University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Women's Cross Country

Illinois director of track, field and cross country Petros Kyprianou announced the hiring of Eric Johannigmeier (pronounced JOE-han-ig-my-er) as the new head cross

Dillon Yearby was hired as the track, field and cross country team’s director of operations on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. Yearby comes to Illinois after spending

Two-time NCAA Championship coach Petros Kyprianou was hired on July 26, 2022 as the new director of the Fighting Illini track and field and cross country programs. In his three seasons at Illinois, he has led the women's team to a fifth-place finish at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships (their highest finish in 29 years) and an eighth-place finish at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships (second-highest in program history). He previously served as head coach at the University of Georgia from 2015-2021, where he led the Bulldogs to two NCAA titles (the first in school history), three runner-up performances, and 16 top-ten NCAA finishes. At Georgia, Kyprianou was a three-time USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year and coached 28 NCAA individual champions, including 2018 Bowerman Award winner Keturah Orji. He has also served as an assistant coach at Boise State University and University of Nebraska, Omaha. A native of Cyprus, Kyprianou competed in decathlon, pole vault, hurdles, and long jump, winning several national championships in Greece. He has coached for four countries in international competition, including three different Olympics, and was on the USA Track & Field staff for the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.