Christopher Newport University

Sarah Lagasse begins her first year as the head coach of the Christopher Newport cross country program in 2017 after building an extensive résumé as both a national championship coach and record-setting student-athlete.
 
Lagasse comes to CNU after serving as an assistant coach at Williams College and Franklin Pierce University. During her time at Williams, she worked with one of the finest cross country programs in the nation, helping lead the women's team to the 2015 National Championship and the men's squad to a second-place finish at the title meet.
 
From 2014-16, Lagasse served as the Assistant Men's and Women's Track & Field and Cross Country Coach at Williams. During that time, she helped lead the Ephs to one of the finest stretches in school history, highlighted by the women's cross country national title in 2015. She also coached over a dozen All-Americans, numerous NCAA qualifiers, and two student-athletes who cracked the national all-time top-10 lists.
 
For her work with the program, Lagasse was honored as the USTFCCCA Regional Women's Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year in 2016.
  
Prior to her time at Williams, Lagasse served as an assistant with the cross country and track & field teams at Franklin Pierce from 2012-14. During that time, she helped build the track & field program in its first years of collegiate competition. Overseeing the team in its infancy, she eventually led the Ravens to national recognition while helping her student-athletes collect multiple All-Region accolades and earn spots at the USATF Junior Cross Country and Track & Field National Championships.
 
In addition to her efforts with the track & field program at Franklin Pierce, she also helped guide the men's cross country team to its first appearance at the NCAA Division II National Championships after placing second at the regional meet in 2013.
  
Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Lagasse was a record-setting runner at Bridgewater State from 2009-12. During her career, she captured nine conference championships and broke seven school records, including three that still stand today. She was also named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Cross Country Rookie of the Year in 2009 and earned the Dr. Adrian Tinsley Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in 2011 and 2012.
 
A perennial Academic All-District selection for her work in the classroom, Lagasse graduated Summa Cum Laude from Bridgewater State with a Bachelor of Arts in physical education. She also earned her Master of Business Administration in sports & recreation management from Franklin Pierce in 2014.