1 Individual NCAA Championship

12 All-Americans

14 Individual Big Ten Champions

More Numbers

• School Records: 6    Top 25 NCAA XC Championships: 2

Bio

Sarah Haveman has been a coach of the men's and women's cross country teams since 2017. Haveman received an official promotion approved by the Illinois Board of Trustees to head coach of men's and women's cross country, along with a contract extension through August 15, 2023 in January, 2020. She also serves as an assistant distance coach for the men's and women's track & field teams.  This is Haveman’s fifth year overall with the program, after coaching for five years at the University of Dayton, serving as director of track & field and cross country during the 2016-17 season.

In 2021 both men's and women's cross country teams placed sixth at the Big Ten Championships. Jon Davis paced the men's team with a third place finish and Annalyssa Crain placed 17th on the women's team. A few weeks later Davis was a runner-up finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals, both men's and women's teams placed fifth.

In 2020(21) she led the women's cross country team to a third place finish at the Big Ten Championships and 21st at the NCAA Championships. These competitions happened in January and March of 2021 as they were the response to the 2020 season being canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

During the 2019 cross country season, Haveman guided the Illinois women's cross country to NCAA Championships for the first time since 2009, where the Illini finished 22nd. The team qualified through winning the Midwest Regional title. It is the second Midwest Regional title for Illinois in program history, and the first since 2006. Haveman coached four student-athletes on the women's team to All-Region honors: Allison McGrath, Rebecca Craddock, Madison Marasco and Emma Milburn. She also guided Irwin Loud to Midwest All-Region honors for the men's cross country team. Haveman was named the 2019 USTFCCCA Women's Midwest Regional Coach of the Year for guiding the Illini women's program to the regional title. She is the second coach in women's program history to earn the honor.  

In her first season as head coach, she led the women's cross country team to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional, a 20 spot jump from the team's 24th-place finish the year before and the best finish for the team at the regional since 2009. She coached three Illini to All-Region honors at the meet (Allison McGrath, Madison Marasco and Billy Magnesen).

Haveman kicked off the 2022 track season with strong performances from her DMR teams. The men's team of Nicolas Dovalovsky, Kashief King, William Merrick and Jon Davis won the event at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The women's team of Sam Poglitsch, Jessica McDowell, Tracy Towns and Olivia Howell clocked in a program-best time (11:03.41) enroute to a runner-up finish. The next day, Jon Davis became the first Illinois men's mile Big Ten Champion since 1975 and Olivia Howell defended her mile title. At the NCAA Indoor Championships they finished fourth and fifth respectively. Howell became the third-ever Illini All-American in the mile after she was named to First-Team honors. Davis became the fourth Illini All-American in the mile garnering First-Team honors as well. 

In 2021 her efforts led Olivia Howell and Jon Davis to a Big Ten title in the 1500m. Howell set the program record at the time in the 1500m (4:12.86). She later broke her own record at the NCAA preliminary round (4:09.71) which is the current program-best. She also claimed the Big Ten title in the mile becoming the first female Illini Big Ten individual champion since 2015. Howell garnered Second Team All-American honors in the 1500m after placing top ten at the NCAA Championships. Haveman coached the men's DMR team of Tyler Cushing, Aman Thornton, Phil Hall and Jon Davis to a runner up finish at the Big Ten Championships. 

The 2020 campaign was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her DMR team of Irwin Loud, Phil Hall, Kashief King and Jon Davis secured third place at the Big Ten Championships. The outdoor season was canceled shortly after. 

During the 2019 track & field indoor season, Haveman coached the men's DMR team of Jesse Reiser, Joe Haight, Denis O'Callaghan and Jon Davis to Second-Team All-America honors. The DMR group coached by Haveman also clocked the fastest time in program history, a 9:29.19 finish to place third at the Alex Wilson Invitational. Haveman also saw Davis run his second-career sub-four minute mile, a PR and school record finish-time of 3:58.06 recorded at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational. She coached Reiser to a bronze medal in the Mile at Big Ten Championships.

Haveman also coached the women's DMR of team of Madison Marasco, Felicia Phillips, Mikaela Lucki and Rebecca Craddock to a bronze medal at Big Ten Championships this indoor season. They timed the fourth-fastest finish in program history with a time of 11:21.85. 

In her first season with the Illini, Haveman assisted graduate student Nicole Choquette in capping off her Illini career with two Big Ten medals and an NCAA Quarterfinal appearance, while also laying the foundation for future success with 10 freshmen joining the program. Highlighting the newest Illini was Rebecca Craddock who led the cross country team at every meet of her debut season, added her name to four of the track program’s top-10 lists and qualified for NCAA West Prelims.  

Haveman came to Illinois following a five-year stint at Dayton where she was promoted to Director of Track & Field and Cross Country in the spring of 2016 following three seasons as the cross country head coach. In her five years with the Flyers, Haveman led Dayton to a runner-up finish at 2016 A-10 Cross Country Championships and third place team finishes at both indoor and outdoor A-10 Track and Field Championships this season.

After being picked to finish ninth in the conference during the preseason, Haveman led the women’s cross country team to a runner-up finish at the 2016 A-10 Conference Championships, including freshman Chloe Flora earning the program’s first A-10 Rookie Performer of the Year award.

After guiding Dayton to a fourth-place finish at A-10 Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2016, Haveman led the Flyers to a top-three finish at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets in 2017. At the outdoor meet, the Dayton distance team medaled in the 5,000m and 10,000m, and scored in the 3,000m steeplechase. 

Prior to Dayton, Haveman served as an assistant coach at Purdue from 2011 to 2013 following her four-year career with the Boilermakers. As a senior in 2010, Haveman qualified for NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 3,000m steeplechase where she broke the school record to advance to the NCAA final.

An USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree and Purdue’s 2010 Distinguished Scholar-Athlete, Haveman earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Haveman is also USTFCCCA certified in Strength and Conditioning.

Haveman resides in Champaign with her daughter Charlotte.