Azusa Pacific University Men's Cross Country

Grey, who helped Azusa Pacific capture its first-ever NAIA women's cross country crown in 2008, has been instrumental in helping the Cougars quickly rebuild its championship tradition into title contention as an NCAA Division II program. Under his watch, he's led the men to three of the top four finishes in the program's 50-year history, and likewise the women have also posted three of their four best national performances. Grey was named the 2008 NAIA Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year after the Cougar women captured the 2008 NAIA national championship, their first-ever title, and that same year the Cougar men posted their best team finish as NAIA national runner-up. Known as an outstanding recruiter, Grey is even better as a teacher and coach. In 11 seasons leading the Cougar distance teams he has already coached 21 cross country All-Americans. Included in the mix are Azusa Pacific's first-ever NAIA individual champions, Aron Rono (NAIA men's champion in 2007 and 2008) and Jaime Canterbury (NAIA women's champion in 2007), as well as the program's first-ever NCAA Division II All-Americans (Staci Foster, Eileen Stressling). In track & field he has coached 35 All-Americans and four national champions, including Rono, the only person in track & field history to win collegiate championships in the 1500-, 5000-, and 10,000-meters in the same meet (2008 NAIA outdoors).  Grey came to Azusa Pacific in summer of 2004 as a graduate assistant coach, and the following year he took over a very sound and strong Cougar distance program. In his debut season as a head coach, he led the Cougar men to a fifth-place showing in the NAIA. The following year, his Cougars came in third in the NAIA men's championship meet for their best finish ever while the Cougar women returned to the top ten with a ninth-place finish. In 2007, the Cougar women continued to improve with a sixth-place effort, followed by the national championship performance in 2008. The men's runner-up finish in 2008 was the program's best-ever. A fifth-place 2009 finish for the women was followed by a sixth-place effort in 2010. Grey put together an outstanding 4-year distance running career at NAIA-member Cornerstone University of Grand Rapids, Mich. He was a 2-time qualifier for the NAIA cross country championship meet, earning All-American recognition during his 2003 senior season when he also clocked a school-record 24.58 8K. He was also a two-time all-region and three-time all-conference honoree. In track & field, Grey was a six-time qualifier for the NAIA championship meet and was a two-time All-Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference honoree. He posted career bests of 31:22 (10,000 meters), 14:51 (5000 meters) and 8:46 (3000 meters). A native of Penfield, Ill., near Champaign, Grey graduated from Cornerstone in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in business/sports management. In 2007 he earned a master's degree in education from Azusa Pacific. Grey and his wife, Victoria, reside in Glendora. GREY AT AZUSA PACIFIC WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD Conference National National Individual Year School Finish Indoor Outdoor All-Americans Champions 2013 Azusa Pacific 2nd 2nd* 1st* 15* 14* 2014 Azusa Pacific 3rd 5th* 2nd* 11* 9* 2015 Azusa Pacific -- 9th 6th 4 3 CROSS COUNTRY Conf/Reg National Conf/Reg National All-Americans Year School Finish (W) Finish (W) Finish (M) Finish (M) (M)/(W) 2005 Azusa Pacific 3rd/5th 18th 2nd/2nd 5th 0/1 2006 Azusa Pacific 4th/2nd 9th 3rd/3rd 3rd 1/1 2007 Azusa Pacific 1st/1st 6th 2nd/2nd 14th 1/2 2008 Azusa Pacific 1st/-- 1st 1st/-- 2nd 3/4 2009 Azusa Pacific 1st/-- 5th 3rd/-- -- 1/2 2010 Azusa Pacific 2nd/-- 6th 2nd/-- 21st 2/3 2011 Azusa Pacific 1st/-- 2nd 6th/-- -- 1/3 2012 Azusa Pacific 1st/-- 1st* 4th/-- 6th* 0/2* 2013 Azusa Pacific 1st/-- 2nd* 3rd/-- 1st* 3/4* 2014 Azusa Pacific 2nd/9th -- 3rd/9th -- 0/1^ 2015 Azusa Pacific 2nd/11th -- 3rd/7th -- 0/1^

Blomquist ran collegiately at UC Santa Barbara, where she was a two-time Big West champion in the steeplechase and two-time conference 5,000-meter runner-up in track & field while earning all-conference in cross country three of her four years. Following her collegiate career, she joined the coaching staff at UC Santa Barbara for three years. In 2010, she helped guide the Gaucho women's cross country team to the Big West title while the men claimed second place in conference. Named the Big West Cross Country Athlete of the Year her senior season, Blomquist was a part of three conference championship teams in cross country. She helped lead the Gauchos to a ninth-place national finish in 2006 and 17th place in 2007, and in track & field, she was a two-time NCAA Division I nationals qualifier in steeplechase. Blomquist continues to train and run post-collegiately, registering one of the United States' top-25 steeplechase times of 2012 by clocking a 9:59.29 in June at the Portland Track Festival. She easily bested the provisional "B" qualifying standard for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, but she barely missed the cut to compete in the trials. A native of Huntington Beach, Blomquist graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2008 with a degree in mathematics and a minor in exercise and health science. She is married to Dave Blomquist, who is Azusa Pacific's men's soccer head coach, and they reside in Glendora.