La Crosse, Wis. - "I moved up here with no job," UW-La Crosse Head Women's and Men's Cross Country Coach Derek Stanley, told me, describing his experience first relocating to the area. A stack of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III trophies formed a tower on a shelf behind Stanley as I sat across from him in his office. Students periodically meandered by his window navigating the timely spring showers on their way to and from class.

"I was loading trucks at FedEx from three-thirty in the morning 'til seven, or so, and then substitute teaching at a kindergarten in Sparta just to help make ends meet," said Stanley.

Before he packed his bags to make the trip to La Crosse alongside his wife, Kristin, Stanley had already spent a decade coaching runners in both cross country and track & field down in his home state of Ohio.

After having graduated from Tiffin University in 1999 and serving an additional two years as a graduate assistant coach for the Dragons, Stanley, whose 2026 season will mark his 15th with the Eagles, landed his first opportunity to become a head coach at Bluffton College (now Bluffton University) in 2001.

"[Bluffton] is where I fell in love with Division III," Stanley told me, acknowledging that chapter in his career.

It wouldn't be until January of 2004, however, that the Pataskala, Ohio native would find his first long-term gig approximately three-and-a-half hours away from Bluffton with the Marietta College Pioneers, where he would spend the next seven-and-a-half years coaching.

"I have so much love in my heart for that place," he said as he described Marietta. "Smaller campuses are just easier to feel like you're part of the community. And my memories are all incredibly positive.

"It is a place that will always be very special to me."

He also recalled Marietta being a competitive environment – one that better fit his own personal coaching ambitions. However, despite his excitement and anticipation for the opportunity, Stanley described his first few years as being challenging.

"It was a lot of culture shifting."

Stanley recalled one specific instance, where, in his first season with the Pioneers, there were originally 24 women listed on his cross country roster. "I came in, and I set a very strong tone of, 'We're going to be successful. We're going to work hard. This is not going to be a recreational-type program.'"

The roster dwindled shortly after. Following Stanley's precedent, the roster went from 24 runners down to four. The minimum number of runners required for a team to score in a meet was five.

"I had to beg somebody to get their roommate to come out and run for us so that we could have a team score," noted Stanley.

Ultimately, Stanley's efforts were well-intentioned. His championship standard and self-described strides for excellence led to a myriad of triumphs for his program and him – including coaching the school's first runner to qualify for a NCAA Division III Championship in 32 years (Caleb Muller in 2010), the first men's runner to earn all-conference honors in close to four decades (Josh Mickel in 2009), a handful of Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field Championship placements for both the men's and women's teams, amongst several others.

Fast forward to 2026, and those same values are prevalent as he coaches at UWL, where he has resided since moving here in 2011. Prior to earning a head coaching position, he assisted with the men's cross country and women's track & field teams, while also working different jobs on the side to make sure he could provide for his family.

I asked Stanley to give me his own personal endorsement of the city of La Crosse. As a hometown kid, I already know what makes this city so unique, but I wanted to hear the perspective of somebody who wasn't originally from the area.

"I think that we are benefited when we are well-rounded," he responded. "I think there is a great swath of people that are involved in this community, and that makes our community well-rounded. I think people can benefit from that."

He also mentioned the enjoys how recreationally oriented the city is. "There's people who are active. It makes you feel like you want to be active, whether that's hiking, running, biking."

He finished his advocacy for the city by going into detail about its college town-feel. "I think that it's something people hold as a standard of U.S. culture, you know? Those smaller college towns where you just go, and you experience. You grow into who you are, as a person."

Last season, Stanley and the UWL men's cross country team won their second straight NCAA Division III title, as he earned the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Coach of the Year award for the second straight season. UWL became the first school to win back-to-back national titles since North Central College (Ill.), who three peated in 2016, 2017, and 2018 – a feat UWL seeks to accomplish this upcoming season.

On the men's championship roster, there was one runner I wanted to ask Coach Stanley about particularly: Grant Matthai, the WIAC Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Not only is he a champion and recognized as the best cross country athlete in the conference, the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, native also accomplished remarkable things in the classroom, earning All-Academic honors and being selected the NCAA Division III Elite Scholar-Athlete.

"He is the epitome of student-athlete," Stanley told me.  "The hardest thing about college is time management, because you're going to have more time. It's going to be harder. There's going to be more work – but you have more time. So, if you fill that space with things that are productive, then you'll be more productive."

Who better to ask about what it takes to embody the ideal student-athlete than someone who has been around collegiate sports for over two decades? I figured Stanley's opinion might be valuable considering his history. Thus, I had to ask him why he's stuck around Division III for as long as he has. 

Thus, in honor of NCAA Division III Week, I asked him the simple question: "Why DIII?" He took a brief pause before answering. The vents circulating air into his office whistled as he pondered. It was clear that he wanted to give a thoughtful and honest response.

"It's family, it's not business," he stated. "Business starts to change what it is that was at the very base of why people started to do sports in the first place. People start sports because they want to be connected. They want to be active. And they do it because they love it.

"Division III doesn't change. It keeps things more consistent. And, as an endurance coach, I have a very special appreciation for consistency. That's the only way we get better – is if we can be consistent. If you want to continue improving yourself, you need consistency. Consistency allows you to pursue excellence without outside distraction."

Stanley will attempt to add another NCAA Division III trophy to his collection when the Eagles' 2026 season commences. For now, Stanley is an assistant coach for UWL's track & field teams, whose season will carry them deep into May.