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Randy Hasenbank recently wrapped up his fifth season as the head women's cross country coach at the University of Alabama. In his five years at the helm of the program he overseen the most successful era in the program's history and built the Crimson Tide into one of the stronger programs in the Southeastern Conference and the South Region.
He has had at least one NCAA All-South Region performer in four of the last five years including Sara Vaughn and Kelsey Johnson in 2008 and Johnson repeating her sophomore year in 2009. As a developer of talent, Hasenbank has also guided three freshmen (Haley Moody, Vaughn and Johnson) to a spot on the All-SEC team. In 2010, he guided the team to an sixth-place finish at the SEC Championship for the team's second straight finish in the top half of the field to cap the best three-year span of finishes since 1998-2000. The Tide's improvement under Hasenbank has been even more impressive on the regional level with two seventh-place and an eighth-place finish for the best cumulative three-year finish at the Regional Championships since 1986-88. In his first cross country season with the Tide, Hasenbank led Julia Hicks to an All-Region team honor and the NCAA Cross Country National Championships, the Tide's first NCAA qualifier since 2000. The 2008 season was the most prolific campaign in the last decade of Alabama cross country. Hasenbank led a team comprised of mostly underclassmen (10-of-13) to a seventh-place finish at the SEC Championships and an eighth-place finish at the NCAA South Region Championships, the team's highest finish at both meets since 2000. Hasenbank coached his second athlete (Vaughn) in four years to a NCAA Championship appearance. He coached Vaughn and Johnson to the 2009 USA Junior National Cross Country Championships where Vaughn advanced to the IAAF Junior World Cross Country Championships. With the pieces still in place from the solid 2008 season, his 2009 cross country squad continued to make strides toward the top of the SEC pack with a fifth-place finish, the program's best finish since 2000. That season was followed up by a 2010 edition that saw continual personal bests set throughout the season as the squad finished seventh at the regional meet despite entering the event ranked 11th in the region. Hasenbank joined the Alabama staff following four years at Wichita State where he served as head coach of the men's and women's cross country teams and assistant coach for the track and field program. He led the Shockers to the 2005 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Cross Country Championship. Hasenbank coached Wichita State athletes to 64 All-MVC honors. Hasenbank had athletes break 13 school records while coaching 13 female athletes to NCAA qualifying marks. He coached 18 student-athletes to individual MVC Championships, 12 Regional qualifying marks and nine NCAA qualifying marks. In addition, his athletes earned four NCAA All-American honors, the Midwest Regional Athlete of the Year and the MVC Athlete of the Year.
Hasenbank, a former steeplechaser, has enjoyed much success coaching the event as his athletes have earned eight NCAA regional qualifying marks and five NCAA qualifying marks. Most recently, Hasenbank coached Desiraye Osburn to a 9:47 effort in the event, which was good enough for No. 10 All-Time in U.S. history. In the spring of 2008, Hasenbank added eight-time junior college national champion Betty Rotich to the squad. Rotich made an immediate impact for the Crimson Tide, garnering All-SEC honors in the indoor 5,000 meters and the outdoor 10,000 meters. In addition, Rotich became the first Alabama women's distance runner to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 2000. During the 2009 outdoor season, Hasenbank coached freshmen Vaughn and Andrea Torske to the third and fifth-best performances in school history in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Fellow freshman Johnson qualified for the Mideast Region Championships in the 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters. From the spring of 1990 until the spring of 1993, Hasenbank worked at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas, where he served as assistant men's and women's track and field coach, head men's soccer coach, intramural director and instructor. As an athlete, Hasenbank earned junior college All-American honors as a member of the Cloud County track and field/cross country team. At Wichita State, he was an All-MVC performer and helped lead the nationally ranked Shockers to the 1989 MVC Cross Country Championship. A member of the Wichita State Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Hasenbank earned a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education in 1990 and a Master's degree in Sports Administration in 1995, both from Wichita State. Hasenbank is married to the former Lennis Whitehair, of Abilene, Kansas. |
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Before taking over the program in the fall of 2006, the cross country team had just one All-SEC performer since 2000 and no athlete had garnered All-South Region honors since 1999. However, in five short years with the Tide, Hasenbank reversed that trend with three All-SEC runners, three freshman All-SEC selections and five All-Region performances.
