Staff Directory
- Title:
- Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
- Email:
Robert Hansen begins his fifth season as the head coach for the cross country and track and field teams and his sixth season in the Piney Woods.
Since his arrival to Nacogdoches, Hansen has led teams to winning 6 Southland Championships, 1 WAC team championship and he’s been an assistant under 1 WAC team championship. Hansen has been honored with 7 Coach of the Year Honors. Across the academic year 2025-26, the men’s team won the SLC Triple Crown (XC, Indoor and Outdoor). The 2025 men’s cross country team set the second lowest point total in SLC Championship meet history, notching just 20 points, while being led by 3 Lumberjacks finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall. The Ladyjack Cross Country team also won the 2025 Cross Country Championship.
In total, the program has produced one First Team All-American, two Second Team All-Americans and 5 additional Honorable Mention All-Americans. The Jacks have notched 31 NCAA 1st Round qualifiers and 113 All-Conference performances, including 45 individual conference champions. The program has also re-written the SFA record books with 39 new school records between indoors and outdoors and cross country (26 coached directly by Hansen). In the classroom, all 4 programs (M&W CC and M&W TF) GPA’s have continued to climb, as all four groups have GPA’s ranging from 3.19 – 3.48 cumulatively.
Prior to his time at SFA, Hansen spent 5 years at the University of California-Riverside, where his athletes boast 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. 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 (7) and Victoria (5). They have an Australian Shepard named Ariel as well.
