University of Wyoming Women's Cross Country

Bryan Berryhill enters his 12th season as head coach of the University of Wyoming track and field program in the 2024-25 season. Berryhill spent his first seven seasons leading the charge for the Wyoming cross country teams. Under Berryhill, Wyoming track & field had five all-Mountain West performers during the 2019-20 indoor season. Paul Roberts was named the Outstanding Performer of the championships after he finished first in the 3,000m race and second in the 5,000m. Kirk Unland was Wyoming's other individual champion, placing first in the weight throw. Christopher Henry placed third in the 3,000m, while Shayla Howell finished third in the long jump. He coached middle-distance runner Jasmyne Cooper to the school record in the 800m, crossing the line in 2:09.20. Throughout the season, 20 Wyoming student-athletes recorded top-10 marks in UW's record books. The outdoor season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the classroom, both the men's and women's teams earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, while Paul Roberts, Kirk Unland and Shayla Howell earned individual honors from the same organization. Christopher Henry was named a first-team academic All-American by CoSIDA, and Wyoming had 22 student-athletes named to the Mountain West All-Academic team, and 22 student-athletes were named MW Scholar-Athletes. Berryhill guided Wyoming track & field and cross country to a phenomenal season in 2018-19. The Cowboy cross country squad was ranked as high as No. 13 in the nation by the USTFCCCA poll, and finished 12th at the NCAA National Championships. It was the first time since 1986 the Cowboys had ran in the championship race. Paul Roberts earned All-America honors, while the trio of Roberts, Christopher Henry and Harry Ewing all earned all-Mountain West and all-region honors. Henry was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-American and earned the NCAA Elite 90 award at the cross country national championships. The momentum didn’t stop during the track & field season, as six school records were broken during the indoor and outdoor season, and Wyoming had four student-athletes earn a total of eight All-America honors. Ja’la Henderson was an indoor All-American in the triple jump, and an outdoor All-American in the triple jump and the 4x100m relay. Jerayah Davis became the first Cowgirl to compete in three events at a national championship, as she earned All-America honors in the 100m dash, long jump and 4x100m relay. Jordan Edmonds and Shayla Howell were also All-Americans on the relay team. Henderson set the school’s indoor long and triple jump school records, while Davis set the school’s outdoor 100m and long jump records. Harry Ewing set the steeplechase school record, while Christopher Henry set the new indoor 3,000m benchmark. The Wyoming teams also excelled in the classroom under Berryhill’s guidance, as the Cowboys had the highest GPA among all Mountain West schools, and both teams earned academic honors from the USTFCCCA. Eight Wyoming athletes earned academic awards from the USTFCCCA by having a high GPA and competing at the NCAA West Preliminary. On top of the USTFCCCA awards, 36 athletes earned academic all-MW honors.   During the 2017-18 campaign, Berryhill helped guide Ja’la Henderson into the Cowgirl record books. Henderson became just the fifth Cowgirl in program history to earn multiple All-American honors in the same season, as she earned Second Team All-America honors in the triple jump and Honorable Mention All-America honors in the long jump at the 2018 Outdoor National Championships. It was the first triple jump All-America honor in Cowgirl history. Throughout the season, Henderson broke the school’s triple jump record four times, with the final time coming with a first-place jump at the NCAA West Preliminaries.   Berryhill’s guidance was not only seen on the field of competition, but also in the classroom as Christopher Henry, who led the Cowboy harriers in four of five meets, earned First Team Academic All-District honors from CoSIDA and was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country team. Henry paired a perfect 4.0 grade point average in molecular biology and physiology with an NCAA West Preliminary appearance in the 10,000 meters.   