Capital University

Hannah Weiss has served five years as men’s and women’s head cross country coach, as well as five seasons as the men’s and women’s track & field head coach. She was hired prior to the 2015-16 academic year and since has helped groom all-conference honorees, OAC champions, NCAA participants, and All-Americans in multiple events.

The 2020 Capital Track & Field indoor season was full of record breaking performances on both the men’s and women’s sides. Senior Emily Hilt set the program records in the 55-meter and 60-meter hurdles, as well as the pentathlon, before capping off her season earning All-OAC honors in the high jump. Senior Kassie Lee improved her marks all season, moving up to fourth all-time in the Capital record books in the shot put at 13.17-meters and shattering the weight throw record with a toss of 15.53-meters at the All-Ohio Championships. The most successful athlete of the season was Josh Miller who went undefeated against all DIII talent, winning six shot put and four weight throw events in the process. Miller won both the shot put and weight throw at the OAC Indoor Championships to earn him Field Athlete of the Year honors. Miller was named USTFCCCA All-Great Lakes Region in both the shot put and weight throw and earned Regional Athlete of the Year. Hilt and Lee were also named USTFCCCA All-Great Lakes Region in the pentathlon and shot put respectively. Miller’s last throw of the season in the shot put catapulted him into the top-5 in the national rankings which earned him a spot on the All-American team, even though the NCAA Championships did not take place due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The outdoor season was also unable to be contested due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Capital Track & Field featured four national qualifiers and three All-American honors over the course of the 2018 season with three qualifiers and three All-American honors on the men's side and one national qualifier on the women's side. Jump specialist Logan Allison became a three-time NCAA Division III All-American after placing sixth in the triple jump for the indoor season. Senior thrower Jason Coon earned All-American honors for both the indoor and outdoor seasons and placed third nationally while setting a program record of 17.04 meters at the outdoor championships. Taylor Manivanh qualified for the indoor championships in the triple jump. Allison and Coon also each earned First Team Academic All-District honors as named by CoSIDA. Allison (triple jump, long jump), Coon (shot put) and Larkin Joseph (800m) all were named USTFCCCA All-Great Lakes Region by placing top-5 in the region in their respective events.

Capital Women's Cross Country was named to the USTFCCCA 2017 Scholar Teams of the Year list and Hannah Westhoven was named an USTFCCCA 2017 NCAA Division III Scholar Athlete. 

The 2017 season displayed much individual success on both the men’s and women’s track & field teams. Weiss coached a two-time NCAA Division III All-American in jump specialist Logan Allison. Allison was named CoSIDA Academic All-American, was tagged all-region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) during both indoor and outdoor seasons, and was named the OAC Field Athlete of the Year for both indoor and outdoor seasons. Allison was the OAC Champion in the triple jump for the indoor season, as well as the outdoor season. He also set a trio of school indoor records over the course of the year (60m, long jump, triple jump).

On the women’s side, Hunter Mouser and Ashley Freshkorn were USTFCCCA All-Region on the indoor circuit. Mouser set the Capital record in the 400-meter dash (57.07) and went on to qualify for the 2017 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, while Freshkorn became an OAC champion in the shotput to complete her senior campaign. Combined, the cross country and track & field teams produced 29 Academic All-OAC honorees.

In 2016, Weiss coached a NCAA Division III National Qualifier in Jason Coon. Coon along with Logan Allison were named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Great Lakes Region both for the indoor and outdoor seasons. Allison was a three-time OAC Champion and Coon added one OAC Championship in that season, alone. That year, Freshkorn also set the indoor school record in the weight throw (15.20m, 49-09).

After a successful run as an assistant coach at two different institutions and an All-American distance career, Hannah Weiss will begin her first stint as a head coach in 2015. She will assume head coach duties for the men’s and women’s track and field, and cross country programs at Capital University.

Weiss will join Capital after spending the last three years serving as an assistant coach for the cross country and track & field programs at the University of Central Oklahoma (NCAA Division II) and Coe College (Division III). She also brings with her a plethora of experience as an All-American student-athlete and a coach on the staff of four national champion teams.

Under her tutelage between 2014 and 2015, UCO student-athletes recorded a school top-10 all-time performance a total of 17 times spread out over eight different events. Four different school records fell while she was on staff, including marks in the indoor mile, indoor 3,000-meter, outdoor 3,000-meter, and outdoor 5,000-meter events.

Though her specialty resides in distance events, Weiss was on the North Central College staff as a graduate assistant when the Cardinals won NCAA Division III national championships in indoor track & field (2011 and 2012), outdoor track & field (2011) and men’s cross country (2012). She is no stranger to Capital as her team’s national championship in 2011 was achieved inside the Capital Center when the University played host to the event that year.

While a student-athlete at Division III Loras College (Iowa), Weiss ran middle distance events and left a three-time All-American. She initially achieved All-American heights during the 2009 indoor season by placing fifth in the distance medley relay. The following year, Weiss added two more All-American honors in the 800 meters during the indoor and outdoor seasons. Over her career, Weiss set Loras records in the 600-meter run (indoor), 800-meter run (indoor and outdoor), 1,000-meter run (indoor), distance medley relay (indoor and outdoor), sprint medley relay (indoor), and the 4x800-meter relay (indoor and outdoor). She also captained the women’s cross country as a senior.

Weiss graduated from Loras in 2010 with bachelor degrees in business marketing and Spanish. She went on to earn her master’s degree in sports leadership from North Central in 2012.

CROSS COUNTRY

TRACK AND FIELD