Head Coach | 34th Season
Ben Welch enters his 34th year at the helm of the Men's and Women's Cross Country teams and 23rd as head coach of the Track & Field teams in 2024-25. He took over the EOU Cross Country programs in the fall of 1991 and the Track & Field programs prior to the 2002-03 campaign. From 1991-2002 he served as the assistant Track and Field coach in charge of mid and long distances.
Most Recently:
Cross Country: Under Welch's guidance in 2023, the Mountaineer men's team secured yet another Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship, with six different Mounties earned All-Conference honors. Eastern Oregon rose to as high as No.5 in the national rankings, eventually finishing 7th in the 2023 NAIA National Championships. Top performer Justin Ash would earn All-American honors with a 20th place finish in the event. Additionally, Welch led the Mountaineer Women to a respectable fourth place finish in the conference championships, placing 30th at the 2023 NAIA National Championships. The collective efforts of Welch and the Mountaineers resulted in three NAIA Daktronic Scholar athletes and 12 members from both the men's and women's teams earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors.
Indoor Track and Field:
The Mountaineers continued their streak of success during the indoor season. Notably, they earned total of three All-American distinctions, with Judson Mansfield, Mark Church, and Tanner Nett all receiving the honor. In recognition of their exceptional performances, Eastern garnered an impressive five regional USTFCCCA Awards, further solidifying their reputation as a formidable force in their respective events. The Men's team, in particular, acheived a notable national ranking of as high as No. 9.
Outdoor Track and Field: For the first time in school history, both Eastern Oregon Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field teams would go on to win the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships. The men's team secured their fourth consecutive conference championship, dominating with a 47-point lead over the University of British Columbia. On the women's side, the Mountaineers claimed their first conference championship in program history, a culmination of years of effort, having narrowly missed out on the title with 14 second-place finishes dating back to 1997. Despite trailing behind British Columbia for most of the two-day competition, the Mounties edged out the Thunderbirds by half a point to clinch their first title. At the NAIA National Championships, TJ Davis won the Men's Decathlon National Championships, with three other Mountaineers earning All-American honors alongside him.
During Welch’s tenure, the Mountaineers have come to be known for their dominance in cross country. His men's teams have gone to the NAIA National Championships 27 out of the last 33 years, where they have finished in the top-20 a total of 23 times and in the top-10 on 11 occasions, including a second-place finish in 2002 and a fourth-place finish in 2014. Additional top-10 finishes include: fifth in 2010, sixth in 1993 and 2000, seventh in 2004, 2017, and 2023, eighth in 1994, and 10th in 2001 and 2003. The women have made the trip to nationals as a team 14 times. In those trips, they have finished in the top-10 on four occasions. The women finished third in 1999, sixth in 1997, seventh in 2002, and ninth in 1998.
On two occasions (2002 and 2003) the men’s team has been ranked No. 1 in the NAIA National Coaches' Polls. Those No. 1 rankings were a first for EOU in any current sport and first No. 1 ranking amongst current Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s teams in cross country.
Welch’s cross country success extends beyond the national level, as the Mountaineers have been one of the top teams in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC). The men have won 14 CCC team titles and finished second on another four occasions and have won four either NAIA District or Region titles with four runners up finishes in the same. The women have won seven titles and finished in the runner-up spot another seven times.
Because of his team’s successes, Welch has picked up 14 men’s CCC Coach of the Year honors. On the women's side, he has added eight CCC Coach of the Year awards. In addition, Welch has mustered NAIA District II Coach of the Year plaudits twice for the men and six NAIA Regional Coach of the Year honors. In 1997, Welch received the honor of being named the NAIA National Women’s Coach of the Year.
Welch has produced 35 NAIA cross country All-Americans during his time at EOU. Nine times EOU runners have finished in the top-10 at nationals, including Karlee Coffey second in 2010 and third in both 2011 and 2012, Damion Flores second in 2014 and sixth in 2010, Eric Griffiths sixth in 2004, Alex McGladrey eighth in 2004, Abby Peters eighth in 1999 and Alex Navarro eighth in 2019. Seven other times individuals finished in the top-15.
His success has also carried over to the track both as head coach and with his distance runners. On the track, EOU middle and long distance runners have collected 62 individual CCC titles and 10 individual NAIA national championships along with one winning relay, including titles from Tim Riley (10,000-meter run), and Karlee Coffey (indoor 3000, outdoor 5,000 &10,000), Hans Roelle (outdoor 800 once, indoor 1000 twice), DJ Flores (indoor 5,000), Isaac Updike (3,000 steeplechase), Rachel Roelle (Steeplechase) and the Men’s Distance Medley Indoor. On 67 occasions, his middle distance and distance runners have earned all-American honors in indoor with 48 during outdoor track.
As the head track coach, Welch has helped raise the quality of the program across the board, including winning six CCC track & field titles on the men’s side, while winning one CCC track & field championships with the women. In addition to their conference victories, the men's team has claimed the runner-up spot eight times and another 10 times on the women’s side. These finishes helped Welch garner CCC Coach of the Year honors 7 total times, six with the men's team and one the women's team. A total of 187 times a Mountie Individual or relay squad has stood atop the Conference Podium in various events during his tenure as the head track coach. He has also received seven USTFCCCA Region Coach of the Year awards.
On the national level, the Mountaineers have posted top-20 finishes at the NAIA Track & Field National Championships on 20 occasions (10 indoor, 10 outdoor) for the men and another nine times (six indoor, three outdoor) on the women’s side. During the 2016 outdoor campaign, the men notched its best finish in program history with a fifth place finish, while indoor the men have finished sixth twice (2014 and 2018) and the women’s top finishes are 10th outdoor in 2013 and seventh in 2020 indoor. All told, the men have had five indoor top 10 finishes and six outdoor, while the women have had one each.
In total, EOU has garnered 243 NAIA All-Americans in track & field under Welch, including 144 men (80 indoor, 64 outdoor) and 99 women (55 indoor, 44 outdoor). Under his watch, Welch has had 32 NAIA individual champions across the event spectrum, five of which came during the 2016 campaign.
Welch’s success has not been confined to the track & field or cross country trails, as the Mountaineers have also succeeded in the classroom. Under Welch, EOU student-athletes have picked up over 300 CCC academic awards, as well as 160 NAIA national scholar awards and 55 NAIA Scholar-Team awards.
In 2015, Hans Roelle was named the 2015 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year for Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). In that same year, Talitha Fagen earned Academic All-America honors as well.
Prior to coming to EOU, Welch spent three years as the men's cross country and track & field coach at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Wash. At Highline, Welch’s men’s cross country teams won three conference titles, and he also garnered another title in men’s track & field. He reaped Coach of the Year plaudits on three occasions as well.
Prior to Highline, Welch spent two years at the University of Kansas in Lawrence as a student assistant coach for cross country and track & field. Along the way Welch earned his USATF Level One and Level 2 (Distance) certificates.
Welch and his wife, the former Talia Hackney (a 1990 EOU graduate and two time All-American in Outdoor Track & Field and the EOU school-record holder in multiple events) live in La Grande and have three children: Nick, Amanda, and Bennett. Amanda previously competed for the Mounties in cross country/track & field and Bennett is a current member of the team.
