Elmhurst, Ill., native Jason Wakenight, a former long sprints and middle distance runner at the University of Iowa, begins his third season as an assistant cross country/track and field coach at Loyola University Chicago. Wakenight oversees the sprints, hurdles, and middle distances in addition to being the recruiting coordinator for the Ramblers. Coach Wakenight has developed a national championship caliber sprints and middle distance program. In his first two seasons at Loyola, Wakenight's athletes have accumulated 38 School Records and 177 Top Ten All-Time performances in school history en route to winning three Horizon League Track Championships along with two Horizon League Runner-Up Finishes.
"We are excited to have Jason join our staff. His energy and enthusiasm both as a coach and as a recruiter will certainly enhance our program," Loyola head coach Randy Hasenbank said. "Jason's ties to Chicago, along with his student-athlete and coaching experience at Iowa make him a great fit for Loyola. He is an ambitious young man and a real student of the sport."
Highlighted by nine Top 100 national indoor performances and a world leading Men's Sprint Medley Relay mark during the outdoor campaign, Wakenight's athletes set a total of 29 school records, with 109 All-Time Top Ten performances during the 2012-2013 season. The men's sprint group was led by the 4x400m relay of Mike Wetzel, Kevin Glastetter, Declan Murray and Bay Abbott. This quartet was ranked in the Top 20 nationally and shattered the 48 year-old outdoor school record by running a 3:07.76 at the First Round of the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas. Not to be outdone, the Lady Ramblers 4x400M relay also shattered the Loyola school record, posting a time of 3:39.63 that destroyed the previous mark by nearly ten seconds. Both short sprint records we also broken in 2012-13, as freshmen newcomers Chris Strup and Breanna Walker laid claim to the 60m Dash titles. Senior Declan Murray also posted the third fastest 800m time and the second fastest 600m time in the nation. Murray finished his career at Loyola with two more All-American quality performances, finishing 3rd at the NCAA Indoor National Championships and 6th at the national outdoor meet. The middle distance groups had two women in the Top 20 in the 600m, while the men had five athletes ranked in the Top 40 nationally. The duo of Amber Davis and Rebecca Stearns also are the only women in school history to break 2:10 in the 800m Run, which ranked the duo first and second in the Horizon League. The 2013 Ramblers also laid claim to the top three all-time school performances in the men's and women's 600m.
In 2012, Wakenight's athletes set the tone for a new standard of excellence at Loyola. 48 all-time top ten performances were set during the indoor season, including 6 school records, highlighted by Declan Murray's All-American performance in the 800m. In the Horizon League, Bay Abbott helped the 4x400m team to a Horizon League record time in addition to his individual 400m title. Outdoors, the Ramblers made 20 more additions to the top ten lists, with three school records being set. At the Horizon League Outdoor Championships, junior Candice Carajohn set a new school record en route to conference title in the 400m Hurdles, joining juniors Bay Abbott and Declan Murray who were both conference champions at 400m and 800m, respectively.
Prior to arriving in Rogers Park, Wakenight spent five seasons at his alma mater the University of Iowa, first as a volunteer assistant coach where he worked with sprinters, hurdlers and middle-distance runners, and later as the on-campus recruiting coordinator. At Iowa, Wakenight was schooled under some of the best coaches in the Midwest and collaborated with Joey Woody to help develop 16 All-Americans and 11 Big Ten Champions during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Working closing with Woody, the list of NCAA All-Americans and Big Ten Champions included Jordan Mullen, Ethan Holmes, and Ray Varner in both hurdle events, three 4 x 400M relays ranked top ten in nation, 400M runner Steven Willey, short sprinter Justin Austin, and American 600M Record Holder Erik Sowinski who was a three-time All-American in the 800M. In his last season at Iowa, Wakenight was part of a coaching staff that received numerous Coach of the Year accolades while leading the aforementioned Hawkeyes stars to the 2011 Big Ten Outdoor Championship Title, Iowa's first Big Ten Title in over 44 years.
A 2006 graduate of Iowa, Wakenight was a three-year letterwinner for the Hawkeyes and twice qualified for the NCAA Regional in the 4x400m. He owns a USATF Level I certification and USTFCCCA Specialist Certifications in the Jumps, Sprints, Hurdles and Relays. Wakenight was also the founder and director of the Iowa City Nighthawks Track Club, which produced 40 all-state runners and 14 Iowa state champions from 2008-2010.
