William Carey University

Coach Hegstrom enters his eighth season as the Head Coach for Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams, while also serving as the Head Coach for the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams at William Carey. Hegstrom served the previous four seasons as the Assistant Coach for Cross Country and ran for the Crusaders as a member of the first ever men's cross country team at WCU.

In his eleven years working with the William Carey Cross Country squads, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams have made great strides of improvements while moving up in the tough Southern States Athletic Conference standings. The past few seasons were highlighted by the 2014, 2017, 2020, and 2021 Southern States Athletic Conference Men’s Team Conference Championship titles, as well as a 2018 Southern States Athletic Conference Women’s Team title.  Both squads have produced multiple individual Conference Champions, multiple individual National Championship qualifiers, and multiple All-Conference selections.

The Crusaders have also competed well at the Cross Country National Championship including the 2015 Men's National Champion, Geoffrey Kipchumba, as well as a 2012 All-American finish on the men’s side by junior, Joash Osoro who finished 6th overall, a 2014 All-American 10th place finish by then freshman, Geoffrey Kipchumba, and a 2nd place finish by Geoffrey Kipchumba in 2016 & 2017.  For the women, Jaden Russell was the first women in Cross Country program history to earn All-American Honors finishing 23rd at the 2019 National Championship. Both the men’s and women’s teams have also set numerous personal records along with both squads being named NAIA Scholar Teams for their work in the classroom.

Hegstrom is a USA Track and Field - Level 1 Certified Coach, ASEP certified coach, a member of the USTFCCCA, and the National Coaches Registry. He graduated from William Carey University in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Social Studies Education and finished his Masters of Education from WCU in Social Studies Education in May of 2013.

By the Numbers (XC):

• 1 National Champion
• 6 All-Americans
• 6 Team Appearances at the National Championship
• 19 Individual National Championship Qualifiers
• 5 SSAC Team Titles
• 7 SSAC Runner-Up Finishes
• 11 SSAC Individual Champions
• 70 All-Conference Finishers
• 2016, 2017, 2020, & 2021 SSAC Men’s Coach of the Year
• 2018 SSAC Women’s Coach of the Year
• 2017 USTFCCCA South Region Men's Coach of the Year