Director of Track & Field and Cross Country John Hayes Inks Multi-Year Extension
9/22/2021 12:00:00 PM | Cross Country
Coach Hayes has led the Demon Deacons to break 23 school records and earn 76 All-ACC honors and 11 First-Team All-America accolades.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest University and director of track & field and cross country John Hayes have agreed to a multi-year contract extension, director of athletics John Currie announced on Wednesday.
"I am so proud of the efforts and achievements of our student-athletes," director of track & field and cross country John Hayes said. "We have been blessed to work with some incredible men and women and their commitment to excellence in athletics and academics is unrivaled. I am so grateful for my staff and their understanding of our vision for success within the program. We are building something special and I look forward to what we can accomplish competitively, academically and in the community as we move forward."
"John Hayes has done an outstanding job recruiting and coaching student-athletes who uphold and raise the Pro Humanitate spirit of our University community," Currie said. "We have seen continued program improvement as evidenced by the outstanding performances last year at the ACC and NCAA Cross Country Championships and the two individual league titles won by Anna Bush (pentathlon) and Tony Jones (high jump) at the indoor championships. Additionally, his student-athletes have achieved great success academically with 64 All-ACC Academic awards over his five years leading our programs. We are fortunate to have Coach Hayes at Wake Forest and are excited about the future of the Demon Deacons track & field and cross country programs."
In five years at the helm, John Hayes has returned his teams to prominence on both the conference and national stage. Under his guidance, Demon Deacon student-athletes have broken 23 school records in addition to 76 All-ACC and 11 First-Team All-America honors.
The men's cross country program vastly improved under the tutelage of Hayes, improved their finish at the ACC Championships from 14th in 2015 to 3rd in 2020 and 23rd at the Southeast Region Championships in 2015 to 15th at the NCAA Championships in 2020. It was the team's highest conference finish in 19 years and highest NCAA finish in 24 years.
On the track, 12 Demon Deacons brought home 2021 All-ACC honors, led by ACC Indoor Champions Anna Bush (pentathlon) and Tony Jones (high jump). Five Wake Forest event groups ranked in the nation's top 25 – men's 5,000m (11th), men's 1,500m (14th), men's discus (17th), women's 10K (19th), and men's hammer (23rd).
Additionally, Hayes guided the Deacs to the program's best finish in more than a decade at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships.
A number of Deacs have seen success on the international stage. Isabelle Dutranoit set the Bermuda national record in the indoor 3,000m, posting a time of 9:50.80 at the 2020 Camel City Invitational. Johanna Schulz finished third in the 1500m at the 2019 German Athletics National Championships in a personal-best time of 4:13.47, and Aaron Las Heras earned gold for Spain in the 5000m at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships, winning in a personal best time of 14:02.76. At the 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships, Las Heras took home silver for Spain in the 5000m (13:43.13), while incoming graduate student Thomas Vanoppen placed seventh in the 1500m for Belgium (3:41.06).
Wake Forest student-athletes have delivered on the academic front as well, recording the highest team GPA across all Wake Forest men's sports in both 2018 and 2019. Over the last four years, the Demon Deacons have received 64 All-ACC Academic awards, and the men's and women's cross country teams earned USTFCCCA Division I All-Academic Team honors five years in a row for achieving a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Prior to joining Wake Forest, Hayes spent five years (2008-13) at the University of Texas as cross country coach for the men's team and assistant coach for the men's track and field program. During his time with the Longhorns, Hayes' student-athletes posted six school records, claimed 90 All-Big 12 honors and captured three Big 12 team titles along with eight top-12 NCAA team finishes. A total of 28 NCAA qualifiers garnered 14 First-Team All-America honors, and one was crowned NCAA champion under
A native of Randolph, N.J., Hayes received a bachelor's degree in statistics from the University of Georgia, where he was a scholarship athlete in track and cross country and team captain his final two seasons. Hayes transferred to Georgia after spending his freshman year at the U.S. Military Academy, where he was a scoring member of Army's cross country team at the 1986 NCAA Championships.
