Adam Meyer was hired as an assistant coach for the UNLV track & field/cross country programs just prior to the 2023-24 academic year.
Meyer joined the Rebels after spending the previous year as an assistant coach and then head coach of the Park Gilbert University track & field/cross country programs. At UNLV, his coaching focus is distance events and cross country.
“I am very excited to have Coach Adam Meyer on board here at UNLV,” head coach of track & field/cross country Carmelita Jeter said upon announcing his hire. “In order to take this program to new heights I had to bring in someone with high energy and extremely outgoing, hard working and know that coaching is more than just X's and O's. Adam is also someone whose goals for the program align with mine. I want these women to be seen and heard and I am confident that Coach Meyers can provide that. We are a work-in-progress and have a brick-by-brick mindset, but we are all ready to do our part.”
Meyer saw success during his second season where Natalia Ruiz set program record in the 3000m, tearing down a 25-year mark on a final time of 9:39.34 at the Desert Heat Classic with a runner-up finish. Ruiz also broke her own 10,000m time a the MW Outdoor Championships with a third-place time of 34:30.72, collecting All-MW accolades.Â
The 2024 cross country team was named on the 2024 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academic Awards list, appearing on the All-Academic Teams portion of the awards notice for their accolades in the fall of 2024. The Rebels registered a team GPA of 3.44 on a 4.0 scale in the fall semester.
Meyer led the cross country team to their first All-Mountain West runner since the 2008 season, Natalia Ruiz finishing fourteenth overall during the 2023 Mountain West Cross Country Championships. He'd help Ruiz dominate the season with a pair of the conference's Cross Country Runner of the Week awards, also performing the program's best-ever 5K time at the UC Riverside Invitational on a 17:02.2 time. Many other student-athletes found success in the cross country season, Alana Sangprasit picking up a conference Freshman of the Week award after her and five other Rebels performed best times at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational.
The distance crew, once again, rewrote UNLV history to kick off the indoor track & field season, Ruiz shattering the 3000m record at the Sharon-Colyear Danville Season Opener on a 9:21.66 final time. She would later earn the Mountain West's Runner of the Week award for her previously-mentioned race.
Meyer was hired at Park Gilbert, which is in Gilbert, Arizona, in August of 2022 where he assisted in building training for cross country student-athletes, resulting in personal bests on the course. Under his direction, three PGU male student-athletes and two female student-athletes broke program records in the the 8k and 5k courses and he produced the highest conference finish in school history with a third-place showing by the women’s team.
Meyer was then promoted to become the head coach of the programs in January. In this role, he created the indoor and outdoor track & field competition schedule, oversaw the team’s budget for travel, competition, gear and other expenses, was the head recruiter, and designed training for cross country and distance runners that resulted in personal bests across many different events ranging from the 400m to the 8k.
“I am very excited to be a part of this UNLV program,” Meyer said. “I am ready to work closely with Coach Jeter and the rest of the staff to help build a culture of excellence and achievement.”
As PGU’s head coach, Meyer led the women’s team to a second-place conference finish with a program-record 105 points scored. 18 of his student-athletes recorded top-three conference finishes in either individual events or relays at the 2023 CALPAC Conference Championships.
In addition, Meyer produced the first outdoor track & field NAIA national qualifier in school history. He also organized the program’s academic mentoring and study hall programs.
Meyer was a student-athlete at Arizona State from 2017-22 where he competed for Sun Devil track & field/cross country. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sports business at ASU in 2021 and is a former member of the W.P. Carey School of Business’s Leaders Academy.
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