IRVING, Texas – Amy Rudolph, a 1991 Kane graduate and former Olympic runner, was named the Big 12 Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year Thursday after guiding Iowa State to the Big 12 title.
In her third year at the helm of the women’s cross country team, Rudolph led her squad to a perfect record in 2020. The Cyclones captured titles at the Bob Timmons Classic, Cowboy Jamboree, and capped off the season with another Big 12 title, the team’s eighth in the last 10 seasons.
Photo courtesy of Iowa State Athletics
Rudolph continued to groom a youthful team. Underclassmen Brenna Cohoon, Winrose Chesang, and Dana Feyenall raced to All-Big 12 finishes at the Conference Championship at Rim Rock Farm. Caile Logue continued her individual dominance under Rudolph, winning both regular-season races, as well as the individual Big 12 crown, her third in the last three seasons. Logue was named the Big 12 Women’s Runner of the Year and Cohoon the Big 12 Women’s Newcomer of the Year.
This is the second time in her career that Rudolph has been named the Big 12 Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Photo courtesy of Iowa State Athletics
Rudolph is a two-time United States Olympian in the 5,000-meter run (1996 and 2000), seven-time World Championship team member, and three-time USA National Champion. She was a finalist in the 5,000 meters (finishing 10th) at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Rudolph set an American record in 1996, running the 5k in 14:56.04 in Stockholm.
She was a two-time (1997 and 2002) U.S. Indoor Champion in the 3,000 meters, a two-time (1998 and 1999) U.S. short course cross country champion, and the 1998 U.S. 8-kilometer road racing champ.
As a collegian at Providence, she won two NCAA Championships (indoor mile and outdoor 1,500) in 1994, earned 10 All-American awards, and was a three-time BIG EAST champion in the 3,000. Rudolph was inducted into the Friars’ Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
A life-long runner, she ran her first competitive race – 50-yard dash – at the age of 6.
Rudolph won the PIAA Class 2A cross country championship as a junior in 1989 and a senior in 1990 after taking second as a sophomore in 1988 and fourth as a freshman in 1987. She was also a six-time PIAA champion in track and field winning the Class 2A 1,6000-meter run and the 3,200-meter run as a sophomore in 1989, a junior in 1990, and a senior in 1991. She was second in both events as a freshman in 1989.
Photo courtesy of Iowa State Athletics
Rudolph led the Lady Wolves to three straight Top 4 PIAA Class 2A team finishes (4th in 1991, tied for 4th in 1990, and 2nd in 1989).
Becoming the Associate Head Women’s Cross Country Coach/Assistant Track and Field Coach at Iowa State in 2018, Rudolph has guided the Cyclones to three straight Big 12 Cross Country titles. She was also named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2018. Her 2019 team finished fourth at the NCAA Division I Championships, and her 2018 squad was 15th after winning the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional Championship.
Rudolph also has coached at Drake, Auburn, Providence, and Bryant.
