Cross Country: Lananna’s contract extended through 2028 season

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia associate athletic director for administration and director of track and field and cross country Vin Lananna has signed a contract extension through the 2028 track and field season, director of athletics Carla Williams announced on Friday.

“Vin has done an excellent job of advancing our track and field and cross country programs since joining our staff in 2019,” Williams said. “He was instrumental in bringing the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships to the University of Virginia and has taken a holistic approach in recruiting and developing talent across each track and field discipline. Vin brings great leadership to our track and field and cross country programs, and we are incredibly excited about their direction under his guidance.”

Lananna is in his fifth season serving as program director. Under his oversight, the Virginia track and field and cross country programs have steadily improved and competed amongst the nation’s best. In 2022, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams qualified for the NCAA Championships in the same season for the first time since 2015. The women went on to place ninth at the national meet, marking their first appearance in the top 10 since the 2013 season.

On the track, Lananna has guided the Virginia men to consecutive top-15 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships including an 11th-place finish in 2023 which ranks as the program’s third-highest finish all-time. The Cavalier men also finished just 2.5 points from an ACC team title in 2023. On the women’s side, Lananna’s Cavaliers have recorded two top-20 finishes. Prior to his arrival, the Virginia women had not cracked the NCAA’s top 20 since 1983.

In the 2023 USTFCCCA Program of the Year rankings, an honor that recognizes the institution that has achieved the most success in each academic year spanning cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field, the Virginia men and women finished 10th and 11th, respectively.

“We have a very motivated group of scholar athletes and a dynamic coaching staff, so I am optimistic about the future of the cross country/track & field program,” Lananna said. “I have the pleasure to work every day with a highly-successful group of coaches in a broad-based department. I believe in Carla Williams’ ambitious vision and look forward to playing a role in her plan for the University of Virginia Athletics.”

With Lananna at the helm, Michaela Meyer became the first ever Cavalier to win an NCAA individual championship in women’s track and field after claiming the 800-meter title in 2021. One season later, Claudio Romero won gold in the men’s discus marking the second individual NCAA title under Lananna’s leadership. In all, he has coached the Cavaliers to 26 individual USTFCCCA first team All-American honors and 25 ACC individual titles.

LANANNA BY THE NUMBERS

• Five seasons as program director
• Two NCAA individual champions
• Four NCAA individual runners-up
• Three World Athletics Championships qualifiers
• One USATF champion
• 26 USTFCCCA All-Americans
• 25 ACC individual champions
• Three ACC Scholar Athletes of the Year
• Three ACC Performers of the Year
• One ACC Freshman of the Year
• 37 University of Virginia school records broken (21 indoor, 16 outdoor)
• Seven sub-four mile runners