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A Program on the Rise
Derick Lawrence enters his fifth season as head cross country coach and sixth year on the track and field staff at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, coming off the best season this program has produced in more than 50 years.
Since arriving for the 2022 indoor track season, Lawrence has won three HCAC Championships, guided the men's team to back-to-back titles the last two years, and sent the Fightin' Engineers to the NCAA Division III Championships for just the third time in school history. Along the way, he coached the first HCAC athlete ever to win an NCAA Great Lakes Region individual title, hosted a national championship at their home course, and watched his athletes rewrite the Rose-Hulman record book in the 800 meters and up.
The Numbers
- Program's best NCAA Championship finish since 1974 (29th, 2025)
- Program's best NCAA Regional finish ever (2nd, 2025), up from 20th his first year
- Rose-Hulman hosted the 2024 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships at LaVern Gibson; Lawrence served as meet director for the 2024 Pre-Nationals meet on the same course
- 11 Rose-Hulman school records in individual distance events (800 meters and up) have been set since Lawrence arrived
- 3 HCAC Cross Country Team Championships (2022, 2024, 2025), the last two back to back
- First individual in HCAC history to win the NCAA Great Lakes Region title (Sam Rinker, 2025)
- 3-time HCAC Coach of the Year at Rose-Hulman, 4-time overall
- 2-time USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year
The Climb: Four Years, One Direction
The clearest measure of what Lawrence has built shows up at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, where the men's team has climbed every single year he has been in charge.
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| Year |
Great Lakes Regional Finish |
NCAA Championship Finish |
| 2022 |
20th |
Did not qualify |
| 2023 |
14th |
Did not qualify |
| 2024 |
11th |
Did not qualify |
| 2025 |
2nd |
29th |
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In four years, Rose-Hulman climbed 18 spots at the regional meet, from 20th to a runner-up finish, and turned that into the program's first trip to nationals since 2014 and its best finish there since 1974.
2025: The Season That Changed Everything
Nobody outside the program saw it coming. Rose-Hulman entered the NCAA Great Lakes Regional ranked eighth in the coaches' poll. The Fightin' Engineers left with a second-place finish, the best regional showing in school history, and an at-large bid to nationals.
Sam Rinker led the way, winning the individual regional title outright in 24:51.27, with teammate Joshua Pohle right behind him in 24:52.77. It was the first 1-2 finish by Rose-Hulman teammates at the regional meet in 11 years. Rinker became the first Rose-Hulman runner ever to win the region, and the first athlete from any HCAC school to do it. Four Fightin' Engineers earned All-Region honors, tied for the most in program history.
The turnaround was historic on its own terms. Rose-Hulman became just the third team in the Great Lakes Region over the last 25 years to go from outside the top 10 one season to a top-two finish the next, a feat last managed by Heidelberg (13th to 2nd, 2005 to 2006) and Wabash (12th to 2nd, 2009 to 2010).
At the NCAA Championships in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Fightin' Engineers absorbed a tough break when Rinker, their regional champion, was unable to finish after an injury occurred during the race. The team still turned in a 29th-place finish, the second-best in program history and the best since an 18th-place finish in 1974. Senior Joshua Pohle led Rose-Hulman, placing 83rd, the best individual time and finish by a Fightin' Engineer at nationals since 1974.
It capped a fall in which Rose-Hulman also won its second straight HCAC Championship, the program's eighth conference title in the last 13 years. Seven Rose-Hulman runners finished in the top 10 at the HCAC meet, Ben Tuckis was named HCAC Newcomer of the Year, and nine Fightin' Engineers earned First Team All-HCAC honors with two more earning Honorable Mention. Lawrence was named HCAC Coach of the Year, his third such honor at Rose-Hulman and fourth of his career.
Rose-Hulman Cross Country Record Under Lawrence
| Year |
HCAC Men |
| 2022 |
1st |
| 2023 |
2nd |
| 2024 |
1st |
| 2025 |
1st |
Under Lawrence, the men's program has earned 24 All-HCAC First Team selections and 11 Honorable Mentions. The women's program has added 4 First Team selections and 7 Honorable Mentions.
On the women's side, Elsa King ran 19:12 for 5,000 meters at LaVern Gibson in 2023, the fifth-fastest women's 5K in school history, and Jocelyn Onstot earned All-HCAC cross country honors twice (2023, 2025) before turning into the program's most decorated distance runner on the track.
Rewriting the Record Book
Since Lawrence arrived, Rose-Hulman's cross country and track record books have been rewritten from the middle distances on up. Seven of the 20 fastest 8K times in school history have been run in the last four years, led by Sam Rinker and Joshua Pohle, who went 1-2 at the 2025 Great Lakes Regional in the second- and third-fastest 8Ks ever run by a Fightin' Engineer, trailing only Sam Sobczak's 2014 school record. Thomas Tullius, John Sluys, Elijah Hadler, Rhys Phelps, and Will Boschen also rank among the program's all-time top 20.
