Jeremy Sudbury - Track and Field Coach - Iowa State University Athletics

Jeremy Sudbury

Title:
Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
Email:
jsudbury@iastate.edu

Awards and Honors
USTFCCCA Midwest Region XC Coach of the Year (2024, 2021)

Jeremy Sudbury, who spent eight years as an assistant coach working for the Iowa State track and field and cross country programs, was promoted to Director of Track & Field/Cross Country in June 2021 and completed his fourth season leading the program in 2024-25.

In his 12 years with the Cyclones, Sudbury has led a decorated group of student-athletes to historic accomplishments and record-breaking performances. Following 2025, the Iowa State men and women have now scored at both indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships in back-to-back seasons, something Iowa State has not done since 1990-91. ISU has also put up the highest number of T&F All-Americans the program has seen in the last two seasons with 25 in ’24 and 21 in ’25.

Iowa State, known for its distance dominance, has remained in the national spotlight under Sudbury. The men’s distance squad, which he oversees, was the only program to advance a runner to the outdoor national final in each of the five distance races in 2024. In his event groups, over 50 percent of Iowa State’s top 10 performances have happened with Sudbury at the helm. Under Sudbury, Iowa State men and women have earned 28 First Team All- America honors (76 total) and 18 Big 12 titles in T&F and XC.

His tenure leading Iowa State got off to a flying start during cross country season, with both the men’s and women’s programs finishing in the top 10 in the same year for the first time since 1985. Sudbury’s men’s squad finished second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, leading the ISU men to its fifth top two NCAA XC finish in program history. Sudbury’s star pupil, Wesley Kiptoo, took second place at the 2021 Championships, his second top three finish as a Cyclone, and Thomas Pollard took 21st to earn his first career All-America honor.

Iowa State again nearly took the cross country national title with another men’s runner-up finish in 2024. ISU had four All-Americans for the first time since 1994 and third time in program history. The men total six top two NCAA finishes, with two happening under Sudbury.

The men’s cross country squad had seven All-Big 12 honorees in 2021, the third-straight cross country season the men have had seven. Prior to ISU’s run, that had only happened twice in Big 12 men’s cross country history.

In Kiptoo, Sudbury helped develop one of the strongest and most versatile runners in the country. In 2020-21, Sudbury coached Kiptoo to a program-record six Big 12 titles, including seeing Kiptoo become the first male in Big 12 history to win three individual titles at a single conference outdoor championships, which he did with meet records in all three of the 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m. Kiptoo also earned four All-America honors and took down five school records in his debut season in Ames.

In 2019, Edwin Kurgat claimed the NCAA Cross Country crown under Sudbury’s tutelage, along with picking up a pair of Big 12 and NCAA Midwest Regional titles during his Cyclone XC career. Kurgat’s kick, developed under Sudbury’s watch, allowed the Kenyan to pull away from the field at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships and claim ISU’s first individual title since 1990. Kurgat went on to begin his professional career qualifying for the Olympics in 2024. With Sudbury on staff, the ISU men have run to top 10 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in seven of the last eight seasons.

The 2024 season continued taking ISU track and field to new heights. Iowa State totaled a program-record 25 All-America honors and 14 NCAA Outdoor Championships entries. The men and women both scored at indoor and outdoor nationals for the first time since 1999, while seven ‘24 Cyclones qualified for U.S. Olympic Trials. The ISU men also swept the 1,500m final and went one-two in the 10K, aiding in the men taking third at Big 12 Outdoor Championships.

The 800m group remained strong in 2024 as Darius Kipyego and Finley Mclear combined for four All-America honors and were the only teammates in the nation to both clock 1:45 in outdoor season. Outdoor season built off a strong indoor season that saw Sydney Willits take the national long jump title and the men and women finish inside the Top 25 together for the first time since 1992. In addition, eight indoor and outdoor school records fell, and six of those stood for over 20 years.

The 2023 track and field season saw the highest women's Big 12 Outdoor Championships point total and finish of third in program history. Cailie Logue ended her historic Cyclone career with First Team All-America honors in the 5,000m and 10,000m while Ezekiel Rop, who downed the 1,500m school record (3:36.92) earlier in the season, also earned First Team All-America in the 1,500m. In indoor season, the ISU 800m squad held the lowest average time in the nation the entire season.

