Elite road runner and former cross country and track & field standout, Zaven O'Bryant, PhD., MSCR, joined the UNLV track & field/cross country program as a volunteer assistant coach in 2021.
FALL 2021 - XC
- San Diego City College Downey Invitational, 1st place team finish (since 2013, Big Wave Invitational, Dual Meet). Ruiz 1st place
- Team 3rd, 4th, and 4th place regular season finishes.
- Mountain West Cross Country Championships, one place advancement (since 2016) Ruiz 49th place.
- NCAA D1 West Regionals (30th place team) Ruiz 45th place
- Individual Personal Records -
- Yazzie - UCR 18:29.2, UCR 23:19.0
- Ruiz - UCR 17:26.4
- Green - UCR 23:42.6, UCR 19:30.4
- Moss - UCR 19:01.6, NCAA W Regionals 22:48.2
- Romero - UCR 19:51.0, UCR 24:07.6
- Zamora - UCR 19:50.9
- Felknor - UCR 22:59.0
- Menger - UCF 21:00.0, UCR 25:13.2
- Osterkamp - UCF 19.01, UNM Conference Championships 23:31.2
- Zeigler - 20:00.9, UCR 24:05.7
- Perez - UCF 21:38.3, UCR 26:14.0
- Arroyo - UCF 19:55.5, UCR 24:36.4
- Hergenrodeder - UCF 19:40.5, UCR 24:13.2
SPRING 2022 -TF
- Individual Personal Records -
- Arroyo - 21:14.98, 3KS 12:43.21, 12:03.05
- Aittama - 5K 21:10.17, 5:34.58, 12:53.37
- Felknor - 2:25, 5:17.9, 5:51.36
- Green 5:49.16, 2:20.07, 5:04.02
- Menger 5:19.59, 6:10.15
- Oskerkamp - 11:09.84
- Perez - 6:23.66, 5:25.41, 1:50.40, 1:05.05, 1:32.24
- Ruiz - 4:53.85, 4:33.92, 2:16.86, 16:53.21
- Schrader - 5:00.49
- Wise - 2:25.45, 5:03.00, 5:53.28
- Zamora - 5:12.66, 2:38.06, 5:46.29
FALL 2022 - XC
- Highest team finish at MW Conference Championships in 12 years (Ruiz 45th)
- 3rd place team (UT State - Ruiz 1st place) , Ruiz (2nd, UCF)
- Ruiz 4th, Baylands
- Individual Personal Records -
- Schrader - UT State 20:01.9, Baylands 22:27.1
- Ruiz - Baylands 19:49.0
- Aittama - Baylands 26:02.6, UCF 19:30.2
- Danlang - NCAA West Regionals 23:17.0
- Wise - Baylands 23:10.7
- Zamora - Baylands 24.58.7
- Yazzie - 2:18.76, 4:48.01,
SPRING 2023 - TF
- Individual Personal Records -
- Moss - 5:40.67, 3KS 11:50.29, 5:00.94
- Ruiz - 9:46.9
- Schrader - 1:46.48, 5:30.12, 2:26.39
- Yazzie - 5:14.41, 11:01.04
Mountain West Athlete of the Week
- Ruiz - 4x Student-Athlete of the week (Freshman of the Week)
UNLV Program Records
- Ruiz - 3000m indoor 9:46.9
- Ruiz - 6K 19:49.0 (since 2000)
Academics ‘21
- 2x - 4.0 Ruiz, Green
- 14 Dean’s Honor list
- Team GPA 3.34
Academics ‘22
- 3x - 4.0 McDade, Gauthier, Wise
- 7 Dean’s Honor List
- Team GPA 3.23
As a collegiate athlete at Georgia State University, O'Bryant achieved many accolades including being named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Colonial Athletic Association Conference (CAA) Commissioner's Academic Award, and CAA Athlete of the Week for 800m. He holds the Georgia State University record for the 800m and indoor mile. His personal bests on the track came during his time as a graduate student at the Morehouse School of Medicine, while competing at the Auburn Invitational, 800m 1:50.01 and 1500m 3:50.10. He was the volunteer assistant coach to Coach England from 2009 until 2012.
From 2012 until 2016, O'Byrant competed for the Atlanta Track Club - Elite and traveled the country participating in high profile road and cross-country races all while completing his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (neuroscience) and Dual Degree Masters in Clinical Research. Dr. O'Bryant is a trained scientist researcher as a neurophysiologist, but yet understands the complexities of sports performance, with elite distance running as his focus.
In 2016, Dr. O'Bryant moved to Houston to complete a post-doctoral fellowship in Biology and Biochemistry with one of the best scientists in the country, Dr. Stuart Dryer (Kidney FSGS). There he joined the men's and women's cross country and track & field teams at the University of Houston under the direction of Assistant Coaches Steve Magness (distance) and Carl Lewis (sprints/jumps) as well as Head Coach LeRoy Burell, as a volunteer assistant coach. For the next five years, he was a part of four championship track & field seasons and very successful cross country campaigns as well. As a team, UH had many national berths, including individuals as well. He trained and coached with Brian Barazza, student-athlete (now, Tinman Elite/Adidas Professional Runner) during cross country and track & field.
In 2019, Dr. O'Bryant began the pursuit of obtaining the United States Olympic Trials qualifying time in the half-marathon and marathon. Only 1 minute and 13 seconds off, 1:05:13 (4:58/mi). He plans on making his Trials debut in 2024.
Now, at UNLV Dr. O'Bryant directly leads the women's cross country program. He brings infectious positivity, bounds of energy, and eager excitement to the distance squad! As shown, he has years of direct experience working with high school, collegiate, elite, and professional runners; additionally, his research acumen brings evidence based training practices to the forefront of his plan.
Coach O'Bryant has big goals and vision for the cross country and distance program with equally matched capabilities to fulfill them. He is extremely dedicated to program and is continuing in coaching education to increase his knowledge base for further improvements. 2023 will be his last year training for the Olympic Trials in the marathon while pursuing other elite running goals with the Las Vegas Gold - Elite. He is currently a Professor at College of Southern Nevada, Department of Biology.
