The 2023-24 seasons were Kelly Sullivan's final as Head Coach of the Seattle U cross country and track & field programs after he announced his retirement from coaching on July 10, 2024. Full release HERE.
Kelly Sullivan was named the head coach of Seattle University's cross country and track and field teams on July 27, 2017.
In the 2022 cross country season, Sullivan led the team to put 11 performances on the SU Top-20 lists. On the women’s side, true freshman Caitlyn O’Neil and Lili Hargreaves both cracked the top-20 list in the 5k, as O’Neil would run 18:17, and Hargreaves would run 18:21 at the Charles Bowles Invitational. The women’s team would take first overall at the meet, defeating Hawaii, Oregon State, University of Portland, and Portland State. At the NCAA West Regionals, Azalea Groleau (5th – 21:13), Lili Hargreaves (15th – 21:54), and Caitlyn O’Neil (19th – 22:03) would all break into the SU Top-20 list with personal best performances in the 6k. On the men’s side, Alex Franklin would set a new personal best in the 8k at the WAC Championships, where he ran 24:51 to place himself ninth on the SU Top-20 list. Gus Harquail and Hezekiah Goodwin would both run 24:58 in the 8k this season to tie for 11th in school history. At the NCAA West Regionals, Gus Harquail (4th – 31:23), Hezekiah Goodwin (6th – 31:38), Alex Franklin (7th – 31:47) and Lance Mason (8th - 31:50) would all set personal best in the 10k to place them within the top ten fastest performances in school history.
In the 2023 indoor season, Sullivan guided the team to 23 new top-ten performances in school history, with three new school records. True freshman Miguel Rosario III set the school record in the 60m twice this season, as he ran 6.84 at the UW Preview, and then 6.80 at the Husky Classic. The women’s Distance Medley Relay team of Grace Much, Taylor Marks, Maya McCabe, and Azalea Groleau set the school record at the UW Invite, where they ran 11:55.21. Two different teams set the school record in the men’s Distance Medley Relay as well. At the UW Invite, the team of Alex Franklin, Isaiah Payne, Hezekiah Goodwin, and Gus Harquail clocked in a time of 10:00.19 to break the school record. At the WAC Championships, the team of Alex Franklin, Isaiah Payne, Matthew Holme, and Gus Harquail not only set the school record, but also won the WAC Championship, in a time of 10:00.10. Bryana Rogers also saw success at the WAC Championships, as she would jump 11.89m in the triple jump to place eighth overall, earning All-WAC Second Team honors.
In the 2023 outdoor season, Sullivan continued the success from the indoor season, as the team would set 35 new top-ten performances in school history. True freshman Jamaari Jefferson would set the school record in the long jump twice this season, as he would jump 6.90m at the Stanford Invitational, and then 7.00m at the WAC Championships. The men’s 4x100m would set the school record twice with two different teams. At the Beach Invitational, the team of Noah Payne, Tom Topinka, Isaiah Payne, and Miguel Rosario III clocked in a time of 41.51 to tie the original school record. At the WAC Championships, the team of Noah Payne, Kavon Holden, Isaiah Payne, and Miguel Rosario III would run a time of 41.22 to set the school record in the event. Additionally, Miguel Rosario III would run the fastest 100m in school history of 10.58, but would not be considered for a school record since the effort was wind aided (2.5w).
In the 2022 outdoor track and field season, Sullivan led Ansel Pendley-Griffin (800m), Ellie Postma (1500m), Gus Harquail (3000m steeplechase), Lucas Milne (decathlon), Maya McCabe (800m) and Nicole Whittern (javelin throw) to All-WAC Second Team finishes. Isaiah Payne started the season with a new school record in the 200, while Jocelyn set the 100m record twice and Milne set school records in the decathlon and the 110m hurdles record three times. Harquail set the school record in the steeplechase twice, while Pendley-Griffin set the 800m record in the prelims of the WAC Championships and the final school record was set in the last event of the season as the 4x400m team of Taylor Marks, Postma, Jocelyn and McCabe set the record in their first time competing as a relay team. Overall, Seattle U set eleven school records, posting 42 new top-10 marks and 105 personal bests.
In the 2022 indoor track and field season, Sullivan guided Alex Franklin to Second Team All-WAC honors in the 800m as he set the second all-time mark in the event. Tricht Jocelyn would go on to set the 60m (three) and 200m (twice) school records during the season, while Lucas Milne set the 60m hurdles and heptathlon school record. Overall, Seattle U set seven school records, posting 40 new top-10 marks and 64 new personal bests.
In the 2021 cross country season, both the men’s and women’s teams were given All-Academic honors by the USTFCCCA for the fourth consecutive year, while 13 Redhawks (six men, seven women) received individual All-Academic awards from the WAC. Sullivan coached Giuliano Scasso to first place at the UW/SU dual meet, becoming the first Redhawk to do so since 2012. At the Charles Bowles Invitational, Scasso, Rowan Cuadrado and Emily Harris would all finish in the top-10 as Cuadrado and Harris's times rank 19th and 20th in SU history in the 5k. At the Lewis & Clark Invite, the women's team took second overall out of 23 teams, while Scasso set the seventh all-time mark in school history in the 8k. In all, nine different women on Sullivan’s team assembled a total of 24 personal records, while 10 men posted 22 personal bests during the season.