The 2022 track and field season was filled with many great stories throughout Sudbury’s pupils. Four earned All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, peaking with Gomez taking fourth in the 800m run in a personal best 1:46.34. Nehemia Too took down ISU’s 28-year-old then-school record in the 1,500m run (3:39.15), which came after his anchor carry on the distance medley relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships took ISU from 10th to sixth and to First Team All-America distinction. Peter Smith went from not being enrolled at school in the fall semester to running a personal best 1:48.05 in the 800m and missing out on the NCAA Outdoor Championships by 0.13 seconds. Smith went on to qualify for nationals in the 1,500m in 2024.

Moving up distances, Ryan Ford was the No. 41 seed in the 5,000m run at the NCAA West Preliminaries, but dropped an eight-second PR to earn his trip to Eugene. Chad Johnson came off a difficult cross country season to clock personal bests at every distance from 800m up to 5,000m. Thomas Pollard finished off his ISU career by running to personal bests in all his events both indoors and outdoors in 2022.

Iowa State’s 800m group has consistently been one of the best in the country under Sudbury’s watch and 2021 proved it again. Outdoors in 2021, the Cyclone men’s 800m group was No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings and sent three to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Jason Gomez, Festus Lagat and Alex Lomong. Lagat was a star pupil for Sudbury, earning five All-America honors in his career, topped with his third-place effort at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships in a school record 1:45.05.

One of the best stories in college track and field was the rise of Roshon Roomes, who finished his Cyclone career as a six-time All-American, three-time Big 12 Champion and an NCAA record holder in the indoor 600-yard run after beginning his career as a walk-on who was spotted running for the ISU Track and Field Club team. In 2021, Roomes helped ISU defend its Drake Relays Men’s Relays Cup title by becoming the first school since Kansas in 1954 to win the 4x800, the sprint medley relay and the distance medley relay on one weekend.

A strength of Sudbury’s has been his ability to coach student-athletes coming from a variety of backgrounds, whether that be directly from high school (Roomes and All-Americans Cebastian Gentil and Joe Schaefer), through the JUCO route (All-Americans Kiptoo, Lagat, David Too and Nehemia Too), moving up a Division (Gomez joined ISU from Division II Notre Dame de Namur) or through four-year transfers to Iowa State (Ryan Ford, Daniel Everett, Frank Hayes, Kurgat, Lomong and Daniel Nixon).

Sudbury started his stay in Ames by helping coach Edward Kemboi to a sweep of the 2015 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Titles in the 800-meter run. Kemboi collected six All-America honors and seven Big 12 titles during his time as a Cyclone.

During his time in Norman, Okla., Sudbury served initially as a volunteer assistant in 2012 before being named the assistant coach of the men’s distance program. Sudbury also oversaw recruiting operations for the Sooners.

Sudbury competed as a student-athlete at the University of Oklahoma from 2009 to 2012. The Las Vegas, Nev., native graduated as OU's school record holder in the 10,000-meter run at 29:18.64 and was a two-time All-Big 12 performer on the track. On the cross country course, Sudbury was a key contributor, leading Oklahoma to sixth (2011) and 12th (2009) place finishes at the NCAA Championships.

Sudbury was also named the Big 12 Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2010, rewarding his success both on the track and in the classroom.

Prior to running for the Sooners, Sudbury attended Paradise Valley Community College, where he garnered NJCAA All-America honors five times and helped guide the Pumas to the 2008 NJCAA national title.

Sudbury is married to Maria Sudbury, ISU’s director of operations. The couple welcomed their first child, Jack, in December 2020 and their second, Mila, in July 2022.

Cross Country				Indoor Track & Field			Outdoor Track & Field
	Big 12 Finish	NCAA Finish	All-Americans	Big 12 Finish	NCAA Finish	All-Americans	Big 12 Finish	NCAA Finish	All-Americans
2021-22	2nd (M), 2nd (W)	2nd (M), 9th (W)	2 (M), 1 (W)	4th (M), 6th (W)	47th (M)	6 (M)	7th (M), 5th (W)	50th (M), 62nd (W)	5 (M), 1 (W)
2022-23	2nd (M), 3rd (W)			5th (M), 5th (W)		3 (M)	5th (M), 3rd (W)	61st (M), 37th (W)	1 (M), 5 (W)
2023-24	4th (M), 3rd (W)	5th (M), 20th (W)	2 (M)	5th (M), 8th (W)	23rd (M), 20th (W)	9 (M), 2 (W)	3rd (M), 8th (W)	18th (M), 36th (W)	9 (M), 5 (W)
2024-25	3rd (M), 7th (W)	2nd (M)	4 (M)	4th (M), 5th (W)	50th (M), 43rd (W)	6 (M), 1 (W)	5th (M), 12th (W)	30th (M), 51st (W)	7 (M), 7 (W)