Men's Cross Country
- Title:
- Director of Track &Field/Cross Country
- Email:
- robert.hansen@sfasu.edu
Robert Hansen begins his fourth season as the head coach for the cross country and track and field teams.
SFA Director of Athletics Ryan Ivey announced in July 2021, the hiring of Robert Hansen as the new head coach of the Lumberjack and Ladyjack Cross Country teams. Hansen, a native of Wisconsin, comes to SFA after serving as an assistant coach at UC-Riverside for the past five seasons. Ryan Ivey announced that Hansen would be promoted to Head Coach in October of 2022.
In total, Hansen’s athletes have set 5 school records, 13 All-Big West honors, 5 USA Junior National qualifiers, 9 NCAA West Regional qualifiers, 50 top-10 All-Time UCR marks and 3 Academic All-Americans. During Hansen’s career at UCR, he mentored Arman Irani who earned NCAA Preliminary National Championship berth at 5000m (13:54) and a top-3 all-time 10000m mark (29:13). Arman earned All-Big West accoladed in the 5000m as well. He also led FR Carolinh Calvert to 3 FR School Records: 10:46 3000m Steeplechase & 17:01 for 5000m and 4:28 for 1500m. Hansen led Weslie Pearce and Faith Makau to their 3rd and 4th All-Big West Cross Country honors in their respective careers during their senior seasons of Cross Country and on the track, the women’s distance group accumulated 45 points at the Big West Championship, headlined by Pearce’s 2nd straight 3000m Steeplechase Conference title, a pair of All-Big West finishes from Makau (1500m – 2nd (PR 4:19.28) 800m – 3rd(PR 2:05.85) and Emily Sanchez’s debut 10,000m which landed her 2nd place and All-Big West. For the men, Heinrich Van Niekerk brought home an All-Big West 2nd place finish in the men’s 800m and the men’s 1500m during his career. His resume also boasts a men’s cross country team with a top-10% APR over a 4-year stretch, multiple times in his career.
From 2013-16, Hansen was an assistant at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, where he also concentrated on distance and middle distance runners. During his time with the Vaqueros, Hansen coached Juan Wells to a spot on the 2015 NCAA All-South Central Regional Cross Country Team. Hansen guided Martin Casse to the Men's 1,500m (3:43.67) & 1-mile (4:01.04) School Records. Martin won 3 WAC Championships and was an NCAA Academic All-American. Hansen's student-athletes broke seven school records during his three years at UTRGV, and recorded 19 All-WAC performances. Hansen spent the 2012-13 season at the University of Arkansas as a volunteer assistant coach. He was on staff when the Razorbacks placed 18th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, 4th place finish at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, and an 8th place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The indoor team also won the SEC Championship. Hansen gained valuable experience observing and working with multiple All-SEC, All-American, USA Qualifiers and World Team Qualifiers.
Hansen Also spent time as a GA at both McNeese State and UL-Monroe from 2011-2012. At McNeese State, Hansen coached the 400m Hurdles, 800m and 1500m athletes. Hansen led Joshua Sawe to the 2011 Outdoor Southland Conference Championship in the 800m, and Amy Talbot to an All-Southland Conference 3rd place finish in the women’s 1-mile. At ULM, Hansen was an assistant across all distance event groups.
Prior to Hansen’s collegiate coaching career, he led the Burlington Catholic Central Hilltoppers as an assistant and eventually as head coach in track & field and cross country. His team finished 2nd at the WIAA State Championship in 2010 and the women’s 4x400m relay set a Wisconsin State Meet record in Div. 4. Hansen was a distance runner at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside from 2004-09, competing in both cross country and track & field and earning All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors in the 800-meter run. He graduated with a bachelor’s in history. Hansen earned his master’s in exercise science at the University of Louisiana-Monroe in 2012.
Coach Hansen, still an avid runner, resides in Nacogdoches with his wife, Lucy, and their two children William (3) and Victoria (1). They have an Australian Shepard named Ariel as well.
