Assistant Coach Ryan Foster

Ryan

FOSTER

First Year Penn State ‘11 Assistant Coach

Ryan Foster returned to Penn State for his second stint as assistant coach to the cross country and track & field programs ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Over the course of his coaching career, Foster has coached 15 All Americans, 24 Conference Champions and four freshmen of the year. He is a two-time USTFCCCA Coach of the Year, and one time Conference Coach of the Year (PSAC).

He joins the Nittany Lions after three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee.

Foster’s first two cross country seasons at Tennessee saw the Vols and Lady Vols record their best postseason performances in more than a decade. In 2018, the men’s team tabbed their best SEC (4th) and NCAA Regional (3rd) finishes since 2010 and 2002. In 2019, the Lady Vols posted their best conference (4th) and regional (3rd) outings since 2009.

Last season, Foster mentored middle distance runner Alex Kay to a UT freshman record in the men’s 1,000 meter (2:26.97) at the Virginia Tech Invitational. Kay later went on to earn SEC All-Freshman Team honors in the 800 meter at the SEC Indoor Championships as the only rookie to compete in the final.

Foster also helped the Lady Vols return to the SEC podium in the distance medley relay in 2020, as Katie Thronson, Martina Weil, Nicole Adams and Olivia Janke combined for a time of 11:24.59 to place third at the conference meet. It was the first medal for UT in the event since 2012.

Foster was an All-American middle distance runner for coach Beth Alford-Sullivan at Penn State and later served on staff as an assistant coach and director of operations. He came to the Vols from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, where he spent two years as the head cross country coach and assistant coach for the middle- and long-distance runners.

At Edinboro, Foster guided the women’s cross country team to a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title in 2017 with five freshmen scoring.

Foster took the Edinboro women from an 11th-place finish in the Atlantic Region in 2016 to a 19th-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships in 2017. He was named the PSAC and USTFCCCA Atlantic Region women’s cross country coach of the year following the 2017 season.

On the track, Foster made PSAC history with his studentathletes winning all men’s middle and long distance races at the 2018 conference championships. He was later named the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Men’s Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year.

Foster graduated from Penn State in 2011 after one of the most storied middle-distance careers in program history. He finished his athletic tenure in the Blue and White with three All-America finishes, including a pair of NCAA bronze-medal efforts - as well as four Big Ten titles.

As a professional runner in 2011-12, Foster set Australian national indoor records in the 800 meters and 1,000 meters and also competed in the IAAF World Indoor Championships, placing 19th in the 1,500 meters.

The Tazmania, Australia native then returned to campus to begin his coaching career, spending two seasons as Penn State’s volunteer assistant coach and one season as the team’s director of operations. He then served as Penn State’s assistant coach for the 2014-15 season.

Away from the track, Foster also spent a year with the Tasmanian state government as the project manager for disability sports and served as chief of staff for Partners Financial Group, LLC. His non-profit work with Partners Financial and the Kevin Dare Foundation resulted in organizing a 10-person, 1,000-mile road race over seven states as a fundraising initiative.