Miami Redhawks

PERSONAL INFORMATION Alma Mater: Bachelor's of Education, University of Iowa, 2004 Master's of Education (with emphasis on athletic administration), Augustana University, 2008 Wife: Brittany Children: Stetson and Finley ATHLETIC EXPERIENCE: 2001-04: Four-time indoor NCAA Championships qualifier 2001-04: Four-time outdoor NCAA Championships qualifier 2004: U.S. Olympic Trials participant COACHING EXPERIENCE: 2006-08: Augustana University, Graduate Assistant 2008-12: Colgate University, Assistant Coach 2012-14: University of Iowa, Assistant Coach 2014-15: Western Illinois University, Assistant Track and Field Coach and Head Cross Country Coach 2015-17: Miami University, Assistant Coach 2017-22: Miami University, Assistant Head Coach 2022-23: Miami University, Associate Head Coach 2024-PR: Miami University, Director of Cross Country/Track and Field MIAMI T&F/XC ALL-AMERICANS SINCE 2015:  2017: Danielle Collier, javelin (outdoor) 2017: Andrew Dusing, 1500m (outdoor) 2017: Amelia Strickler, shot put (indoor) 2017: Martha Szekely, hammer (outdoor) 2018: Chris Torpy, 1500m (outdoor) 2019: Danielle Collier, javelin (outdoor) 2019: Chris Torpy, 800m and 1500m (outdoor) 2020: Sean Torpy, 800m (indoor) 2021: Finley Mclear, 800m (indoor) 2021: S. Torpy/Finnegan/Schroff/C. Torpy DMR (indoor) 2021: Finley Mclear, 800m (outdoor) 2022: Carmen Riano, steeplechase (outdoor) 2023: Charlie Harders, steeplechase (outdoor) 2023: Ava Nuttall, 10,000m (outdoor) 2023: Carmen Riano, steeplechase (outdoor) 2025: Ella Scally, long jump (outdoor) MIAMI HEAD COACHING RECORD: Year Women's XC at MACs Men's XC at MACs Women's indoor at MACs Women's outdoor at MACs Men's outdoor at MACs 2023-24 8th 3rd 5th 5th 7th 2024-25 9th 2nd 7th 5th 5th

Russ Peterson was named Miami’s Director of Cross Country/Track and Field during the 2023-24 season.
 
He initially joined Miami's coaching staff as an assistant track and field coach in 2015, working primarily with the team’s sprints, hurdles and relays and helping mentor those student-athletes to set more than 25 school records. Peterson became an assistant head coach in 2017 and then earned another promotion to associate head coach in 2022. During Peterson’s time on staff, Miami has won men's cross country team titles in 2018 and 2022 and a men's outdoor track team championship in 2021.
 
The Miami men took second at the 2024 MAC Cross Country Championships, with the women placing ninth. The women’s indoor track team came in seventh at last season’s MAC meet, while both the men and women placed fifth at the conference’s outdoor championships. Abby Suszek rewrote the Miami record books in her senior year, breaking the indoor records in the 200m, 300m and 400m and claiming gold in the 400m at the MAC Championships during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Ella Scally also won gold in the long jump at the MAC Indoor Championships, marking the first time since 2011 the RedHawks captured first place in multiple individual events at that meet. Scally was one of five Miami student-athletes to qualify for the NCAA East First Round during the outdoor season and went on to earn All-American recognition (Honorable Mention) in the long jump, finishing 22nd at the national championships. The RedHawks earned a total of 11 All-MAC awards and 64 Academic All-MAC honors in 2024-25, producing three Academic All-District performers.
 
The RedHawk men finished third in the 2023 MAC Cross Country Championships, while Miami’s women came in eighth, with the programs combining for four All-MAC honorees. During the indoor track season, the RedHawk women posted a second consecutive top-five team finish at the MAC Championships for the first time in more than a decade, including an additional individual All-MAC recognition. Miami’s women also finished in the top five at the MAC Outdoor Championships in the spring, with the men coming in seventh. Mia Boule won the individual pole vault title and was recognized as Women’s Track and Field Freshman Performer of the Year, earning one of Miami’s seven All-MAC outdoor honors. Boule, Ella Rigel (hammer) and Ella Scally (long jump) qualified for the NCAA East First Round. The Red and White collected 60 Academic All-MAC awards between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track in 2023-24, along with two Academic All-District selections.

The 2023 season saw Miami produce a collection of five First-Team and eight Second-Team All-MAC picks between indoor track and outdoor track, with three RedHawk runners bringing home NCAA All-American accolades. The RedHawks also qualified for a total of 34 Academic All-MAC track honors and 10 Academic All-District awards. Miami runners won MAC titles in the women’s 3,000m (indoor), men’s and women’s steeplechase (outdoor), 5K (outdoor) and 10K (outdoor), while the women’s indoor track team posted its first top-five MAC finish since 2012.
 
