Chambana Sun

Illinois Director of Track, Field and Cross Country Petros Kyprianou announced the hiring of Eric Johannigmeier as the new head cross country and distance coach on Monday. Johannigmeier, a 2011 graduate of Illinois, returns to the program after spending seven years at Virginia Tech in the same role.

"I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to coach the Illini men's and women's cross country and distance runners at my alma mater," Johannigmeier said. "I am grateful to Coach Kyprianou, Josh Whitman, Dr. Bre Shamaila, the entire administration and staff at the University of Illinois for providing me with this opportunity. I also want to thank Coach Dave Cianelli, the coaching staff and the student-athletes at Virginia Tech for their support and memories during my time in Blacksburg. I look forward to working with the Illini student-athletes to help them achieve their goals and dreams of contributing to a championship team!"

"We are thrilled to welcome Eric back home to Illinois," Kyprianou said. "His work ethic and evident success at Virginia Tech make him the ideal coach to lead our cross country and distance crew. He is someone that likes to put all his efforts into making student-athletes better, and I know he will help us accomplish our goals in his area. It is a great day for Illinois to bring a true Fighting Illini home."

During his tenure at Virginia Tech, Johannigmeier's achievements included 110 All-Americans, 17 ACC team champions, and 63 ACC individual or relay champions. He also led Virginia Tech to 25 top-25 finishes at NCAA Championships, highlighted by seven top-10 finishes.

In 2022 he coached Lindsey Butler to national champion status as she captured the 800m title at NCAA Indoor Championships. Prior to this achievement, she repeated as ACC Indoor Champion in the 800m with an NCAA's 14th-fastest time of 2:01.23.

Johannigmeier's sophomore campaign (2019-20) saw Peter Seufer win his second consecutive ACC Cross Country Championship before placing fourth at NCAA Cross Country Championships. Seufer was named 2019 ACC Cross Country Runner of the Year for a second consecutive season.

In his first year as head coach (2018-19), Johannigmeier’s athletes helped secure both indoor and outdoor ACC Championships for Virginia Tech's men's team.

Before becoming head coach in 2018, Johannigmeier served four years on Virginia Tech’s staff as an assistant coach after initially joining as a volunteer assistant from 2011-13.

Johannigmeier holds bachelor's (University of Illinois) and master's degrees (Virginia Tech) in civil engineering. Alongside coaching duties, he has worked professionally as a civil engineer. He moves back to Champaign with his wife Katie and their daughter Lucy.

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