Randy Hasenbank

Randy Hasenbank was named associate head cross country/assistant track and field coach at the University of Iowa in 2017 and is entering his seventh season with the program.

In 2023, Hasenbank guided Max Murphy to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, becoming Iowa’s first NCAA qualifier since 2019. Murphy placed 69th at the NCAA Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia, with a 30:13.9 personal best in the 10,000-meter race on Nov. 18. Murphy’s time moved him to fifth in program history. Murphy’s finish was the highest since 2010, when Jeff Thode placed 30th. In the season opener, Murphy broke Iowa’s 6K school record. Four more Hawkeyes moved up the program record list: Hayden Kuhn (18:05.4 – 2nd), Miles Sheppard (18:07.4 – 3rd), Will Ryan (18:17.4 – 7th), and Ian Geisler (18:17.6 – 8th).

In 2022, the Hawkeyes broke a school record (Max Murphy, 1,500 meters) and posted 15 top-10 marks under Hasenbank. He guided Murphy to an NCAA West Regional qualification in the 1,500 meters and coached Murphy and Trattner to sixth and eight-place finishes in the 5,000 meters at the Big Ten Indoor Championship, respectively. Murphy and Trattner’s points clinched Iowa’s second-consecutive men’s indoor Big Ten title. Their times rank third and sixth all-time, receptively. Additionally, Hasenbank coached the men’s DMR team to a seventh-place finish and women’s DMR squad to a sixth-place finish at the conference meet.

The Hawkeyes set one school record and five top-10 marks under Hasenbank’s tutelage in 2021. Nathan Mylenek set the school record in the steeplechase and raced to All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. His school-record performance earned him a silver medal at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, where Iowa won the team title for the second straight season. Mylenek (5,000 meters), Kal Lewis (1,500 meters) and Daniel Soto (10,000 meters) all recorded marks in 2021 that rank second on Iowa’s all-time top 10 list.

During the 2020 indoor track and field season, Hasenbank’s athletes earned a total of 10 points at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, Daniel Soto (5,000M, 6^th), Nathan Mylenek (3,000M, 5^th), and the Distance Medley relay took sixth with a time 9:46.39, which now ranks No. 5 in Iowa history.

In 2019 cross country season, Hasenbank coached Nathan Mylenek to his second NCAA Championship in a row. Mylenek placed 85^th in the 10,000 meters. He is the first Hawkeye to compete at the national championships in back-to-back years since Jeff Thode in 2010. Mylenek finished his senior season as the Hawkeye’s top runner (11 meets in a row). He earned All-Region honors for the second straight year. Freshman Leah Kralovetz earned All-Region honors at NCAA Regionals. She is the first female freshman to make the All-Region team since Kayla Beattie in 2011.

During the 2019 track and field season, Hasenbank guided Nathan Mylenek to the NCAA Championships, where he finished ninth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, earning second team All-America honors. Mylenek also broke the oldest track record in the steeplechase at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 20, running 8:38.53 and shattering the previous record (8:47.40) set by Deacon Jones in 1956. Freshman Anna Hostetler and senior Daniel Soto added their names to the record books as well. Hostetler ran a top-10 time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Soto ran top-10 times in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meters, and the outdoor 10,000 meters. Mylenek and Soto tallied nine of the Hawkeyes 116 points at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

 

In 2018, Hasenbank led the men’s and women’s cross country teams to sixth and ninth place finishes, respectively, at the Big Ten Championships. Mylenek finished 11th at the conference meet to earn second team All-Big Ten honors. At the NCAA Regional meet, Mylenek placed third and marked the best finish at the event since 2006 when Micah VanDenend won the 10,000-meter race, earning the junior All-Region honors and leading the Hawkeyes to a seventh-place finish. The women were led by senior Andrea Shine and finished 12th of 34 teams. Mylenek qualified for the NCAA Championships and finished 141st out of 255 competitors.

In 2017, Hasenbank led the Hawkeye men to their highest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) ranking in program history at No. 5 in the Midwest Region. Nathan Mylenek broke the 10,000-meter school record at the NCAA Midwest Regional. On the women’s side, Andrea Shine became the first Hawkeyes woman since 2012 to be named All-Region. Shine placed 20th at the NCAA Midwest Regional. As a team, the women’s 12th place finish is a five-spot improvement from the 2016 NCAA Regional.

In Hasenbank’s first season at the helm, the men’s and women’s cross country teams finished 11th and 17th, respectively. Under his guidance, Tess Wilberding became the third Hawkeye since 2000 to lead Iowa in every race. During the indoor season Hasenbank helped lead Iowa to a school record breaking performance in the men’s distance medley at the 2017 Big Ten Championships (9:44.07). During the outdoor season, Iowa scored points in multiple distance events for the first time since 2011, and qualified three distance athletes for the NCAA Regional in Austin, Texas.

Hasenbank joined the Iowa program after spending five seasons as head cross country/track and field coach at Loyola University Chicago. He directed Loyola to five Horizon League team championships and was named Horizon League Coach of the Year five times. He coached nine All-Americans and led the Ramblers to 57 individual conference titles and 60 school records. In 2013, he was named NCAA Division I Midwest Region Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field Cross Country and Track & Field Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Before taking over the Loyola program, Hasenbank spent five seasons as the head women’s cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at the University of Alabama. During his tenure in Tuscaloosa, Hasenbank produced three All-SEC runners, three freshman All-SEC selections and five all-region performances.

Before heading up Alabama’s women’s cross country program, Hasenbank was the head cross country coach at Wichita State, where he coached 64 runners to All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and was named 2006 NCAA Division I Midwest Distance Coach of the Year. He also collected 2005 MVC Cross Country Coach of the Year honors and led the Shocker women to the 2005 MVC cross country title.

Prior to joining the collegiate coaching ranks, Hasenbank was an accomplished coach at the high school level, serving as the head coach at Andover High School in Kansas. At Andover, he coached the girls’ cross country team for four consecutive state finals, winning the title in 2001. His success wasn’t just limited to the women’s team however, as the boys’ squad made back-to-back state tournament appearances for the first time since 1981-82.

Hasenbank was a steeplechaser at Wichita State, earning All-MVC accolades, while also helping the Shockers to the 1987 MVC crown and a national ranking in 1987. He earned junior college All-American honors as a member of the Cloud County cross country/track and field team. A 1990 graduate of Wichita State, Hasenbank also earned his master’s degree from WSU in 1995.

Hasenbank is married to Lennis Whitehair.