AMES, Iowa – Former Eastern Kentucky and UConn assistant coach Patrick Peterson has been named an assistant coach for the Iowa State cross country and track and field programs, director of track and field/cross country Jeremy Sudbury announced Friday. Peterson was a track and field student-athlete at Iowa State from 2013-2015.
“I’m looking forward to Patrick getting right to work helping Coach Wallace and I with both the men’s and women’s programs,” said Sudbury. “I’ve been really impressed with the coaching and recruiting that Patrick has done the past few years. The success he had this past year at EKU was simply awesome and I know he’ll hit the ground running here and continue to help us build a program that will be amongst the nation’s best year in and year out.”
Peterson joins the Cyclones following two seasons at EKU where he primarily worked with middle distance and distance runners while also serving as the recruiting coordinator and the head of alumni relations. While in Richmond, Peterson saw 16 NCAA First Round qualifiers and seven NCAA Finals qualifiers in track. He also assisted with an NCAA cross country automatic qualifying team.
At UConn, Peterson recruited and assisted all track events, focusing mostly on long sprints, middle and long distances. In Storrs, he helped coach an NCAA Honorable Mention All-American in the men’s 5K as well as six other NCAA First Round qualifiers.
“I couldn’t be more excited about joining the Iowa State track and field staff,” said Peterson. “First and foremost, I want to thank Coach Sudbury for this opportunity to give back to my alma mater and work with such an amazing program! What Coach Sudbury and the staff here has done with the program since I finished my degree and athletic career as a Cyclone has been exciting to watch and support. I am looking forward to helping current and future Cyclones take those steps in their career and be part of such a great staff.”
Peterson makes his return to Ames after two seasons as a Cyclone student-athlete. He was an All-Big 12 and All-America honoree in 2015 and helped set a then-indoor school record in the men’s distance medley relay, still a top-10 performance following the conclusion of the 2024 season.
