WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Director of Wake Forest track & field and cross country John Hayes has been named to Team USATF’s coaching staff for the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships, scheduled for August 1-6, 2022 in Cali, Columbia, as announced by USA Track & Field.
Hayes is set to serve as the men’s assistant coach, specifically working with the distance athletes.
“It’s a great honor to be chosen to represent the United States and help mentor some of our best junior athletes at the international level,” said Hayes.
Hayes has served as Wake Forest’s director of track and field and cross country since August 2016. A 20-plus year coaching veteran, Hayes has led his teams to 11 NCAA Division I cross country championship appearances and has coached a total of 64 NCAA Division I qualifiers to 31 First Team All-America honors in every event from 800m to cross country. This includes seven NCAA Division I track and cross country champions. He also coached two athletes to three USATF 1500m titles between 2009 and 2014.
In six years at the helm of Wake Forest, Hayes has returned his teams to prominence in the ACC and on the national stage. Under his direction, Demon Deacon student-athletes have broken 32 school records and earned 102 All-ACC and 13 First-Team All-America honors. Notably, men’s cross country improved their finish at the ACC Championships from 14th in 2015 to 3rd in 2021 and from 23rd at the Southeast Region Championships in 2015 to winning the Southeast Region and finishing 10th at the NCAA Championships in 2021. It was the team’s highest NCAA finish in 29 years.
On the track in 2022, 16 Demon Deacons brought home All-ACC honors, led by ACC Outdoor Champion Thomas Vanoppen (1500m). Five Wake Forest athletes advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships: Anna Bush (heptathlon), Emma Soderstrom (high jump), Zach Facioni (5000m), Tony Jones (high jump) and Vanoppen (1500m). Vanoppen is the first Wake Forest outdoor All-American since Robert Heppenstall in 2018 and the first 1500-meter All-American since Kyle Graves in 2015, second 1500-meter All-American in school history.
The 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships, scheduled for August 1 – 6, 2022 in Cali, Columbia.
Follow The Demon Deacons
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | #GoDeacs