CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman announced Monday a contract extension for Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Petros Kyprianou, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees at its March 20 meeting. The new agreement has Kyprianou on contract through at least the 2030-31 season, with the opportunity to earn an additional one-year extension by meeting certain performance thresholds.
"We are thrilled to create a long-term partnership with Petros Kyprianou as he continues to elevate the Illinois Track and Field and Cross Country programs," Whitman said. "When we hired Petros in 2022, we brought to Champaign-Urbana one of the top program builders in the sport, an intense competitor with infectious energy. He has been tireless in his work and is delivering impressive results in a remarkably short timeline. Petros has improved every facet of our program and established the University of Illinois as the destination place for top athletes from around the world to train, set records, and compete for championships. We are grateful to Petros and his family for trusting us and look forward to supporting him as he and his teams continue their assault on the Fighting Illini records books."
Now in this third season at Illinois, Kyprianou has ignited the resurgence of the proud Illinois Track & Field program. The 2024 Big Ten Indoor Coach of the Year and USTFCCCA Midwest Region Indoor Coach of the Year, Kyprianou already has a lengthy list of highlights during his Illini tenure, coaching two individual NCAA champions, 15 first-team All-Americans, and 12 individual Big Ten champions, along with winning a Big Ten women's indoor team title.
"On a personal level, this new contract means the world to me and my family as we have been graciously welcomed in the famILLy," Kyprianou said. "Illinois is truly a very special place where I wake up excited and motivated to get better every day. I was fortunate enough to work for some great programs in the past and win NCAA Championships, but I'll tell you, there is no place like Illinois. When we began our conversations for this extension the excitement from our administration about where our programs are headed was evident and I know, for Illinois, they went above and beyond. I'm very grateful for this opportunity. I was never a professional who got caught up on the dollar signs, but instead the true meaning of impacting the lives of student-athletes with the support of the program! My motto is always trust and respect equals loyalty. Here at Illinois, all parts of this equation are evenly matched and I'm thankful for Josh's administration. This journey has been fun, and I can't wait for what the future holds for us as we enter this new era in collegiate athletics!"
Year three has seen continued growth under Kyprianou as he has 11 women on pace to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which would shatter his own program record he set last year with nine. Five men are currently on track to qualify for nationals as well. Both squads are nationally ranked heading into the 2025 indoor championships schedule, with the Illini women's team at No. 4 and the UI men's team at No. 12.
During his Illinois tenure, Kyprianou has coached student-athletes to one NCAA record, 44 school records – including 15 this season – and five Big Ten records. Three of those Big Ten records came at two of the home meets last month: Tacoria Humphrey in the long jump (6.78m (22-3)), Tori Thomas in the pole vault (4.57m (15-0)) and Lucie Kienast in the pentathlon (4,405 points).
Year two saw Kyprianou lead Illinois to the 2024 Big Ten Women's Indoor Championship, the program's first since 2013. He earned Big Ten and region indoor coach of the year accolades on the heels of his first-ever Big Ten team title. The Illini women were also ranked No. 1 by the USTFCCCA, earning its first-ever No. 1 ranking.
He coached Rose Yeboah to national champion status in the high jump at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships with a meet and school record 1.97m (6-5 1/2), becoming the Illini women's program's first-ever field event NCAA champion. In addition, this was an automatic qualifying mark to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where Yeboah represented Ghana.
Under Kyprianou's tutelage, Illinois led the Big Ten in All-Americans on the women's side for the 2024 season with nine total: five indoors and four outdoors. Sophia Beckmon tied the American U20 record in the long jump with a 6.86m (22-6 1/4) leap that also tied the collegiate freshman record. He coached Aiden Ouimet to shatter the Big Ten Indoor Championships heptathlon record with 6,120 points, the 17th-highest score in NCAA history. Ouimet also earned Big Ten Outstanding Field Athlete of the Championships for this performance, the first in men's program history during the indoor season.
During year one of Kyprianou's Illini regime, Olivia Howell won the NCAA Indoor championship in the mile with a then-Albuquerque Convention Center facility record time of 4:34.00. She tallied her third-straight Big Ten Championship in the mile (indoor) and 1500m (outdoor) and capped off the season with her first-ever outdoor All-America honors in the 1500m.
