Derek Stanley begins his 12th season as the head coach of the UW-La Crosse women’s and men’s cross country teams in 2023. Along with serving as the head cross country coach, Stanley is an assistant coach for the Eagles' women’s and men’s track & field squads.
The men's cross country team, winners of a league-best 37 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championships, have captured the league title seven times (2012-13, 2017-19, 2021-22) under Stanley.
A total of 65 All-WIAC men's cross country honors have been earned under Stanley at UWL, including 20 first team selections and 30 second team choices. The Eagles had five runners in the top-10 at the 2012 league championships, four in the top-11 in 2013, six in the top-12 in 2017, four in the top-10 in 2018, six in the top-11, five in the top-nine and seven in the top-13 in 2022 in winning the WIAC title each year.
Stanley was named the 2013 and 2017 WIAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. UWL also earned the 2018 and 2022 WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year Award.
UWL had eight runners finish in the top-24 at the 2014 conference championships as the team placed second. The Eagles placed second at the league meet in 2015 as seven runners finished in the top-26 while the team finished second in 2016 with six runners in the top-16.
The Eagles have recorded top-four finishes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships in five different seasons under Stanley, placing second in 2017, third in 2013, 2014 and 2018 and fourth in 2012. Fourteen NCAA III All-America accolades have been earned under Stanley's tutelage with Josh Kaul (24th-place) and Josh Dedering (30th) picking up honors in 2012, Alex Ciesielski (8th) and Jonah Weisse (33rd) in 2014; Josh Schraeder (20th) and Thomas Schultz (29th) in 2017; Schraeder (4th), Schultz (14th) and Tyler Nault (30th) in 2018, Schraeder (5th) and Nault (8th) in 2019, Ethan Gregg (11th) in 2021 and Gregg (4th) and Isaac Wegner (12th) in 2022. With Schraeder finishing fifth and Nault eighth in 2019, it marked the first time since 2001 that UWL had a pair of top-10 individual finishes at the same meet with Tyler Foos placing third and Ross Substad seventh. Schraeder (2019) was named the WIAC Athlete of the Year.
Michael Villa (2019) and Aidan Matthai (2022) have been selected the WIAC Newcomer of the Year.
The Eagles finished ninth nationally in 2015, sixth in 2016, seventh in 2019, 10th in 2021 and eighth in 2022. UWL has won three NCAA III titles (1996, 2001, 2005).
The UWL women's cross country squad has won five WIAC Championships under Stanley (2013-14, 2016, 2021-22) while also finishing second on five occasions (2012, 2015, 2017-19). A total of 66 All-WIAC cross country honors have been earned under Stanley, including 28 first team selections and 19 second team choices.
The Eagles had five of the top-10 finishers in winning the 2022 WIAC title and seven of the top-14 runners in winning the 2021 league title, including four in the top-seven. UWL had eight runners finish in the top-14, including three in the top-four, in winning the 2016 WIAC Championship. UWL had 10 runners in the top-29 at the conference meet in 2015 with eight runners finishing in the top-19 at the 2014 championships. The team had nine of the top-16 runners at the 2019 WIAC Championships.
Four runners finished in the top-nine at the 2013 WIAC Championships and five in the top-12 at the 2014 league meet as UWL recorded its fourth back-to-back conference crowns in school history and first since 2005-06. Four runners finished in the top-20 at the 2012 WIAC Championships as the Eagles placed second. Twelve runners placed in the top-36 at the 2017 league meet and 12 in the top-39 in 2018.
Maddie Hannan won the WIAC individual title in 2022, becoming the eighth runner in school history to win the league title and first since Hannah Beilke in 2018. Laura Mead won the conference crown in 2013 and 2014, one of seven runners in WIAC history to capture back-to-back titles. She is the second runner in school history to win back-to-back crowns joining Tori Neubauer (1982, 1983). Mead, Neubauer and Julia Rudd (2002, 2005) are the only runners in UWL history to capture two individual conference titles.
Mead (2013, 2014), Elizabeth Frick (2016), Beilke (2018) and Hannan (2022) have been named the WIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year under Stanley. Hannan (2019), Jenna Lovejoy (2021) and Mackenzie Hill (2022) were selected the WIAC Newcomer of the Year.
UWL placed sixth at the 2016 NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championships under Stanley, the team's best finish since a fourth-place showing in 2005. Frick earned All-America honors with a 21st-place overall finish. It was UWL's fourth-best individual finish since 2000.
The Eagles were ninth at the 2018 NCAA III Championships as Sadie Kroll (12th-place) and Beilke (18th) each earned All-America honors. It marked the first time since 2005 that UWL had a pair of All-America honors when Rudd placed second and Kristen Painter 35th.
UWL placed 17th at the 2017 NCAA III Championships with Kroll earning All-America honors with a 33rd-place overall finish. The Eagles finished 12th at the 2015 national championships as Kaitlyn McDaniel earned All-America honors with a 33rd-place overall finish. UWL was 13th at the 2014 NCAA III Championships as Mead earned All-America accolades with a 10th-place finish. She became the first runner to place in the top-10 since Stephanie Perleberg finished seventh in 2009.
The Eagles finished 11th in 2021, 19th in 2013 and 2019 and 25th in 2012 at the national championships under Stanley.
UWL were 15th at the 2022 NCAA III Championships with Hannan earning All-America honors with a 20th-place finish.
Both cross country squads earned the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Scholar Team Award in Stanley's first five seasons at the helm of the program.
Stanley was an assistant men’s cross country coach and assistant women’s and men’s track & field coach UWL in 2011-12 before being named head cross country coach.
Prior to coming to UWL, Stanley was the head coach of the women’s and men’s cross country and track & field programs at Marietta College (Ohio), a position he held from 2004 to 2011. Stanley took the reins of a program near the bottom of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) and moved it progressively higher. The women’s cross country team finished last at the OAC Championships in Stanley’s first year, but improved to fifth by 2008. The Pioneer women also recorded three sixth-place showings (2006, 2007, 2009) under Stanley.
On the men’s side, the team improved from a ninth-place finish at the OAC Championships during Stanley’s first year to consecutive sixth-place finishes during his last two years. During Stanley’s tenure at Marietta (Ohio), the cross country teams earned nine All-OAC and two all-region honors. The women’s squad earned the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academic All-America award for eight straight years while the men’s team earned the honor in 2010.
While at Marietta (Ohio), Stanley also built a solid record as the head coach of the Pioneers’ track & field programs. He was named the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2009. He was also selected the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2010. Marietta’s (Ohio) women’s coaching staff was named the 2010 OAC Indoor Track & Field Staff of the Year. The track & field programs fielded 98 all-conference athletes under Stanley’s tutelage, including 26 conference champions. Marietta (Ohio) also had 23 NCAA Division III qualifiers and five All-Americas.
Stanley recruited and coached Caleb Muller at Marietta (Ohio), a national qualifier in the 10,000-meters at the outdoor national championships. Muller competed at the 2010 NCAA III Cross Country Championships under Stanley, Marietta’s first national qualifier in 30 years. He was also a national qualifier in 2011. Muller became the first male in school history to win an OAC cross country title in 2011.
Before becoming head coach at Marietta (Ohio), Stanley was the head women’s and men’s cross country and track & field coach at Bluffton University (Ohio) from 2001 to 2003. He also served as the head men’s cross country and assistant men’s track & field coach at Tiffin University (Ohio) from 1999-2001.
Stanley earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Tiffin (Ohio) in 1999. Later, in 2002, he obtained his master’s of education from Bowling Green State University (Ohio).
