A successful coach and decorated runner in his own right, Brett Ayers is in his fourth season as head cross country coach at Winona State.
Last year he guided the men to a 15th place finish at the Central Region Championships while the women finished eighth. He had one runner earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors.
In 2014, Ayers helped lead the women's cross country team to the NCAA Championship for the fourth consecutive season, bringing home a 17th place finish. The Warriors also finished third in the NSIC Championship and fourth at the NCAA Central Region Championship.
Ayers helped guide the men's team to a sixth place finish at the NSIC Championship and a 14th place finish at the NCAA Central Region Championship.
Ayers also guided the Warrior women’s team to the NCAA Championship during his rookie campaign, with the program advancing to the national meet for the second consecutive year. WSU finished 16th as a team at the NCAA Championship while placing fourth at the NCAA Central Region meet and third at the NSIC Championship. Ayers guided Jessica Young to All-American honors while Jordan Skelly joined Young on the all-region team.
The Winona State men’s cross country team improved its standing in 2013 as well, placing fifth at the NSIC Championship and 11th at the NCAA Central Region Championship.
Prior to taking over as head coach, Ayers was an assistant with the cross country program during the 2012 season, helping guide the WSU women’s squad to a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship, the highest postseason finish in program history. He also helped lead the Warrior men’s team to a 16th place finish at the NCAA Central Region Championship.
Ayers has put together a long and distinguished coaching career at the high school, college and professional levels. Both Kayla Gudmundson and Young earned All-American honors for the Warriors in 2012 under Ayers’ guidance.
Ayers began his coaching career as the head cross country and track and field coach at Elmhurst College from 1990-93 where he transformed a program that historically struggled into a perennial conference contender. He was tabbed to begin the cross country program at Guilford College in 1993, working at the school until 1998.
He moved into the professional ranks from 1998-2002, working as the Director of Track and Field for club team GVAV Rapiditas in the Netherlands. He also taught at coached at Rijksunisiteit in Groningen, winning a pair of cross country national team titles while also coaching numerous Dutch individual national champions.
Ayers returned to the United States where he became the head coach at Cotter High School in Winona from 2002-06, winning three cross country conference titles and coaching four individual state champions. He also worked as an assistant cross country coach at Saint Mary’s University in Winona from 2006-11 before joining the Warrior coaching staff in 2012.
Ayers ran collegiately at North Carolina where he earned a degree in Chemistry. He also holds Master’s Degrees in Sports Management and Exercise Physiology from Springfield College. After college Ayers ran professionally for New Balance for seven years.
