Jordan Carpenter was named the associate head coach of cross country and assistant coach of track & field at Boston University on June 30, 2021.
During his tenure at BU, Carpenter has led 16 athletes to NCAA Regionals highlighted by Daisy Liljegren who qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 10,000m in her first two seasons at BU and was an All-American in the event in 2023. He has overseen the development of Vera Sjöberg who is a 7x First Team All-Patriot League selection, a 2x Patriot League Track Athlete of the Meet, the 2024 Indoor Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a 3x NCAA Regional qualifier. On the men's side, Carpenter has coached three individuals to break the illustrious four-minute barrier in the mile, culminated by Parker Schneider, Freddy Collins and Foster Malleck all doing so in the same season.
Carpenter has helped BU to 18 individual Patriot League Champions and 49 individual podium finishes in his tenure. Notably, Carpenter has coached BU athletes to every 1,500m title in his three years with Andrea Claeson (2022), Sjöberg (2023, 2024) and Malleck (2022, 2023, 2024) reaching the top of the podium.
In cross country, Carpenter has led BU to six top-three finishes, including two runner-up finishes, at the Patriot League Championships. The 2023 season saw Hannah Prosser crowned as the Patriot League Champion and she went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Sjöberg was also named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2023 and the entire squad was named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for the third season in a row.
Carpenter arrived at BU after spending five successful seasons at Pomona-Pitzer, including four as the head men's cross country and track & field coach. While there, Carpenter guided the Sagehens to the 2019 Division III national title in men's cross country.
Once Carpenter took over head coaching duties in 2017, the Sagehens saw unprecedented success at every level. In cross country, they won two SCIAC championships (2017, 2018) and three straight NCAA West Region championships (2017-2019). Their 2017 title was the program's first in over a decade. On the national stage, Carpenter led Pomona-Pitzer to three consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA national championship meet. This streak was capped with the program's first national title in 2019.
In three seasons at the helm of the Pomona-Pitzer cross country program, Carpenter was twice named SCIAC Coach of the Year, thrice selected as NCAA West Region Coach of the Year and was the 2019 National Coach of the Year. Under Carpenter's tutelage, Sagehen athletes earned 26 All-SCIAC honors, 20 NCAA West Region honors and five NCAA All-America honors.
Carpenter also led the Pomona-Pitzer track & field program to new heights in his first two seasons in charge. In 2018, the Sagehens won their first SCIAC Championship in 27 years. They then went on to post their best national finish in over a decade with a 16th-place performance in 2019.
Named the 2018 SCIAC Coach of the Year and the 2019 NCAA West Region Coach of the Year, Carpenter coached 27 All-SCIAC honorees, 11 NCAA qualifiers and six NCAA All-Americans. His athletes also won nine individual SCIAC titles and broke five school records in that span.
Notable athletes who trained under Carpenter have included Andrew Reischling and Daniel Rosen. Reischling was a six-time NCAA All-American and 5000m NCAA runner-up for the Sagehens who holds two school records and the 13th-fastest 5000m time in NCAA D-III history. Daniel Rosen is a two-time NCAA All-American in the 3000m steeplechase who holds the school record and the 12th-fastest time in NCAA D-III history.
Prior to joining Pomona-Pitzer, Carpenter was a graduate assistant coach while completing his MBA at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 2014. Demonstrating his commitment to academic and athletic excellence, Carpenter maintained a perfect GPA during his undergraduate years and was a two-time recipient of the NCAA Elite 90 Academic Award.
As an athlete, Carpenter was a three-time All-American and capped his competitive career with a conference championship and runner-up finish in the 3000m steeplechase at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
