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University of Illinois Athletics

Helen Lehman-Winters Hiring

Women's Cross Country

Lehman-Winters Named Head Cross Country Coach

News

Women's Cross Country

Lehman-Winters Named Head Cross Country Coach

News

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– Helen Lehman-Winters has been hired as Illinois head cross country coach and distance events coach under director of track and field and cross country Petros Kyprianou, Director of Athletics Josh Whitman announced on Monday. Lehman-Winters' contract is pending approval by the UI Board of Trustees at its September meeting.

"We want to welcome Helen Lehman-Winters to the Illinois family," Whitman said. "She brings with her a wealth of experience and success at the highest level. She has a passion for coaching and competition. Helen's arrival accelerates the upward trajectory of the Fighting Illini cross country and track and field programs that we started with the arrival of our new staff, led by Petros Kyprianou, last summer.  We want to thank Helen and her family for their trust and look forward to many successes for our teams and student-athletes under her leadership."

Lehman-Winters recently spent four seasons as cross country coach and associate head coach at Oregon from 2018-22, working directly with the UO women's distance program.

During her tenure, the Ducks cross country team won the 2018 Pac-12 title and advanced to the NCAA Championships three times, led by a third-place finish in 2018. She was named 2018 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) West Region Women's Coach of the Year.

The Ducks women's track team, meanwhile, won the 2022 Pac-12 title and was conference runner-up in both 2019 and 2021. The Oregon women finished in the top-20 at all six NCAA meets during Lehman-Winters' time in Eugene, highlighted by a fifth-place showing at the 2019 Outdoor Championships.

"I am so excited to welcome Helen to our cross country and track and field team," Kyprianou said. "Not only am I ecstatic about the level of care, coaching, and excitement Helen will provide to our cross and distance groups, but also her intelligence, demeanor and teamwork that will complement our talented staff. From the very first talk we had when I approached her about the opportunity here at Illinois, I knew she was the one. Helen brings a wealth of experience, success and wisdom that can help us continue the momentum of a great recruiting class and in our mission of building a championship team. Her work ethic and recruiting ability is championship level, and that is what I have been looking for in a cross country coach. Like the rest of our staff, she possesses a sense of urgency, attention to detail, and laser focus. I can't wait to get her and the rest of the staff back to begin this new year. I-L-L!"
 
Lehman-Winters coached two NCAA champions at Oregon, as Jessica Hull won the 3,000m in 2019 and Carmela Cardama Baez captured the 10,000m in 2021. She also coached three Pac-12 champions in Hull (1,500m in 2019), Cardama Baez (10,000m in 2021) and Aneta Konieczek (3,000m steeplechase in 2021).

Overall, the women's distance crew collected 21 All-America accolades records under Lehman-Winter's direction. She also had two athletes represent their home countries at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021) in Hull (Australia) and Konieczek (Poland).

"I am thrilled to join Coach Kyprianou and the entire Illini family and incredibly honored to have the opportunity to lead both the men's and women's distance squads into the next chapter of success," Lehman-Winters said. "I am grateful to Josh Whitman, his leadership team, and Coach Kyprianou for their trust in me to take on this role. I enjoyed my time at the University of Oregon working with amazing student-athletes and am especially thankful to Coach Johnson and his incredible staff there, but now I can't wait to get to work in Champaign and contribute to a championship program."

Prior to her time at Oregon, Lehman-Winters spent 15 years at San Francisco as head men's and women's cross country and track and field coach from 2003-18. During her successful run at USF, Lehman-Winters was an eight-time West Coast Conference (WCC) Coach of the Year in cross country. She led the USF women to a runner-up performance at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships – the highest finish in school history – and a total of six WCC titles, which included five in a row from 2009-13.
 
In total, Lehman-Winters coached USF student-athletes to 52 All-WCC honors and 14 USTFCCCA All-America accolades. One of those All-America honors went to Charlotte Taylor, who made history under Lehman-Winters' guidance in winning the 10,000 meters at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships to become the first female national champion in USF history. She was also the 2017 USTFCCCA West Region and WCC Women's Runner of the Year and later went on to finish third at that year's NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Before taking over at USF, Lehman-Winters spent three seasons as a volunteer coach for UCLA from 2000-03 working with the Bruins men's and women's middle and long distance groups. She began her coaching career in the California high schools, building successful cross country and track programs at El Cerrito High (1985-89) and Carondelet High in Concord (1989-2000).
 
At the prep level, Lehman-Winters guided her cross country teams to nine California State meet cross country berths, eight North Coast Section titles and 12 league titles. On the track, Lehman-Winters' squads enjoyed even greater success, posting an unprecedented 109-1 league dual meet record while winning five North Coast Section titles. She coached 23 distance runners to the California state meet, nine of which earned top-four finishes. In 1996, she mentored Kristen Gordon to the Foot Locker Cross Country national title. 
 
Lehman-Winters competed in cross country and track at UC Santa Barbara before graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She earned a master's degree in sport psychology from John F. Kennedy University in 1997.

Helen and her husband John have three children, sons Miles and Mathias, who are both in college, and daughter Milana, a high school senior.

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