Matt van Lierop enters his seventh season as Wingate University director of cross country and track and field in 2025-26. He manages all aspects of six sports: men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field and men’s and women’s cross country. In 2024-25, the Bulldog men’s cross country and track and field teams finished fourth in the USTFCCCA Program of the Year standings for the second consecutive season.
For the last three seasons, the Wingate men’s and women’s cross country and track and field programs have swept the six SAC titles each year. The Bulldogs won cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field crowns in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Wingate started the 2024-25 campaign with two top-10 NCAA finishes in cross country. The Bulldog men took second place, while the WU women finished eighth in Sacramento, California. In the 2025 NCAA indoor championships, the Wingate men took seventh place, while the Bulldog women tied for 23rd place in Indianapolis.
The Bulldogs earned their first-ever track and field podium finish in the spring, as the Wingate men finished fourth at the 2025 NCAA outdoor championships in Pueblo, Colorado. The Bulldogs edged Harding by one point to take the final podium position. The WU women tied for 30th place at the same event.
During his last four seasons at Wingate, Matt van Lierop has led the Bulldogs to 12 top-10 NCAA performances. Wingate won the NCAA Division II men’s cross country national championship in 2023. The Bulldog men finish second at the NCAA XC championships in 2022 and 2024. Wingate’s top track and field finishes both occurred in 2025 with a seventh-place showing at men’s indoors and a fourth-place performance at men’s outdoors.
Matt van Lierop joins Wingate family on June 1, 2019
Matt van Lierop joined the Bulldog family after 10 seasons as head track and field and cross country coach at the University of Mount Olive in Mount Olive, N.C. During his time with the Trojans, van Lierop’s track and field and cross country teams competed in 27 NCAA Division II championships with 56 All-American performances. Mount Olive won 42 regional and conference championships. Two Trojan student-athletes received CoSIDA (now CSC) Academic All-America® honors.
In his final year at Mount Olive, van Lierop led the UMO Trojans to Conference Carolinas championships in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field (six championships). The 2018-19 season was the third straight year Mount Olive won the Conference Carolinas Triple Crown as the Trojans swept the two cross country titles and the four track and field championships.
The Mount Olive cross country teams finished second (men) and fourth (women), respectively, in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region race. The Trojan men finished 13th at cross country nationals, with women’s standout Leah Hanle earning All-American honors for the third straight year.
In the 2019 NCAA Division II indoor track and field championships, van Lierop helped Hanle earn two All-American trophies (3000 meters and 5000 meters). In addition, he steered the men’s 4x400 meter relay team to the school’s first-ever All-American relay performance.
In the 2019 NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships, van Lierop guided Hanle to two All-American runs (the 10,000 meters and the 5000 meters). On the men’s side, Mount Olive had two relay teams glean All-American laurels (the 4x100 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay).
During his tenure at Mount Olive, van Lierop amassed a combined 35 Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year Awards in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. Matt van Lierop was named the Coach of the Year for both men’s and women’s outdoor track and field in the spring of 2019.
He was named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region women’s indoor and outdoor track and field Coach of the Year in 2019. In addition, van Lierop has also three times been named the USTFCCCA Division II men’s outdoor track and field Southeast Region Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2016). He was named the USTFCCCA women’s outdoor track and field Southeast Region Coach of the Year in 2011.
Under van Lierop’s guidance, Mount Olive has consistently been ranked in the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Top 10 in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. The Trojans have earned numerous number one regional rankings.
Prior to his time at Mount Olive, van Lierop was the head cross country and track and field coach at Keystone (Pa.) College for five years. During his tenure at Keystone, van Lierop was a five-time conference coach of the year winner, three times for men’s cross country and twice for women’s country. He guided Keystone to three men’s cross country conference championships and two women’s cross country titles.
During his student-athlete days, van Lierop competed at Lehigh University. He earned All-Patriot League honors in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Coach van Lierop received a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in psychology from Lehigh.
