the indoor 3,000 and outdoor 1,500-meter run.
Hayes joined NAU following a three-year stint at Texas. During that time, he guided the Longhorn women to three consecutive NCAA Cross Country Championship appearances and a regional team title in his final season.
In his first season at Texas (2001-02), Hayes led the women's cross country team to third place at the conference championships, the highest Big 12 finish in UT history, and a second-place showing at the NCAA South Central Regional. In the last season of his first stint at Texas, Hayes led the team to a third straight NCAA appearance and the school's first regional/district title since 1988. His team's stunning two-point victory at the NCAA South Central Championships that year earned him his first South Central Region Coach of the Year honors.
On the track from 2001-04, Hayes' athletes helped UT to four Big 12 Conference Championship team titles (two indoor/two outdoor), including 26 all-conference performances and two individual conference champions. His athletes set school records in four events, and he tutored five individual qualifiers to the NCAA Championships.
Prior to his move to Texas, Hayes served as head cross country and assistant track coach at Morehouse College (1997-2000). During his career with the Tigers, Hayes directed the men to three top-three showings at the Division II Southeast Regional Championships. He had a profound effect on the distance program at Morehouse as well, coaching athletes to 20 All-America honors and breaking school records in 12 different events.
An accomplished runner, Hayes was a scoring member of the U.S. Military Academy's team at the 1986 NCAA Cross Country Championships. In 1987, he moved on to the University of Georgia, where he served as team captain during his junior and senior seasons.
Hayes continued to train and compete after college, finishing first among American competitors at the 1994 Armed Forces World Cross Country Championships. He also coached former UT walk-on turned All-American Talis Apud-Martinez in her professional duathlon and track career, highlighted in 2005 by first-place finishes at the Pan-American Duathlon Championships and U.S. National Championships and in 2007 by a silver medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Pan-American Games.
A native of Randolph, N.J., Hayes received a bachelor's degree in statistics at the University of Georgia before completing the Defense Language Institute's Russian Language School. He then served as a Russian linguist in the U.S. Army, receiving the Good Conduct Medal in 1994 and Meritorious Service Medal in 1995.
Hayes is married to the former Stacey Dickson. The couple has two sons - Christian (8) and Austin (1).
