With six years of experience at the Division I level, Alex Noel enters his first year as head coach of the UMO cross country programs in 2022.
Noel served four years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator of the American University cross country and track programs. He previously served two years as a volunteer assistant at the University of Georgia, one of the national powerhouses in track & field.
At American, Noel played a vital role in recruiting some of the strongest signing classes in program history, rebuilding the team culture, and roster size. In the 2020-21 season, the women's team recorded the highest team finish since 2008 at the Patriot League Cross Country Championships placing fifth overall.
Noel helped the Eagles to rewrite the program record books with 65 new all-time top ten marks, including the second-fastest outdoor 800-meter run performance in American University history by Liam Purdy. In the classroom, American University achieved the best cumulative grade-point-average (GPA) out of any NCAA Division I Women's Track & Field program at 3.80 in 2021 after finishing fifth overall the previous year.
Before he arrived in the nation's capital, Noel started as a volunteer assistant coach with the distance program at Georgia. The Bulldogs captured two national titles at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships (women) and the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships (men). The women's program also had three national runner-up finishes during the 2017 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships and 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
In cross country, the Bulldogs placed second in the 2017 SEC Cross Country Championships after a fourth-place finish at the 2016 SEC Cross Country meet. Noel mentored Samantha Drop and Jessica Drop, who both earned All-America accolades at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Jessica also captured All-American honors in the 5,000-meter run during the indoor and outdoor season in 2018.
Noel was a two-time Division III National Championships qualifier as a student-athlete at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. A two-year team captain, he set school records in the 10,000-meter run and the distance medley relay and helped lead his team to three Southern Athletic Association (SAA) titles.
He graduated cum laude with his bachelor's degree in environmental studies from Rhodes College in 2016.
