Olander named director of operations for UVA track & field, cross country

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia director of track & field and cross country Vin Lananna announced that Carter Olander has joined the Cavaliers’ staff as the program’s director of operations.

Olander comes to Virginia after working at Emporia State the past two years where he served as the director of operations/assistant coach for the track and field and cross country programs. In his coaching capacity, he worked primarily with the distance events.

“I’m excited and looking forward to working alongside coach Lananna and the rest of the Cavalier staff and helping them build Virginia track and field and cross country into a championship program,” Olander said.

A native of Prairie Village, Kan., as an undergraduate he served as a student manager for Arkansas’ track & field program for three seasons and worked with the Razorbacks’ cross country squad for two years. During that time Arkansas won five Southeastern Conference team championships.

“Carter worked with one of the nation’s elite programs at Arkansas and comes highly recommended for this position,” Lananna said. “He will play a critical role for us a meet manager in addition to his other administrative duties. I am looking forward to his contributions as we build a championship program.”

Following his graduation in 2017, Olander earned his master’s degree from Emporia State while also serving as a graduate assistant for the track and field and cross country programs before accepting a full-time position there in 2019.