In the 2021 outdoor track and field season, the Redhawk's had 51 new top-10 all-time performances and 110 new personal bests. Nicole Whittern earned gold in the javelin throw at the WAC Championships, while Maya McCabe, Alex Franklin, Emily Harris, Tricht Jocelyn, Isaiah Payne, Bryana Rogers and Morgan Young all earned All-WAC Second Team honors. Jocelyn (100m, 200m), Payne (200m), Ansel Pendley-Griffin (800m) and Young (triple jump) set new school records. Both the men’s and women’s teams were given All-Academic honors by the USTFCCCA, while 39 Redhawks (26 men, 13 women) received individual All-Academic awards from the WAC.
In the 2020 cross country season, both the men’s and women’s teams were given All-Academic honors by the USTFCCCA, while ten Redhawks (eight men, two women) received individual All-Academic awards from the WAC. Seattle U hosted the 2020 WAC Championships where Emily Harris was the standout performer, earning All-WAC Second Team honors.
In the 2020 indoor track and field season, eight different Redhawks made the All-WAC Second Team under Sullivan's watch, with four of them (Marie-Therese Chahrouri, Regie Grady, Delaney Griffin and Grace Much) winning the bronze medal for the distance medley relay at the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Nathan Pixler and Michelle Newblom both won WAC Track Athlete of the Week honors for Feb. 17-23, both also setting new indoor school records in the 800m dash and 60m hurdles, respectively. Newblom was also part of the indoor school record-setting 4x400m relay team, along with Grady, Maya McCabe and Siobhan Rubio. Tallia Sova set a new program record in the indoor shot put, while Lucas Milne posted a new program best in the men’s heptathlon at the WAC Indoor Championships.
In the 2019 cross country season, both the men’s and women’s teams were given All-Academic honors by the USTFCCCA, while twelve Redhawks (six men, six women) received individual All-Academic awards from the WAC. Sullivan helped coach Olivia Stein to a new school record (20:58.3) in the 6k run at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. Later, she placed 61st overall at the NCAA West Regionals, the highest for a woman in Seattle U history. Stein also won first place overall in the women’s race at the John Payne/Curtis Invitational. In all, 15 different women on Sullivan’s team assembled a total of 23 personal records, while nine men posted 17 PRs during the season.
The 2019 track and field season was an incredible triumph for Sullivan and his teams. Once again, both the men’s and the women’s teams received USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, while 13 women and 10 men clinched Academic All-WAC awards. Eli Boudouris won his second straight Eddie O’Brien Male Student-Athlete of the Year award from Seattle U after making the All-WAC Indoor Second Team and winning the bronze medal as part of the indoor distance medley relay team, while Cal Davidson-Turner received the Elgin Baylor Inspiration Award from the university and Jamie Hegg was honored for Service to Athletics. At the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Caylah Lunning won the bronze medal in the long jump after setting a school record in the event earlier in the season, while Nicole Whittern took bronze in the javelin throw. Michelle Newblom set the school record for the 100m hurdles at that meet, also joining Lunning, Regie Grady and Moore to beat their own school record in the 4x100m relay(set earlier in the season). At the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, Nathan Pixler took home the gold medal for the 800m run, also winning bronze in the distance medley relay along with Boudouris, Stewart Keene and Jacques Hebert. That day, Michelle Newblom set the program record in the 60m hurdles. Hebert set the school record in the mile run that season, beating his own mark twice, while Pixler ran a new program record in the 800m run. The Redhawk women set a total of 65 PRs and the men achieved 49 PRs in the combined indoor and outdoor seasons.
In the 2018 cross country season, both the men’s and women’s teams were named as All-Academic winners by the USTFCCCA, while five men and six women earned WAC All-Academic honors. As a team, the Redhawk men finished in third place at the WAC Cross Country Championships, with Eli Boudouris coming in seventh for a First Team nod and Ben Monk finishing in eighth place to make the Second Team. Boudouris was also named as the WAC’s Cross Country Male Athlete of the Week for Oct. 8-14; additionally, Nathan Pixler won that same award for Sept. 3-9. In all, nine women and 15 men set personal records during the season.