In 2022, Miami’s track teams took fourth place (men) and fifth place (women) at the MAC outdoor championships. Finley Mclear won the men’s 800, while Charlie Harders (steeplechase) and Carmen Riano (steeplechase, 5000) picked up individual titles. Seven Miami student-athletes competed in the NCAA East prelims, highlighted by Riano, who advanced to the national meet and finished as an All-American in the steeplechase (14th place). During the 2022 indoor season, Lotti Roemer won the mile to highlight Miami’s performance at the MAC championships, while the team finished seventh in the league.  37 different RedHawks on the track and field team were recognized as Academic All-MAC between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
 
The 2020-21 academic year was highlighted by the RedHawk men finishing first in the conference’s outdoor track championships. Miami produced a MAC individual champion in the women’s indoor pentathlon (Sarah Bruns) and a myriad of MAC outdoor champions. Olivia Bechtel won the 200 and 400 at the MAC meet that spring, Charlie Harders won the steeplechase, Sean Torpy won the 1500, Finley Mclear won the 800, and Miami’s 4x400 relay team also took first place. The RedHawks also fared exceedingly well on the national stage, with Finley Mclear taking second in the indoor 800m and 4th in the outdoor 800m. The RedHawks’ DMR team (Sean Torpy, Luke Finnegan, Andrew Schroff, Chris Torpy) picked up All-American honors as well, claiming eighth at the NCAA indoor championships. In addition, Sean Torpy became Miami’s first Academic All-American since 2008.

Over a shortened 2019-20 circuit, Peterson's work with Olivia Bechtel continued to pay dividends as Bechtel set a Mid-American Conference record in capturing the 400m at the MAC Indoor Championships and narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The 2018-19 campaign saw several record performances for the RedHawks’ sprint group. After returning every leg of the 2018 Mid-American Conference Champion 4x400m relay team, the group’s encore performance outdoors saw the four again win gold. This time, however, the group’s season continued into the NCAA East Region Preliminary Meet, where it broke its own school record at the regional competition. The anchor leg of that group, Olivia Bechtel, had herself a record setting season individually, as she walked out of the MAC Outdoor Championships with the Most Outstanding Performer award after winning the 400m individually, an event she also qualified for the NCAA East Region Preliminary in.

Peterson has developed a number of NCAA Preliminary qualifiers and several MAC champions. In 2017, he helped Alexus Jimson-Miller make her second-straight NCAA Preliminary appearance thanks to breaking the school record in the 100m hurdles, en route to a MAC title in her senior campaign.

Peterson also worked with the RedHawks’ jumps group during his first three seasons on staff and in year one had an immediate impact in moving several returning competitors up on the school’s top-10 list. Under his tutelage, Kenny Glenn broke the school record in the long jump at the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships en route to his second-straight appearance at the NCAA East Region Preliminary meet. Glenn’s mark also got the sophomore into the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

More than a dozen of Peterson’s student-athletes have made appearances at the NCAA East Region Preliminary, including Bechtel and the 4x400m team qualifying in 2019. The 2016 campaign saw three qualify for the competition as senior Peter Stefanski (high jump) returned after a one-year absence while senior Kathie Wollney (400m hurdles) and junior Alexus Jimson-Miller (100m hurdles) earned their first postseason trips. Wollney clocked the second-fastest 400m hurdle time in school history at the postseason meet while Jimson-Miller also improved on her third-place personal best.
 
Peterson came to Miami in 2015 from Western Illinois, where he served as assistant track and field coach and head cross country coach, with nine Leathernecks earning All-Summit League recognition in his final season on staff. Before heading to WIU, Peterson spent two years as a volunteer assistant coach with his alma mater, Iowa. While with the Hawkeyes, Peterson coached the sprinters and hurdlers, mentoring 10 Hawkeye sprinters to All-American honors as well as a total of five individual Big Ten Championships. During his two years at Iowa, every sprint and hurdle event, including the relays, saw new athletes break into the school top 10 list.

Prior to joining Iowa, Peterson was the assistant coach for sprints, hurdles and field events at Colgate University for four seasons. In his time in Hamilton, he pushed the Raiders to their best-ever finish in the Patriot League. During his tenure at Colgate, Peterson’s athletes broke more than 40 school records and marked over 60 top-10 finishes, winning 12 individual league titles and more than 20 conference honors.

Peterson kicked off his coaching career at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. In his time with the Vikings, they rose to become a power in the CCIW Conference, culminated by an outdoor track and field title in 2008.
 
A native of Manteno, Ill., Peterson owns a Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa, where he qualified for the NCAA Championships in all eight of his track seasons (indoor and outdoor) and finished his career on the top-10 list of six different events. Peterson also holds a Master's degree in Education (with an emphasis on athletic administration) from Augustana.

Post collegiately, Peterson competed at the USA Track and Field National Championships three times, including one trip to the Olympic Trials in 2004. He competed for Competitive Edge Athletics following college with appearances in the Special Invitational 400m hurdles in 2004 and 2005.

Outside of his coaching duties, Peterson resides in Oxford with his wife Brittany, son Stetson, and daughter Finley. They are actively involved members of the Oxford community.