Lindenwood University Athletics

Randy Cole is entering his 10th season as the head coach of Lindenwood cross country/assistant coach of track & field in 2021-22.

Under Cole's lead and assistance at Lindenwood, numerous student-athletes have earned athletic and academic honors, including: five All-GLVC cross country selections, 14 GLVC All-Conference track & field selections, one GLVC track & field conference champion, one GLVC Freshman of the Year, 11 MIAA All-Conference cross country selections, 20 MIAA All-Conference track & field selections, one MIAA track & field conference champion, eight NCAA track & field All-Americans, three NCAA All-Region cross country selections, and 12 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team accolades for cross country. 

Under the direction of Cole, Najwa Chouati and Louis Moreau earned All-GLVC honors for men’s and women’s cross country in 2020. The men’s team picked up first place wins at the GLVC Dual Meet and the GLVC West Divisional, concluding the season with a fifth place finish at the GLVC Cross Country Championships. Cole coached the women’s squad to a first place finish at the GLVC Dual Meet and a fourth place finish at the GLVC West Divisional, before finishing eighth at the GLVC Cross Country Championships. Under Coles’ assistance, four Lions earned NCAA Championship qualifiers for the indoor and outdoor seasons. At the GLVC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, both the men’s and women’s teams finished in fifth place. In the classroom, the women's cross country team collected GLVC Team Academic All-Conference honors, and the cross country and track & field men's and women's teams combined for 54 Academic All-GLVC selections.
 
Several members of the men's and women's rosters garnered accolades and honors throughout the 2019 season, including Austin Crowe and Benjamin Stasney, who were named to the All-GLVC team. On the women's side, Najwa Chouati was selected to the All-GLVC team.

The 2018 season was one of the top years for Cole’s athletes. The men’s cross country team finished fifth at the NCAA Central Regional Championships, just missing out on a NCAA National Championships berth. Ero Doce earned All-Region honors at that meet. During the track season, Lindenwood’s distance medley relay team finished second at the indoor conference meet. Omar Es Salmouny had the best national finish in Lindenwood track & field history with a second-place showing in the outdoor 3,000 steeplechase. Es Salmouny also won the MIAA Championship in that event and was All-Conference in the outdoor 5,000m.

In 2017, Cole was named the MIAA Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year, as he helped coach the men's program to an MIAA cross country team championship. He also earned the Lindenwood Athletic Department Coach of the Year honor during the 2017-18 campaign.

The 2016 season saw the men's cross country team finish seventh at the MIAA Championships and fifth at the NCAA Championships. The women's squad captured a ninth place finish at the MIAA Championships and a 28th placement at the NCAA Championships.

The 2015 men’s and women’s cross country teams combined to win five competitions, and both squads finished eighth at the MIAA Championships. The highlight of the year was Lisa Feuerherdt finishing ninth at the conference championships, and earning All-Conference honors.

In 2014, Cole led the cross country program which were led by All-Conference runner Nicholas Stewart. Stewart finished tenth at the MIAA meet. The men's program finished eighth in the conference and 21st at regionals, while the women's team was 11th at the MIAA meet and 24th at regionals.
 
In 2013, Cole continued to rebuild the cross country program with a majority of the rosters being freshmen or sophomores. The Lions finished eighth at the conference meet while the Lady Lions came in ninth. Both teams had one runner finish in the top-30 in the competition. During the track & field season, four distance runners placed for Lindenwood during the MIAA Championship events.

In his first season at Lindenwood in 2012, two cross country runners earned All-Conference honors. Tanya Chibanda was an All-Conference pick after finishing fifth at the conference meet, while Ben McGraw was honorable mention All-MIAA after finishing 16th at the MIAA Championships. Chibanda also earned All-Conference honors at the MIAA Outdoor Championships when she was runner-up in the 1,500m with a school-record time.

Cole came to Lindenwood from the University of Wyoming where he was the head cross country coach and an assistant track & field coach from 2004-2012. He had five cross country national qualifiers at Wyoming, and his athletes won two All-American honors, 17 Mountain West All-Conference selections, and 10 NCAA All-Region accolades. He was named the 2004 Mountain West Conference Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. In track & field, he coached two All-Americans, 12 NCAA qualifiers, seven Mountain West champions, and 33 All-Conference performers. Cole’s athletes broke 10 school records at Wyoming.

From 1997 to 2004, Cole held the same position at Kansas State University. At Kansas State, he was a three-time Women’s Cross Country Region Coach of the Year and was named the 1998 Big 12 Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. The Wildcats women’s cross country team won the 1998 Big 12 Championship and the 1998, 1999, and 2000 Midwest Region Championships. The 1999 squad placed fifth in the nation at the national meet. He coached eight cross country All-Americans, 23 All-Region performers, four All-Region champions, and 14 All-Big 12 performers. In track & field, Cole helped the women’s team win the 2001 and 2002 Big 12 Championships. He coached 12 indoor and three outdoor All-Americans, and seven indoor and five outdoor Big 12 champions. At Kansas State, his athletes set seven school records.

From 1985-1991, Cole coached at Barton County Community College and he was inducted into the NJCAA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2002. He was the head cross country coach for that entire period, and was the head track & field coach from 1991-1997. Teams under his direction won four cross country, seven indoor track & field, and eight outdoor track & field national championships. He won nine national coach of the year honors, and his athletes were named All-Americans 45 times in cross country, 158 times in indoor track & field, and 125 times in outdoor track & field. He coached 96 individual national champions.

Other coaching stops include being the head cross country and track & field coach at Quartz Hill High School from 1984-85, being a graduate assistant at Kansas State from 1981-84, and being a student assistant at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo from 1979-81.

Cole graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1981 with a degree in physical education, and received his master’s from Kansas State in 1983 in counseling education. He has been a USATF Certified Level II coach since 1988.