In 2018, Seattle U’s track and field team produced incredible results under Sullivan’s tutelage. Eli Boudouris won Seattle U's Eddie O'Brien Student-Athlete of the Year award, while Lance Slichko was named the Male Freshman Student-Athlete of the Year. The men’s team broke 21 personal records and four school records – Matthew Seidel for the 3,000m and 5K, and Boudouris nabbing the top two times for the 3,000m steeplechase. Seidel and Boudouris also won a gold medal for the distance medley at the Indoor WAC Championships, along with teammates Keith Beasley and Slichko. Boudouris, Seidel, and Slichko also finished in the top 10 at the Indoor WAC Championships for the mile run. Seven members of the team garnered Academic All-WAC nominations. The 2018 Seattle U women’s team produced its own impressive resume, with 18 personal records and two school records broken, courtesy of Olivia Stein for the 10K and Michelle Newblom for the 100m hurdles. At the Indoor WAC Championships, Seattle U took gold in the women’s distance medley, with runners Shannan Higgins, Siobhan Rubio, Abby Wachter, and Johanna Erickson competing in the event. Stein won bronze in the 3,000m and 5K, while Rubio also took bronze in the 800m. Kelly’s Redhawks performed well in the Outdoor WAC Championships – Stein won gold in the 10K and silver in the 5K, while Johanna Erickson took bronze for the 3,000m steeplechase. Eleven women on the roster earned Academic All-WAC honors.
In his first year at Seattle U, Sullivan led the 2017 cross country team to both athletic and academic success. The men had two personal records broken, with Matthew Seidel landing himself a spot on the All-WAC First Team. On the women’s side, Sullivan saw two more personal records broken. Runners Olivia Stein and Johanna Erickson were named to the All-WAC Second Team, and the squad as a whole received a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA.
Sullivan served as the head coach of women’s track and field and cross country at Oregon State from 2004 until announcing his retirement from the position in May 2017. He has also coached at Willamette University, Auburn and Clackamas Community College. In more than two decades of coaching, Sullivan has earned 24 conference or regional Coach of the Year honors in cross country and track and field, including the 2002 and 2003 NCAA West Region Track Coach of the Year for men and women.
Sullivan re-established track and field and cross country at Oregon State after a 16-year hiatus. Beginning in 2004 with just a distance program, one coaching position, one full in-state scholarship and no track and field facility, he departed the program with 21 event areas, 18 full scholarships, three coaching positions and a full-time director of operations.
He oversaw every facet of building the program, including fundraising and development of the Whyte Track and Field Center facility, and later re-establishing two-sport men’s football and track and field competitions for indoor and outdoor track and field. Under Sullivan’s guidance, Oregon State football student-athlete Jordan Bishop became the first Beaver, male or female, to earn All-America status when he finished tied for ninth in the high jump at the NCAA Championships in June 2010.
From 1997-2003, Sullivan served as the head coach at Willamette University where he guided the men's track and field team to a sixth-place finish nationally in 2003, while the men's cross country squad was fifth in 2002. In 2003, his women's cross country team placed eighth nationally – the highest finish in school history – and he guided the Bearcats to their first-ever NWC women's cross country title in 2000. Sullivan mentored 23 Division III All-Americans at Willamette, including individuals who won five national championships. Of Sullivan’s national champions, Nick Symmonds went on to compete for Team USA in the 800m in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. Sullivan also oversaw construction and design for a new track facility at Willamette in 1998.
Before coaching the Bearcats, Sullivan was head men's and women's cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at Auburn from 1984-96. During that time, Sullivan's 1985 men's team finished 12th at the NCAA Championships, his female athletes broke every Auburn distance record and earned trips to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 1994 and 1995.
At Auburn, Sullivan coached 36 All-Americans in cross country and track, including 1988 steeplechase Olympian and former American indoor 3,000m record holder Brian Abshire who started with Sullivan at Clackamas CC prior to transferring when Sullivan took the job at Auburn. Sullivan also coached the first female distance All-American in school history. His last two women's teams placed 16th and 13th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, just six years after he took over the women's distance program.
Prior to coaching at Auburn, Sullivan headed the cross country program and was the assistant track and field coach at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Ore., coaching 24 NJCAA All-Americans from 1980-84. His men's cross country teams won four straight Oregon Community College titles and four straight NJCAA West Regional titles. His 1981 and 1983 teams were fourth at the NJCAA Cross Country Nationals while the 1982 team was NJCAA runner-up.
Sullivan was a Team USA Assistant Coach at the 2001 World Track & Field Championships and an Assistant Men's Coach in charge of distance events for the 1994 USA Olympic Festival. From 1992-04, Sullivan served as the USATF Men's Distance Development Chair where he oversaw development of 1500m, 5000m, 10000m, 3000m steeplechase and marathon, and traveled extensively overseas with the USA Emerging Elite Distance team. From 1988-92, Sullivan was an assistant with Men's Development working with the 3000m steeplechase.
A distance runner from 1975-77 at Clackamas Community College and from 1977-1979 at Willamette University, Sullivan was a 1979 NAIA All-American in cross country and the 3000m Steeplechase. He went on to be inducted into the Willamette Hall of Fame as both an athlete and head coach.
Sullivan was inducted into the Clackamas Community College Hall of Fame in December 2014, and into the National Junior College Hall of Fame in 1986.
Sullivan graduated from Neah-Kah-Nie High School in Rockaway Beach, Ore. In 1990, Sullivan was inducted into the Neah-Kah-Nie High Hall of Fame. At Willamette, he earned a B.S. in history and education.