The Regis University Department of Athletics announced the hiring of Evan Verbal as the next Head Cross Country Coach on May 8, 2023.
Verbal comes to Regis after spending the past three seasons as an Assistant Coach for Cross Country/Track and Field at his alma mater, Colorado Christian University.Â
A former two-time NCAA Division II All-American as a student-athlete, Verbal has made a seamless transition to the coaching role. And he has been vital piece in building the Cougars cross country teams into top-10 programs on the national stage.
Verbal’s primary responsibilities at Colorado Christian have included, but were not limited to, directing the recruiting efforts for the cross country program since 2020, overseeing the on-boarding process for new student-athletes, coaching training sessions and managing the program’s social media accounts.
In his first year with CCU in 2020, Verbal helped the programs navigate the abbreviated seasons and struggles associated with the Covid-19 Pandemic. The men’s team would cap the season with a third-place finish at the RMAC Championships while the women placed ninth.
Colorado Christian would build off that momentum in 2021 as the men finished third at the South Central Regional Championships and the women’s team claimed a fifth place finish. Both squads qualified for the national meet, with the CCU men placing 10th overall and the women earning 22nd place as a team at the NCAA Division II Championships in Saint Leo, Florida.
The two programs ascended to new heights in 2022 as the men earned the school’s highest national finish — for any male CCU sport — when they earned third overall at the NCAA Division II Championships. The CCU women would also make program history last fall as they soared from 22nd to tenth-place on the national leaderboard.
Verbal’s resume as an assistant coach is rivaled by his accomplishments as a student-athlete. He was inducted into the CCU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee in 2022 after a decorated collegiate career that included two RMAC championships in the 1,500-meter outdoor (2017) and the 3,000-meter indoor (2018). He would go on to become the school’s first male track and field All-American in 2018 while competing in the Mile and 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Off the track, Verbal also excelled as a student. He graduated from CCU in 2018 with a 3.88 GPA and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration before going on to earn his Master’s degree in Public Administration in 2020.
In addition to his coaching career, Verbal has remained active in the sport as a professional runner. He earned the opportunity to compete at the USA Track and Field Championship qualifier in 2020 and has been sponsored by Rabbit Running since March of 2023.
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