On the track, 11 Rose-Hulman school records in events of 800 meters or longer have fallen since Lawrence took over, more than during any other stretch in program history. Joshua Pohle (indoor 5,000m, outdoor 10,000m), Xaiden Jenson (outdoor 800m), Elsa King (outdoor 10,000m), and Sam Rinker (indoor 3,000m) have each set a record of their own, and Jocelyn Onstot owns six by herself: the indoor 800m, mile, and 5,000m, and the outdoor 800m, 1,500m, and steeplechase. Carter Lindfelt, Rhys Phelps, Wyatt Starkie, Elijah Hadler, and Will Boschen all rank among the top five in school history in their own events as well.
All-Time Bests of Athletes Lawrence Has Coached
Across his career at Trinity, Albion, Earlham, DePauw, Indiana State, and Rose-Hulman, these are the fastest times run by athletes Lawrence has personally coached in each distance event.
| Event |
Women |
Men |
| 800 meters |
2:10.85 |
1:52.96 (Xaiden Jenson) |
| 1,500 meters |
4:26.61 |
3:54.31 |
| Mile |
4:53.81 |
4:16.48 |
| 3,000 meters |
9:31.07 |
8:18.43 |
| 5,000 meters |
16:27.99 |
14:08.57 |
| 10,000 meters |
34:26.36 |
30:13.53 |
| 3,000 meter steeplechase |
10:31.46 (Jocelyn Onstot) |
8:58.11 |
| Marathon |
2:38.24 |
2:17:22 |
Hosting Nationals, On Home Turf
Rose-Hulman hosted the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in 2024, and Lawrence served as meet director for the 2024 Pre-Nationals meet held on the same course that year. The course will host the DIII national meet again in 2027, the third time it has done so. For a recruit joining the program now, that means training and racing for years on the exact course that will decide a national championship, and a coach who has already run the event from the direction table.
A Coaching Career Built on Winning Everywhere He's Been
Lawrence brought more than a decade of NCAA Division III head coaching success to Rose-Hulman.
Trinity University (2012 to 2013). Won Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) championships in both men's and women's cross country in each of his two seasons. The women's team captured back-to-back regional titles and finished 12th and 20th at the NCAA Championships; Lawrence was named NCAA Division III South/Southeast Region Women's Coach of the Year both years. The men qualified for nationals for the first time in program history in 2012, still the only Texas-based DIII program ever to do so in the sport's history.
Albion College (2014 to 2018). Coached the first men's and women's cross country All-Americans in school history: Jessica Shaw, Andrew Bill, and Cassandra Vince. Guided Vince to two NCAA Division III all-time top-10 indoor track performances (3,000m and 5,000m) and to Albion's first female distance All-American finish.
Earlham College (2019 to 2021). Led the men's team to the 2021 HCAC Championship, Earlham's first conference cross country title in 25 years.
DePauw University and Indiana State University (2007 to 2011). Started his coaching career as a volunteer with Indiana State's cross country and track programs, then served as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, DePauw, helping produce eight NCAA All-American performances.
Post-collegiately, Lawrence has coached a group of marathoners. Three of them, Mitch Klingler, Cassandra Vince, and Mackenzie Chojnacky, qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in the summer of 2019.
The Runner Behind the Coach
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Lawrence ran cross country and track at DePauw University, earning All-SCAC honors and turning in the school's eighth-best all-time performance in the 10,000 meters. He holds a Level 1 Coaching Education Certificate from USA Track and Field and an Endurance Event Specialist Certification from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). He earned his Master of Arts in recreation and sport management from Indiana State in 2010. Lawrence and his wife, Emily, live in Terre Haute with their daughter, Lucy, and two cats.
Coaching Honors
- HCAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year: 2021 (Earlham), 2022, 2024, 2025 (Rose-Hulman)
- 2-time NCAA Division III South/Southeast Region Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year (2012, 2013)
- 2-time SCAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year (2012, 2013)
- 2-time SCAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year (2012, 2013)
- USTFCCCA NCAA Division III Cross Country Executive Committee, Secretary (2015 to 2019)
Career Track Record Before Rose-Hulman
Across his stops at Trinity, Albion, Earlham, DePauw, and Indiana State, Lawrence has coached:
- 12 NCAA Division III All-Americans, 5 in cross country and 7 in track and field events ranging from the 400m hurdles to the 5,000m
- 4 NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country national-meet team berths (26th in 2008, 20th in 2009, 12th in 2012, 20th in 2013) and 1 men's berth (32nd in 2012)
- 2 NCAA Division III South/Southeast Region Women's Cross Country Team Championships (2012, 2013), plus 1 individual region champion and Athlete of the Year (2013)
- 51 All-Region cross country individual performances (2008 to 2021)
- 6 conference team championships and 4 individual conference champions in cross country, plus 41 individual conference champions in track and field (2009 to 2021)
- Multiple USTFCCCA All-Academic individuals and teams every year since 2012
- 1 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient (2011)
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Derick Lawrence
Cross Country Record at Rose-Hulman
| Year |
|
HCAC Men |
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HCAC Women |
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| 2022 |
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1st |
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4th |
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| 2023 |
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2nd |
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2nd |
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| 2024 |
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1st |
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5th |
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| 2025 |
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1st |
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4th |
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