Luke Greer Promoted to Full-Time Head Coach of Cross Country
After spending his first season as acting head coach, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs announced the promotion of Luke Greer to full time head coach of the Eagles cross country program.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After spending his first season as acting head coach, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs announced the promotion of Luke Greer to full time head coach of the Eagles cross country program.
"We needed someone to fill in in the interim last year and Luke being the most prolific runner in our history from a distance standpoint, stepped in a filled the role as a graduate student," said Needs. "During the pandemic, Luke stepped up and filled his roll admirably and when given the choice to fill the position we felt like he was the best person for this because he understands Carson-Newman and is someone we can count on in this 2020 world of uncertainty."
In his year as acting head coach, Greer was an instrumental part of three top ten finishes by the Eagles men's cross country team and two top ten finishes by the women's team.
At the 2019 SAC Cross Country Championships, Greer coached sophomore Rachel Strayer and graduate student Conal McCambridge to fifth and 16th place finishes, respectively. Strayer ended up competing at the NCAA Division II National Championships in Sacramento, setting a new career best time of 21:39.6 in the 6K.
"It's really exciting being named head cross country coach," said Greer. "I learned a lot from my experiences with the team last year and hope to build on the performances we had."
As a student, Greer was one of the most legendary runners in Carson-Newman history. In his senior season, Greer finished in the top 10 in every single event he competed in, including winning the 2018 Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. At the 2018 SAC Championships, Greer finished second and was invited to the NCAA Division II Championships for the second straight year.
After finishing in eighth place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Greer become the first Eagle to earn an All-American honor since Carson-Newman moved up to Division II in 1994. The last cross-country Eagle to finish as an All-American was Raymond Farmer in 1989 when C-N was still an NAIA school.
Greer was also a member of the Carson-Newman soccer team his freshman year as a goalkeeper.
"As a student, he came in and developed as a distance runner and came in as someone who did cross country and soccer and he became an All-American in cross, indoor and outdoor so we know Luke can appreciate the love for the process," says Needs.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all fall sports at Carson-Newman have been postponed to the spring. While the loss of the 2020 fall season has been dissapointing, Greer is excited for the future of Eagle cross country.
"Obviously I am gutted for the athletes that the current season has been cancelled," says Greer. "But the future for the cross country team is very bright. We have a team that has huge potential and I know they will all be focused and training hard to perform well in the spring."