For more information about Wake Forest Cross Country and Track and Field, follow @WakeTrack on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
"I am so proud of the efforts and achievements of our student-athletes," director of track & field and cross country John Hayes said. "We have been blessed to work with some incredible men and women and their commitment to excellence in athletics and academics is unrivaled. I am so grateful for my staff and their understanding of our vision for success within the program. We are building something special and I look forward to what we can accomplish competitively, academically and in the community as we move forward."
"John Hayes has done an outstanding job recruiting and coaching student-athletes who uphold and raise the Pro Humanitate spirit of our University community," Currie said. "We have seen continued program improvement as evidenced by the outstanding performances last year at the ACC and NCAA Cross Country Championships and the two individual league titles won by Anna Bush (pentathlon) and Tony Jones (high jump) at the indoor championships. Additionally, his student-athletes have achieved great success academically with 64 All-ACC Academic awards over his five years leading our programs. We are fortunate to have Coach Hayes at Wake Forest and are excited about the future of the Demon Deacons track & field and cross country programs."
In five years at the helm, John Hayes has returned his teams to prominence on both the conference and national stage. Under his guidance, Demon Deacon student-athletes have broken 23 school records in addition to 76 All-ACC and 11 First-Team All-America honors.
The men's cross country program vastly improved under the tutelage of Hayes, improved their finish at the ACC Championships from 14th in 2015 to 3rd in 2020 and 23rd at the Southeast Region Championships in 2015 to 15th at the NCAA Championships in 2020. It was the team's highest conference finish in 19 years and highest NCAA finish in 24 years.
On the track, 12 Demon Deacons brought home 2021 All-ACC honors, led by ACC Indoor Champions Anna Bush (pentathlon) and Tony Jones (high jump). Five Wake Forest event groups ranked in the nation's top 25 – men's 5,000m (11th), men's 1,500m (14th), men's discus (17th), women's 10K (19th), and men's hammer (23rd).
Additionally, Hayes guided the Deacs to the program's best finish in more than a decade at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships.
A number of Deacs have seen success on the international stage. Isabelle Dutranoit set the Bermuda national record in the indoor 3,000m, posting a time of 9:50.80 at the 2020 Camel City Invitational. Johanna Schulz finished third in the 1500m at the 2019 German Athletics National Championships in a personal-best time of 4:13.47, and Aaron Las Heras earned gold for Spain in the 5000m at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships, winning in a personal best time of 14:02.76. At the 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships, Las Heras took home silver for Spain in the 5000m (13:43.13), while incoming graduate student Thomas Vanoppen placed seventh in the 1500m for Belgium (3:41.06).
Wake Forest student-athletes have delivered on the academic front as well, recording the highest team GPA across all Wake Forest men's sports in both 2018 and 2019. Over the last four years, the Demon Deacons have received 64 All-ACC Academic awards, and the men's and women's cross country teams earned USTFCCCA Division I All-Academic Team honors five years in a row for achieving a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Prior to joining Wake Forest, Hayes spent five years (2008-13) at the University of Texas as cross country coach for the men's team and assistant coach for the men's track and field program. During his time with the Longhorns, Hayes' student-athletes posted six school records, claimed 90 All-Big 12 honors and captured three Big 12 team titles along with eight top-12 NCAA team finishes. A total of 28 NCAA qualifiers garnered 14 First-Team All-America honors, and one was crowned NCAA champion under
A native of Randolph, N.J., Hayes received a bachelor's degree in statistics from the University of Georgia, where he was a scholarship athlete in track and cross country and team captain his final two seasons. Hayes transferred to Georgia after spending his freshman year at the U.S. Military Academy, where he was a scoring member of Army's cross country team at the 1986 NCAA Championships.
For more information about Wake Forest Cross Country and Track and Field, follow @WakeTrack on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Players Mentioned
Wake Forest Football Head Coach Jake Dickert Press Conference (Week 5)
Monday, September 22
Football Media Availability (9/18/25)
Thursday, September 18
Matt Barrie SportsCenter at Wake Forest with Demond Claiborne
Wednesday, September 10
Matt Barrie SportsCenter on Wake Forest Campus (Arnold Palmer Complex)
Wednesday, September 10