Ryan Thompson enters his tenth season at the helm of the AUM men's and women's cross country programs.
Announced as the second head coach in the program's history on February 1, 2016, Thompson's Warhawks have re-written the program record.
In 2023, the women's team raced to fifth place overall at the GSC Championships, their second consecutive season finishing in the top five. At the conference championships, AUM posted its fastest team average in school history, while all five scoring runners posted a sub-20 minute 5K time for the third time in school history.
At the regional championships, the Warhawks experienced similar success. AUM clocked the program's fastest 6K average in school history at an NCAA Regional, while Kenlie Nelson (third), Adley Burkes (fifth), Nicole Luther (seventh), and Abby Little (eighth) all re-wrote a spot on the 6K all-time performance list.
AUM placed fifth overall on the men's side as well, which marked the second-highest finish at the GSC Championships for a Thompson-led Warhawk squad. Under his tutelage, Basil Koech secured the league's Freshman of the Year award and recorded the third-fastest 8K time in school history.
Koech, the school's first Freshman of the Year award winner, was also named Second Team All-GSC, making him the fourth all-league honoree in program history. Koech finished 15th overall with a time of 24:54.20. Koech finished the year with the first, third, fourth, and ninth fastest 8K times in school history.
Koech took down another school record two weeks later when he raced a 31:00.60 10K to help AUM to its highest team placement at an NCAA Division II regional championship (eighth place) at the 2023 NCAA South Regionals. He earned the program's first NCAA All-Region honor and was the top freshman finisher to cover the 10K course at the regional championships. Koech finished his season with school-record marks at the 5K, 8K, and 10K race distances.
As a team, the Warhawks also ran their fastest team average at an NCAA regional in school history. All seven AUM finishers, including Connor Stoots (second), Dalton Benefield (third), Mark Foster (fourth), Hayes Colvin (sixth), Patrick Pigg (eighth), and Sam Leslie (10th) earned a spot on the 10K all-time performance list. In that race, Stoots bested his collegiate-best 10K time by more than a minute, and Pigg turned in his collegiate record in the 10K by more than 35 seconds.
During the 2022 season, the Warhawks posted a fourth-place finish on the women's side in the GSC Championships and a sixth-place finish on the men's side. Both teams ran in the 2022 NCAA South Region Championships with the men placing 11th and the women finishing 16th. On the women's side, Kenlie Nelson notched Second Team All-GSC honors after placing 17th in the conference championships.
The 2021 season saw the women's program pick up its first meet victory since making the jump to Division II membership with a first-place finish at the Falcon XC Classic on Friday, Sept. 17. Isabella Gyori posted the program's 10th-best 5K time with a 19:34.90 time at the UAH Charger Invite on Oct. 9. Both the men's and women's program's competed in the NCAA South Regionals in St. Leo, Fla., with Thomas Wolfe posting the second-fastest 10K time in program history at 34:01.80. Isabella Gyori, Nicole Luther & Thomas Wolfe were all named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team due to their academic & athletic performance at the NCAA Regional Championships.
The 2020 season saw the men’s cross country team continue their assault on the program record book. Micah Britton and Jacob Russell Lister both earned All-GSC Second Team honors with top-15 finishes at the GSC Championship in Huntsville, Ala., on Oct. 31, as they led the men’s team to a 5th place finish. Britton’s time of 24:52.50 marked the fastest 8K time in program history and earned him 12th place, while Lister’s time of 25:03.70 marked the third-fastest 8K time in program history and earned him 15th place. In addition, Kyndall Foley served as the women’s cross country team’s top performer in two of four races in 2020, setting the freshman 5k record along the way.
In 2019, the men’s cross country team became the first program at AUM to participate in regional postseason action as a member of Division II at the NCAA South Regionals held in Lakeland, Fla. The Warhawks posted a pair of top-five finishes on the year, including a fourth-place nod at the Gulf South Conference Championship in Montevallo, Ala., on Oct. 26. Junior Austin Atkinson became the first GSC All-Conference performer in AUM Athletics history with his 10th-place finish at the GSC Championship. The 2019 women’s squad finished a season-high ninth place at the GSC Championship.
The year 2018 saw the men’s cross country team post four top-ten finishes, highlighted by a second-place finish at the Trevecca D-II Showcase on Sept. 22. In addition, five of the 10 best individual 8K times were posted in 2018, including Micah Britton’s program record time of 24:59 and Josh Escoe’s second-fastest program 8K time of 25:06 at the Royal’s Challenge on Oct. 12. The women’s team finished top 10 on four separate occasions, including a sixth-place finish at the Bobcat Invitational on October 20 and a seventh-place finish at the GSC Championship on November 3. Senior Benisse Inamahoro finished 14th at the GSC Championships, etching her name into the program record book with the third and fourth fastest 5K times in 2018 and the third-best 6K time at the Bobcat Invitational on Oct. 20.
During the 2017 campaign, the men’s team kicked off the season with a third-place finish at the JSU Struts Opener on Friday, Sept. 1, adding a third-place outing at the Falcon Classic on Saturday, Sept. 16. Josh Escoe established men’s cross country records with the fastest four-mile, 5K, and 8K times while leading the Warhawks in the program’s inaugural Gulf South Conference Championship meet with an 18th-place finish. On the women’s side, Benisse Inamahoro ran the fastest two-mile run in program history.
In his first season with the cross country programs, Thompson guided HollyAnn Goble to record-setting 4K, 5K and 6K times. The women’s team posted a pair of second-place finishes during the season, with the men ending the season with a third-place outing at the Crimson Classic.
Thompson spent the majority of the past six years at Charleston Southern, where he served as the cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for the Buccaneers. He most recently served as a volunteer assistant with the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Class 7A State Cross Country champions, Auburn High School.
While with the Buccaneers, Thompson was responsible for the daily operations of the men’s and women’s cross country programs, including planning of practices, recruitment of student-athletes, budget oversight and fundraising initiatives. He also worked with the mid-distance and distance runners on the men’s and women’s track and field teams. Thompson served as co-director of the 2010 Big South Outdoor Track Championships and race director for the summer community track series held on CSU’s campus.
Under his leadership, the 2011 women’s cross country team recorded its highest team in the conference championship since the 2002 season. The Bucs also had their top women’s runner finish 11th overall, marking the highest individual finish during the same span. The men’s team finished with the fourth highest grade point average among NCAA Division I programs during the 2009-10 season.
Individually, he coached two Big South Conference individual champions, as well as two All-BSC relay teams. Ten student-athletes earned top-five finishes and new school records were set on 16 occasions. In the classroom, 21 student-athletes earned conference all-academic honors and three teams – the 2009 and 2010 men, as well as the 2012 women – received NCAA Division I All-Academic team honors.
Prior to his arrival at CSU, Thompson spent nine months as a volunteer assistant coach with College of Charleston, where he assisted the cross country teams with practices. During his tenure, the top men’s runner record four top-10 finishes and finished 15th at the 2007 Southern Conference Cross Country championships.
Thompson earned his undergraduate degree from Mercer University, where he was a two-year captain for the Bears. He also earned his master’s degree from College of Charleston in 2008.
Thompson is married to the former Anna Guerin. The couple has two children, a daughter, Halsey and a son, Finn.
