Samford University Men's Cross Country

Arguably one of the top track and field coaches in the nation, Rod Tiffin has excelled as the head coach at Samford University and is entering his 14th season at the helm of the Bulldogs' program. A 16-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year, Tiffin has turned Samford's track and field program into a Southern Conference powerhouse. Tiffin has already earned 15 SoCon championships during his tenure, including the program's first four-peat where the men's and women's squads swept both in Southern Conference Indoor Championship titles and the Southern Conference Outdoor titles. Under Tiffin's tutelage, high jumper Justin Stuckey qualified for the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Nationals making first team All-America indoors and second team All-America during the outdoor campaign. Stuckey also qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials. Tiffin was instrumental in the success of Karisa Nelson, who became Samford's first-ever NCAA national champion at the Division I level, when she won the outdoor mile in 2017. Tiffin coached previously at the University of Alabama where his field event crew amassed 17 school records, 20 All-American honors, eight Southeastern Conference Championships, three NCAA titles, a gold medal at the World University Games, two Olympic team berths and two World Championship berths. He also coached at Auburn University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Tiffin set a few records of his own as an All-SEC standout decathlete for Auburn. A native of Scottsboro,

Emily Edwards Penberthy is in her first season with the Bulldogs as an assistant distance coach. She has previous coaching experience at the collegiate level as

Wes Penberthy was hired to lead the Bulldog cross country programs in August of 2024. Penberthy joins Samford from Palm Beach Atlantic University where he was