Cal Poly TF/XC Announces Addition of Lawrence to 2024-25 Coaching Staff
9/10/2024 6:00:00 PM | Cross Country, Track and Field
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Brandon Lawrence, who spent the last two years coaching at Wake Forest, was recently named an assistant coach for the Cal Poly track & field and cross country programs, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ryan Vanhoy announced Tuesday.
Lawrence, who coached at Hercules and Monte Vista high schools in the Bay Area for a combined eight years, will work closely with the Mustang distance runners in track & field and cross country and lead the recruiting efforts for both groups.
The Hercules, Calif. native has a deep knowledge of the recruiting landscape in the state of California and is already making quite the impact in his first few weeks on the job. It’s early, but Lawrence is loving every second of being part of the Mustang family.
“It’s definitely been a great beginning,” he said. “There are unbelievable people here and that’s become clear. I definitely made the right decision.”
Lawrence spent the last two years (2022-24) as an assistant distance coach for the Wake Forest track & field and cross country teams while assisting with director of operation duties for the program. During his tenure with the Demon Deacons, Lawrence helped oversee six All-Americans in track & field and cross country. In his first fall with the program in 2022, Lawrence saw the Wake Forest men’s cross country team win its first Atlantic Coast Conference title in 28 years and finish fifth at the NCAA Championships.
This is where I wanted to be.Brandon Lawrence, Cal Poly TF/XC Assistant Coach
Prior to his time at Wake Forest, Lawrence spent a year at Division II Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas as a graduate assistant for the track & field and cross country programs. While pursuing his master’s degree in health and human performance, Lawrence helped mentor two track All-Americans (800-meter, 10,000-meter) and oversaw six school record-breaking performances.
Joining the Cal Poly coaching staff was something Lawrence envisioned over a year ago, believing that working alongside Vanhoy and Mustang Women’s Cross Country Head Coach Michelle Chewens would be a dream opportunity.
“This is where I wanted to be, and that largely had to do with Ryan and Michelle,” he said, “Plus being from California, I knew about all the amazing possibilities Cal Poly provides. As a high school coach, I always noticed they got high-level recruits, so I knew something special was going on there.”
A 2013 Hercules High grad, Lawrence served as the head cross country coach and an assistant track coach at his alma mater from 2014-17 and then held the same roles at Monte Vista High (Danville, CA) from 2018-21. During this time, Lawrence also ran track and cross country at Diablo Valley College (Pleasant Hill, CA) and then at Holy Names University (Oakland, CA), where he earned his bachelor’s in communication and media studies, while balancing a handful of different jobs.
When Lawrence was in high school, he already had aspirations of becoming a coach — but in football, not track & field and cross country.
“If you would have asked me what I wanted to do when I was in high school, it would have been become an NFL coach,” he said. “I loved football.”
After graduation, Lawrence’s high school coach offered him the chance to coach the Hercules High track & field and cross country teams while he figured out what academic and career path he wanted to follow. Fortunately for Lawrence, that one opportunity sparked his interest in coaching track and cross country and led him on the unexpected journey that brought him to Cal Poly.
He said the community around track & field and cross country is truly something special, and he enjoys the challenges that come along with coaching and can’t wait to contribute at Cal Poly.
“Being around people and trying to help them become better versions of themselves is really rewarding,” he said.
