Washington University in St. Louis

Jeff Stiles File

Alma Mater

1999 North Central

2001 Southwest Missouri State

Coaching timeline

2001-Pres. WashU (Head Coach - Cross Country)

2009-Pres. WashU (Head Coach - Track & Field)

2001-2008 WashU (Assistant Coach - Track & Field)

College playing career

1995-99 North Central

National championships

2026 WashU (Women's Indoor)

2024 WashU (Women's Outdoor)

2022 WashU (Men's Indoor)

2018 WashU (Women's Cross Country)

2017 WashU (Women's Indoor)

2017 WashU (Women's Outdoor)

2011 WashU (Women's Cross Country)

Conference championships

2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 WashU (Women's Cross Country)

2001, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 (Co), 2017, 2018 WashU (Men's Cross Country)

2009, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 WashU (Women's Indoor Track & Field)

2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 WashU (Men's Indoor Track & Field)

2009, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 WashU (Women's Outdoor Track & Field )

2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022 WashU (Men's Outdoor Track & Field)

Jeff Stiles enters his 26th season as the head coach of the Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's cross country programs, and his 19th as the head coach of the Bears' men's and women's track & field programs in 2026-27.

In 2026, after three consecutive indoor runner-up finishes, Stiles led WashU to the 2026 D3 Women's Indoor National Championship. The Bears finished with 55 points, including 10 from each of the DMR (Raley, Spytek, Riemer, and Laughlin), 800m (Delia), and 4x400m (Spytek, Bird, Echols, and Weir) event national champions. Stiles was named the Women's Indoor National Coach of the Year. 

Stiles has led WashU to become a nationally competitive program throughout the entire academic year, including the men's program's first ever indoor co-national championship in 2022. The 2018-19 season in which the Bears women won the Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for the fourth consecutive year. WashU captured its second national title in cross country in addition to a pair of runner-up finishes during the indoor and outdoor track & field national championships. The four-straight Deb Vercauteren awards are the most consecutive honors received by a program in the history of the USTFCCCA accolade.

The Bears have once again return to the top of of D3 cross country and track & field as they have won three of the past four Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year, including this past year in 2025-26 as the indoor team claimed their second national championship, outdoor was the national runner-up , and cross country finished seventh at the national meet.

Stiles has led the WashU women’s teams to first national titles in program history in cross country (2011), indoor track & field (2017, 2026) and outdoor track & field (2017, 2024), while guiding the men to program best placements in cross country (2018-second), indoor track & field (2019-fifth) and outdoor track & field (2011-fourth).

WashU’s national success has led to National Coach of the Year honors for Stiles in cross country (women 2011 and 2018), indoor track & field (women 2017, men 2022, women 2026) and outdoor track & field (women 2017, women 2024) by the USTFCCCA. In addition, Stiles has earned nine Midwest Region Cross Country Coach of the Year honors, 20 combined UAA XC Coaching Staff of the Year accolades and 29 combined UAA T&F Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

The Bears women were named the 2017 Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Scholar Team of the Year and the 2022 Indoor men earned its first ever Scholar Team of the Year honors.

CROSS COUNTRY
In his 25 seasons at the helm of WashU cross country, Stiles' teams have combined to win 25 University Athletic Association (UAA) titles. He helped guide Bears to 64 All-American finishes. The WashU women earned top-four finishes in six consecutive seasons, including a fifth place finish in 2021 at nationals, while the men have 11-straight top-20 placements with a school record second place finish in 2018 and have eight, top-5 NCAA team finishes.

INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Stiles took over the track & field program 18 years ago and has guided WashU to 21 UAA indoor titles, 10 by the men and 11 by the women. The WashU women have scored points nationally in every season but Stile’s first year leading the Bears, including 54 points to win the 2026 DIII National Championship. The men’s program won its first ever co-national championship in 2022 and has placed in the top-10 four times at nationals while accumulating 86 All-American finishes. The women’s team has totaled 167 All-America honors.

OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
The women’s outdoor program has scored points every single year with Stiles leading the charge, which culminated in a national title in 2017 and again in 2024. The women have earned trophies in four consecutive years while there have been 164 All-American finishes in his tenure. The men and women have combined for 21 UAA titles, led by 11 from the men. The men have had three top-10 finishes under Stiles at nationals with 49 All-America finishes.

PERSONAL
Stiles graduated from North Central in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and earned his master's degree in secondary education from Southwest Missouri State in August 2001. The five-time All-American was named to the North Central College Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Stiles and his wife, Heather, have three children: Anya, Kiera and Micah.