Evan Verbal | Director of Cross Country and Track & Field

During the 2023-24 season, Verbal was the head coach at Regis for the cross country program, but made his way back to CCU for the upcoming cross country and track seasons with a new title, Director of Cross Country and Track and Field. 

In his third year as an assistant coach with the Cougars, Coach Verbal continues to play an important role within the cross country and track & field programs. As an athlete at CCU, Evan was a five-time NCAA Track & Field Championships qualifier, eventually becoming two-time All American in the mile and 3000m steeplechase. After his college career concluded, Evan qualified for the USATF Indoor Track & Field Championships in the 3000m event. Evan continues to dabble in the professional ranks of the sport, and those experiences inform his approach to coaching the Cougars to new levels of success.

Evan began his coaching tenure at CCU in the fall of 2020, a tough time for all NCAA Athletes as the Covid-19 Pandemic was at its height of impact on collegiate athletics. Evan was an important fixture in helping CCU athletes navigate the pandemic with positivity and wisdom, all while keeping the team focused on the athletic goals at hand. Since joining the coaching staff, Evan has played an important role in helping the Cougars amass a string of results that have pushed CCU cross country to the forefront of the national scene. Evan is relentlessly competitive, and it is clear the team has adopted Evan’s thirst for competition.

The Cougars have enjoyed steady improvement over the last four years, with the men’s program leading the way as the first team to qualify for an NCAA Championship in 2019. Since that time, the men have qualified for NCAA Nationals every year, most recently finishing third at the 2022 National Championship. The lady Cougars are not to be overlooked; they too have shown they are a team to be reckoned with at the national level by finishing tenth at the 2022 National Championships. On the track, Evan has shared his knowledge and experience to help CCU produce NCAA national track & field qualifiers in events ranging from 800m through the 10k. Verbal earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and Business Administration (2017) and recently completed his Masters of Public Administration (2019) both at Colorado Christian University. 

Athletic Director, and former Head Cross Country and Track Coach, Jon Poag spoke on Evan saying, "We are lucky to have Evan at CCU! Truly, he is a person of many talents and I feel fortunate that Evan has chosen to devote his talent and energy to the CCU cross country and track & field program. I can’t think of a better person to run this program with the goal of pushing student athletes to pursue their potential in every area of life."

More about Coach Verbal