AWARDS
• 2019 Patriot League Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year
Paul Spangler is in his third season as head cross country coach and assistant track & field coach at Boston University in 2019-20.
He was named 2019 Patriot League Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year after leading the Terriers to the program's first team title since 2014. Four of his runners earned All-Patriot League accolades, including individual champion Abigail Gugel and Most Outstanding Rookie Sophia Jacobs-Townsley. The women's squad won three events in 2019, with Gugel earning two victories after missing much of the 2018 campaign due to injury. Thanks to Spangler's guidance, BU improved from seventh at the 2017 conference championship to fourth the next year and first in 2019.
On the men's side, Spangler led the Terriers to a third-place performance at the conference championship. Redshirt junior Brett Davidson was a First Team All-Patriot League selection and senior Paul Luevano received second-team accolades, becoming just the sixth male runner in conference history to garner All-Patriot League status in all four cross country seasons.
During the 2019-20 indoor track & field season, Spangler coached sophomore Andrea Claeson to gold medal victories in both the 1 mile run and the 3000m run at the PL Indoor Championships on her way to earning PL Female Athlete of the Meet honors. Spangler also coached freshman Sophia Jacobs-Townsley who won gold in the 5000m and silver in the 3000m run and was named PL Rookie of the Meet.
In 2018, both the men's and the women's cross country teams improved upon their 2017 finishes at the Patriot League Championships, with the Terrier men placing second for the first time since 2015. Alexander Seal capped his collegiate career with a third-place performance while Paul Luevano took fourth. Four harriers placed in the top 10 to earn All-Patriot League accolades. Seal then followed that showing by finishing 13th at the NCAA Northeast Regional to earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors for the second straight season. Seal also picked up his second consecutive nod to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team.
The Terrier women made great strides in 2018, taking fourth at the conference championship after a seventh-place finish the previous year. Jessica Kellar became the first Terrier in program history to be named Patriot League Rookie of the Meet after she crossed the line in fifth place. In addition, sophomore Corinne Batsu improved by 37 positions to take 15th.
The men's cross country team had one of its best seasons in recent history in Spangler's first year with the program. The squad was one strongest programs in the Northeast. They finished third at the Patriot League Championship and followed that with a sixth-place finish in the 37-team field at the NCAA Northeast Regional, just 10 points back of the third-place squad. It was their best performance at the NCAA Northeast Regional since they were seventh in 2010.
As a team, the Terriers posted four top-10 finishes and finished in the top half of the field in all but one race. At the Battle of Beantown, BU was one of just three teams to place two runners in the top 10.
Paul Luevano certainly benefited from Spangler's tutelage, as he posted four top-10 and three top-five finishes in 2017, including a runaway victory at the Patriot League Championship. Luevano was the first Terrier male since 2003 to capture a cross country crown, besting the second-place harrier by 15 seconds. He then earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors for the second straight season after a fifth-place performance at the NCAA Northeast Regional, which earned him a spot in the NCAA Championship field.
In addition to Luevano, Seal also had one of his finest cross country campaigns thanks to Spangler's coaching. Seal joined Luevano as a USTFCCCA All-Region selection thanks to his 19th-place finish and was also named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. The Australian finished the year with four top-20 and two top-10 efforts.
Spangler arrived at BU after coaching distance runners at Florida for over five years. Since his arrival at Gainesville in January of 2012, Spangler’s cross country athletes have earned 21 USTFCCCA All-Region accolades, five USTFCCCA All-Academic plaudits and 16 All-SEC honors, including eight first-team all-conference selections.
He led the Florida women to the 2012 SEC Championship to become the first coach in school history to win a league title in his debut season. The Gators later advanced to the NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship for the 12
th time in program history.
On the men's side, Spangler guided Mark Parrish to the individual title at the 2013 NCAA South Regional Championship. Parrish, who broke the program's 8K record that season, went on to finish 49th at the NCAA Championships and was the 2013 USTFCCCA South Region Male Athlete of the Year. In addition, Spangler helped Jimmy Clark become the first Gator to ever earn three First Team All-SEC accolades.
In addition to his success in cross country, Spangler has also guided athletes to outstanding achievements on the track. At Florida, his Gators earned 35 USTFCCCA All-America plaudits (18 men, 17 women). He also coached two USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Track Athletes of the Year and Gator distance runners have earned three national runner-up finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. On top of that, Gator athletes earned four top-five finishes at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships during Spangler's tenure at Florida.
Among the All-Americans Spangler coached are six-time honorees Cory McGee and Agata Strausa. In addition, Spangler coached Genevieve LaCaze to a record three individual titles at the 2012 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships (1,500m, 5,000m, 3,000m steeplechase). LaCaze is one of three Spangler-coached athletes to go on to sign a professional contract.
Spangler has also coached two Olympians during his career. Genevieve LaCaze represented Australia at the 2012 Olympic Games, competing in the 3,000m steeplechase. Most recently, Andres Arroyo competed in the 2016 Olympics for Puerto Rico, running the 800m event.
Three of Spangler's Gators competed at IAAF World Championships in either track or cross country. Most recently, Spangler coached Eddie Garcia, the U.S. Virgin Islands record holder in the indoor and outdoor 5,000 meters, indoor 3,000 meters, and outdoor 10,000 meters to a berth in the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
In addition to Garcia, Spangler helped Cory McGee qualify for the 2013 World Championships in the 1,500m run and LaCaze take part in the 3,000m steeplechase during the 2015 World Championships.
Two other American athletes that Spangler coached - Donnie Cowart and Mark Parrish - also made their mark on the world stage. Cowart finished fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase at both the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and the 2015 Pan American Games, while Parrish competed for Team USA at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country Championships.
Prior to his successful stint at Florida, Spangler spent nearly a decade at the Virginia Military Institute and five years at Florida State. While at VMI, Spangler tutored two USTFCCCA All-Americans and helped the Keydets' 4x800m relay team post the world's No. 1 indoor time in 2011. Nearly a dozen Keydets earned major conference awards under Spangler's guidance, with 90 track & field and cross country athletes securing all-conference honors during that timeframe.
In 2009, Spangler was recognized as the Big South Conference Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. By the time Spangler left VMI, his pupils had won 17 individual league titles and broke 21 school records while helping the Keydets finish runners-up at seven different conference championships.
At Florida State, Spangler helped the Seminoles qualify for the 2001 NCAA Women's Cross Country Championships as a team. Additionally, he mentored three individuals to berths into the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Spangler also coached two All-Americans in track, two IAAF World Junior Championships qualifiers, 13 All-South Region runners and three All-ACC Cross Country performers.
A native of Brooksville, Florida, Spangler graduated from the University of Alabama in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in education before earning his master’s degree in sports administration while coaching at Florida State.
At Alabama, Spangler began his cross country career as a walk-on before earning a scholarship, becoming a two-time NCAA Cross Country Championships qualifier (1996-97), as well as a 1997 All-NCAA South Region and All-SEC honoree for the Crimson Tide.
Spangler and his wife Cynthia were married in 2002 and are parents to a son, Preston.
