NCAA

Ryan Ray Promoted to Head of ASU Cross Country, Distance

Ryan Ray Promoted to Head of ASU Cross Country, Distance


TEMPE – Dion Miller, Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, has promoted Ryan Ray to head coach of the cross country and distance programs at Arizona State. Ray led the Sun Devils’ cross country teams throughout the 2022 season and oversaw Vincent Mauri’s run up to the NCAA Championships.
 
Ray replaces Ryun Godfrey who resigned from the program due to personal reasons in early fall. This is the third position at ASU for Ray in as many years. He joined ASU as a volunteer coach for the 2020-21 season before accepting an assistant coaching role for the Arizona Wildcats for the 2021-22 season. Ray was then brought back as an assistant coach in summer 2022 and took over distance duties following Godfrey’s resignation. In his first semester back, he led Mauri to All-Pac-12 and All-Region honors.
 
“I’m excited to elevate Ryan and remove the interim tag,” Miller said. “Ryan’s been the ultimate professional and continues to exceed expectations, and we’re lucky to have him. He’s been a positive face around our program ever since he was a volunteer, is an unbelievably hard worker, and I know our student-athletes appreciate everything he does for them. I’m proud of the work he did to help Vinny reach the National Championships a few weeks ago, and we’re excited for the future.”
 
“I’m humbled and excited for this opportunity,” Ray said. “The Arizona State track and field program has a rich history of national titles and world-class coaches, athletes and alumni. This opportunity is a dream come true. I would like to thank head coach Dion Miller and associate director Marcus Williams for their belief and trust in me, and for providing me with this amazing opportunity. Lastly, I would like to thank my team – it was an honor to coach you this fall. I’m excited about what we are building, I believe in you, and I can’t wait to see what we do together! O2V!”
 
The 2022 Arizona State cross country season was highlighted by a strong season-long performance by Vincent Mauri. Mauri blew out the competition in both regular-season races and finished on the podium at the Pac-12 Championships. He won the Dave Murray Invite with a 37-second lead (23:20.4) and won the UCR Invitational in 23:25.7 to finish 20 seconds ahead of the pack. His 22:59.0 at the conference finals was a personal record and earned him second-team All-Conference…

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