Kevin Jermyn was named head coach of the men's and women's cross country team and assistant coach for track & field (distance) in July of 2024.
Jermyn, who has 26 years of experience as a coach, returns to the Bull City following seven seasons at Elon where he served in a similar position. During his time at Elon, Jermyn led the Phoenix to unprecedented heights on the cross country course as the women's team reeled in five consecutive Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) women's cross country team championships from 2019-2024. Individually, Maria Ahm became Elon's first woman to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2021. The Phoenix claimed four consecutive CAA cross country individual titles with wins by Coralea Geraniotis (2018), Scolasticah Kemei (2019) and Maria Ahm (2020 & 2021). The Elon men ran to school record team finishes in the NCAA Southeast Regional and produced five All-CAA honorees. On the track, Jermyn's women's middle and long distance runners led the Phoenix to four consecutive CAA track & field team championships. In the 2021 CAA Outdoor Championship, the Phoenix middle and long distance runners led the team to victory by scoring 112 of the team's overall 191.5 points.
Jermyn is no stranger to the Blue Devils, having served as the head women's cross country coach and associate head track and field coach from 2000 to 2014. He was awarded ACC Coach of the Year and NCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors for the 2004 and 2005 cross country seasons and was named NCAA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2011. Jermyn helped the Blue Devils to a second and third place team finish at the NCAA Championships in 2004 and 2005, respectively, while also capturing the ACC and Southeast Region titles.
Individually, Jermyn has coached 22 athletes to 53 NCAA All-America performances including Shannon Rowbury, who became Duke's first NCAA individual champion with her victory in the one-mile run at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. He also guided Juliet Bottorff to the program's first NCAA individual outdoor title in the 10K during the 2011 season.Â
Prior to Duke, Jermyn competed professionally in cross country and track and field for the Reebok Enclave. As an undergraduate at Georgetown University, Jermyn led the Hoyas as team captain and earned All-America honors. Jermyn is a USATF Level III certified coach in endurance, Level II certified in sprints, relays and hurdles and earned his Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (C.S.C.S.). He has also served on three United States national team coaching staffs.
Jermyn graduated from Georgetown University cum laude in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and finance and a minor in psychology. He later obtained a master's degree in liberal studies from Duke in 2006, where he completed his thesis on "Coaching Implications of Gender Differences Among Collegiate Runners."
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