University of Delaware Athletics
Track & Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- rwaite@udel.edu
- Phone:
- 302-831-3864
Ryan Waite was named the head track & field coach ahead of the 2022-23 season after previously serving as the department’s interim head coach of the program, effective June 8. Waite will enter his fifth year at the helm of the cross country coach program ahead of the 2022 season.
An All-America standout runner at Brigham Young University (BYU), who spent three years as an assistant cross country and track & field coach at his alma mater, joined the University of Delaware staff in October 2016.
During the 2021 cross country season and a goal of improvement in mind, Waite's squad finished in third place out of nine teams at the 2021 CAA Championships and placed ninth at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals. His 2021-22 track and field team followed up with a second-place finish at the CAA Outdoor championships with Megan Albamonti capturing Most Outstanding Field Athlete. Albamonti and Susanna Weir were able to secure spots in the NCAA East Preliminaries competing in the javelin and 10,000m race, respectively, to round out the Blue Hens impressive campaign.
Waite coached distance runner Holly Manning to an NCAA East Prelims appearance and top-25 finish in the 800 meters, while Blue Hen alumna Michaela Meyer placed fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 800m, just one spot shy of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Mackenzie Jones had the best-ever UD finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships in Cross Country.
During his tenure, Waite has steadily challenged his runners to perform above and beyond expectations. He helped lead the 2019 track & field team to hoist the 2019 CAA Outdoor Track & Field championship and his 2019 cross country squad followed with a second-place finish at the CAA Championship to set the program’s best-ever finish. Currently, Delaware’s middle distance and distance student-athletes hold 14 school records in track & field.
Prior to Delaware, Waite held the director of track & field operations title for two years at BYU (2014-16) while working closely with head coach Ed Eyestone on all administrative responsibilities for the team. Waite started his coaching career as a student assistant during the 2013-14 season. He helped led the men’s cross country team to a West Coast Conference championship and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships as Tylor Thatcher and Jared Ward earned All-American honors.
As a former student-athlete at BYU, Waite was a standout where he was a five-time All-American and three-time conference individual champion in distance events. He set the school’s indoor 800-meter run record and was a member of the school-record holding distance medley relay team during his career with the Cougars.
Post-collegiately, Waite competed as a professional pace setter and has paced multiple professional races in the United States and Canada. While working with Nike, Waite helped pace Matt Centrowitz during his workouts leading up to the 2016 Olympic Gold.
A native of Saint Helens, Ore., Waite earned a bachelor’s degree from BYU in 2014 in communications before receiving a master’s degree in Public Administration from Delaware in 2020.
He and his wife, Ashlynn, are the parents of four children and reside in Newark.
Coaching Experience
- Delaware, 2016 – Present
- Head Cross Country Coach/Head Track & Field Coach (2022 – Present)
- Head Cross Country Coach/Interim Head Track & Field Coach (2021-22)
- Head Cross Country Coach/Associate Head Track & Field Coach (2020-21)
- Head Cross Country Coach/Assistant Track & Field Coach (2018-20)
- Assistant Cross Country Coach/Assistant Track & Field Coach (2016-18)
- BYU, 2013-2016
- Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Operations (2014-16)
- Student Assistant Coach Cross Country/Track & Field (2013-14)
