Recognized as one of the most successful cross country coaches in the United States, Coach Pat Tyson is entering his 18th season as Director of Cross Country and Track & Field at Gonzaga University in 2025-26. His primary duties are to coach the men distance runners.
During his tenure, the Gonzaga program has evolved into one of the premier cross country programs in the West Region and a perennial competitor on the national stage. In 2024 he led the Zags to a sixth straight season ranked in the top 10 in the USTFCCCA West Region Coaches' Poll. Their historic run in 2023 included the program's first-ever West Coast Conference Championship title, led by Spokane's own Wil Smith. One week later, the Zags came out swinging in the NCAA West Regional, stealing their second-straight automatic bid to the NCAA Championships with a second place team finish in Sacramento, Calif., their fourth consecutive Nationals appearance since the spring of 2020.
Amidst Gonzaga's recent success is a program-best 13th-place finish at the NCAA National Championship race in 2022. That season also included the program’s first-ever automatic bid with a program-best second-place finish at the NCAA West Regionals.
Tyson has been named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year three times, following the 2020 spring season, 2022, and 2023.
Under Tyson’s coaching, all of the top program’s indoor and outdoor track records have been set in the past 10 years, and the fastest times in cross country have been run since 2014. The Bulldog men have finished in the top four at the WCC Cross Country Championships in each of the last 10 seasons, with a total of ten First Team All-West Coast Conference athletes and ten All-West Selections. Four GU athletes have won WCC Freshman of the Year under Tyson — James Mwaura (2018), Riley Moore (2019), Wil Smith (2020-21), and Logan Law (2023) — with Mwaura later the program’s first All-American with a 36th-place finish at Nationals in 2021.
Matthew Crichlow became the first-ever qualifier for the NCAA Championships in school history in 2015, with Mwaura following up the feat in 2019 before the Zags’ current streak of team appearances.
On the track side of things, Tyson has coached his athletes to breaking all indoor and outdoor records and has greatly reshaped the all-time top 10 performances. Brent Felnagle (1500) and Conor McCandless (5000) qualified for NCAA West in 2013 and Nick Roche (3000 Meter Steeplechase) and Willie Milam (5000 meters) represented the Zags in the NCAA First round at the University of Arkansas in the spring of 2014. Brent Felnagle and Willie Milam made Academic All-American teams as well. Andy Phillips (1500), Troy Fraley (Steeplechase), and Willie Milam (5000) would qualify for NCAA West at the University of Texas in 2015. Willie Milam would be named to the First Team Capital One All-Academic Team. Kellen Manley (Steeplechase) would represent the class of 2016 at NCAA West at the University of Kansas. Austin, Texas would be the host of the 2017 NCAA West first round qualifying round. Troy Fraley would win the 3000 Meter steeplechase and true freshman Jake Perrin would compete in the 5000 meters. Fraley’s win would be a first in Gonzaga History. Fraley would move on to Eugene for the NCAA Finals and become the first Gonzaga runner to earn First Team All-American with his 7th place school record time of 8:35.38.
In 2018, Gonzaga track & field had a program-record seven selections to the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Sacramento. Brandon Pollard, Mason Villarma, and Scotty Kopczynski competed in the 1500. Kellen Manley, Sammy Truax, Alex Heffelfinger, and Troy Fraley represented the Zags in the 3000-meter Steeplechase. Kopczynski, Villarma and Pollard would all receive All-American Academic honors. In 2019, Tyson led six entries to the NCAA West Preliminary rounds, again, in Sacramento. Pollard would become the first Zag to move on to the quarter finals of the 1500. Kopczynski, Pollard, Manley, Yacine Guermali, and Andrew Gardner were named to the NCAA Division 1 All-Academic Team. In 2021, Tyson sent a total of 6 athletes to the NCAA West Region. James Mwaura (5k,10k), Yacine Guermali (5k), Jake Perrin (5k), Alex Walde (Steeple), Ben Hogan (Steeple), and Peter Hogan (10k). At the NCAA Final, Mwaura would earn 2nd Team All-American in the 10k, and honorable mention All-American in the 5k. In 2022, six Zags qualified for the NCAA West Prelims, with Mwaura advancing to the NCAA 10k Final once again and earning another All-American honor, placing 15th overall. In 2023, Tyson led five entries to the NCAA West Prelims. Mwaura concluded his historic career that season with two final All-American nods, a First Team honor in the 10K and a Second Team honor in the 5K. In 2024, three Zags qualified for the preliminary rounds for five total entries. Wil Smith punched his first ticket to the NCAA Championships in the 5k, placing 12th overall to earn Second Team All-American.
Tyson has coached two athletes to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials, James Mwaura and Wil Smith. In 2020, Mwaura’s time of 27:50.44 gave him the chance to compete, where he finished 14th, in the fastest 10K championship in history beside a field of the best runners in the nation. Mwaura was one of nine runners in that NCAA 10K race to break the previous 10K record. In 2024, Smith was accepted into the 10K field with a time of 28:04.77 and was one of ten collegiate runners in a field of the nation's best. He placed 13th to edge Mwaura's 2021 finish on that same track three years prior. Both men competed in the same field in the 10K final of the 2025 USATF National Championships, in which Mwaura finished fifth in a field that featured all three of the American Olympians selected for the event in the 2024 Paris Olympics.Â
Before accepting his position with Gonzaga, Tyson held similar positions at the University of Oregon and University of Kentucky and spent 20 years at Mead High School in Washington State while developing it into a distance running powerhouse. While serving as the Oregon men’s distance coach for the 2005 spring campaign, his runners combined for two All-America honors and four NCAA invites, six top-eight Pac-10 finishes, two USA Junior Championships invites, and several appearances on UO’s hallowed all-time top-10 lists.
During Tyson’s time of coaching at Mead, the Harriers achieved an impressive record of 180-8 in one of the toughest dual-meet leagues in the nation. Reaching state competition 18 consecutive years to win 12 state titles, they never placed worse than third. During that time, the Harriers had a nine-year streak when they never lost a competition. In his last three years at Mead, Tyson’s teams placed third and fourth at the Nike Team National Championships held in Portland, Oregon. For his remarkable work with the Mead Harriers, Tyson has been named Washington State Coach of the Year multiple times. He was nominated for National High School Coach of the Year when his Mead teams were ranked No. 1 by Harrier magazine. Tyson has produced nine Washington State prep champions and nine Foot Locker Cross Country Championship finalists. Several of his runners have placed on the All-Time Top 100 List for the state of Washington. Additionally, Tyson worked with the 2008 U.S. Olympic team during trials.
Pat Tyson developed his philosophies of training and competition while associating with legendary coaches and runners. He ran at the University of Oregon for Coaches Bill Dellinger and Bill Bowerman, the coach of four NCAA champion teams and the co-founder of Nike, Inc. While at Oregon, he was a teammate and roommate of Steve Prefontaine, Olympian and winner of three individual NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championships.
As a competitive athlete, Tyson ran cross country and track at the University of Oregon, where he competed in three NCAA Cross Country Championships and helped lead Oregon to first-, second-, and third-place finishes.Â
