SALEM, Ore. – As announced by Corban University director of athletics Bill Pilgeram, Warriors' assistant coach for long distance running, Stuart Eagon, has been named the associate head coach for the cross country programs entering the 2025 fall season where the Navy and Gold are expected to have one of their most highly anticipated seasons of competition to date in what could be a banner year on the men's side and a huge step up the conference rankings for the women.
"This is a big step for our distance and overall cross country/track & field programs," shared Corban head coach Todd Bos. "Stuart's work in the distance program over the past few years has led to great growth in numbers and athletic performance. Stuart understands the mission of Corban, and we are excited to see how God continues to use him as a Warrior."
Having originally joined the Warrior staff in December of 2021, Eagon brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Corban's distance program. Since becoming a track & field distance and cross country coach at Corban, Warrior student-athletes have won two individual national championships, earned seven All-American awards, and the men's team earned their first ever birth for the NAIA National Cross Country Championships in the fall of 2023.
Eagon coached Robert Swoboda to two individual National Championships, in the 10,000m in 2022 and the NAIA Marathon in 2023, as well as two individual Conference Championships and three All-American awards in 2022 and 2023. Gracie Long earned All-American in the women's 3000m steeplechase (6th place) at the NAIA Outdoor Nationals in 2022, Braydon Lee earned All-American status in the 800m (4th place) at the 2024 NAIA Indoor Nationals, and Jack Gladfelter's All-American 8th place finish at the 2024 NAIA Cross Country Championships made it the second year in a row that a Corban athlete has finished in the top 10 at cross country nationals under Eagon's coaching. Finally, Gladfelter earned his second All-American status in a single school year in the spring of 2025 when he placed 8th overall in the men's outdoor 10,000m race.
Eagon also coaches a group of post-collegiate athletes in the Willamette Valley. He coached Swoboda to a top ten finish at the prestigious Grandma's Marathon in 2024 and has coached his wife Hannah Eagon, a Corban alumnus, to high-ranking US performances (9:01.59 in the 3,000m and 4:16.28 in the 1,500m) over recent years.
Eagon served as an assistant distance coach at Beaverton High School from 2010-2012, coaching the boys' cross country team to a top five finish at the Oregon 6A Meet in 2010, while also mentoring an individual state champion and two state runner-up finishers in track.
Prior to this, Eagon attended NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin, where he was a four-time All-American in cross country, and an All-American in both indoor (5000 meters) and outdoor track (10,000 meters), as well as a member of the school's 2005 NCAA Championship team in cross country and the 2007 NCAA Championship team in indoor track. He ranks in the school's top ten all-time in the indoor 3,000m and 5,000m, having ran personal bests of 7:54.09 and 13:38.31.
A native Oregonian, Eagon still ranks highly on the state's all-time high school list in the 3,000. While competing for Beaverton High School, he finished eighth at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships and fourth in the two-mile at the Adidas Outdoor National Track Championships.
Married to his wife Hannah in August of 2023, they love exploring mountains, fields and sunsets throughout America together. When he is not coaching Warrior athletes, Eagon is a documentary filmmaker and is always studying the cinema of films from around the world.
"I'm very grateful to be named associate head cross country coach at Corban University," expressed Eagon. "I've had the opportunity to coach the distance group at Corban since late 2021, so this is a blessing to be recognized for all the ways that God has grown our program over that time. We've seen a multi-national champion and quite a few All-Americans come through the programs, but I'm far prouder of the way our team culture has grown over that time to reflect Christ as one body of believers united in growing to be more like Him daily."
Eagon continued with his thoughts by sharing, "I must thank Coach Bos so deeply, because he chose to give up coaching the distance runners just months after he had been hired to do so in 2021. He has been the one to really create vision and culture for the larger track and field team at Corban, and our cross country team is an extension of how the track team has been stewarded to follow Jesus in the way we live, in fellowship, and the way we treat others. Corban has been transformative for me in so many ways, and I consider it a miracle that the door opened for be to here and to have the opportunity to coach and mentor collegiate distance runners."
Coaches Eagon and Bos will work alongside each other this upcoming school year in a collaborative effort to better support both the long distance and track & field programs at Corban, with Eagon primarily overseeing the cross country programs while Bos will continue to serve as head coach for the track & field teams. The Warrior cross country programs will be making their first appearance of the year at the Lewis & Clark Opener in Estacada, Oregon at Milo McIver State Park. The first race is scheduled to begin at 9:30am PT.
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