Berryhill guided the UW track & field program to an historic feat during the 2016-17 campaign as seniors Audra DeStefano and Scott Carter became the first Cowboy and Cowgirl duo to receive All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships since 2004. Carter was the bronze medalist in the triple jump – the highest finish for a Cowboy at the NCAA outdoor championships since 2000 – while DeStefano earned Honorable Mention All-American status in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. DeStefano was later named the 2016-17 Mountain West Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year. During the 2015 cross country season, the former professional runner led the Cowboys to a fourth-place finish in the Mountain West, tying the highest finish in program history. The men’s harriers collected 89 points at the conference championships, just four points more than Wyoming’s lowest total at a MW championship meet. Berryhill led the Cowgirls to a fifth-place finish at the MW championships despite having no seniors and just one junior in the team’s top five.                 Berryhill coached senior harriers Aaron Derner and Amos Bowen to USTFCCCA All-Region honors after each finished in the top 25 at the NCAA Mountain Regional meet.  During the indoor track & field season, Wyoming collected eight individual All-MW honors while the women’s squad earned All-MW status in the Distance Medley Relay. Hurdler Jordan Charles went on to become an Honorable Mention All-American. Outdoors, the team earned four more All-MW honors and seven athletes advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Under Berryhill Wyoming’s student-athletes have notched 175 top-10 individual and relay marks in school history, including 15 school records.   Before Wyoming, Berryhill served as the head cross country and assistant track coach at Colorado State from 2006-2012. He was named the 2007 Women’s NCAA Regional and Mountain West Conference Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year after the CSU women won their first ever team titles at the Mountain West championships and the NCAA Mountain Region championships in the same season.    He had a stellar collegiate career at CSU, earning 10 All-America honors in cross country and track. A national champion in the indoor 1-mile run and outdoor 1,500-meter run in 2001, Berryhill holds five individual and three relay records at CSU. He competed as a professional track athlete from 2001-04 and 2005-07.    The CSU women finished second or better at the MW Cross Country Championships in four of the six years of Berryhill’s tenure. During his time with the Rams, he coached student-athletes to six school records and coached the only CSU woman to win a Mountain West cross country individual title with April Thomas’ win in 2007.    Berryhill received his bachelor’s degree in forestry from CSU in May 2001. He and his wife, Toni, have three children: Libby, Eli and Lainey.

One of the most accomplished Cowboys of all time, Quincy Howe begins his 16th season with the UW program in 2020-21, entering his fourth season as associate head track & field coach. Howe oversees UW’s jumpers. He spent the 2012-14 as an assistant coach at West Texas A&M University, after serving on the UW coaching staff from 2003 to 2012. Since the 2021 season, Howe has led several jumpers to All-American status and to conference titles. Kareem Mersal has won three conference titles in the long jump as well as earning Second-Team All-American honors in the 2024 indoor season. Mersal was also joined by Remar Pitter as Second-Team All-American honoree in 2024. Howe has also led many women to conference podium finishes and NCAA Regionals in the long jump in Sadie McMullen and Shayla Howell. In 2020, Howe guided Shayla Howell to all-Mountain West honors in the long jump, as she finished third at the league championships. She was also Wyoming’s highest ranked national competitor, as she was ranked 29th in the nation in the long jump with a leap of 20-4.5, which is third all-time at Wyoming. She earned MW Athlete of the Week honors for that jump. Aumni Ashby placed sixth in the triple jump for the Cowgirls. The men’s jumpers earned a total of 11 points at the championships, highlighted by William Nolan’s fifth-place finish in the long jump. In the classroom, Howell was named an all-academic performer by the USTFCCCA. In 2019, Howe mentored four student-athletes to seven All-America honors during the indoor and outdoor seasons, while helping two student-athletes set school records. Ja’la Henderson earned indoor and outdoor All-America honors in the triple jump, and set the indoor school record in the event. He guided Jerayah Davis to All-America accolades in the outdoor long jump and 4x100m relay, after Davis set the outdoor long jump record. Jordan Edmonds and Shayla Howell were also on the relay team and earned All-America honors. For his efforts, Howe was named the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year, the first regional honor for any Wyoming coach in program history. In 2018, Howe guided Ja’la Henderson to one of the best seasons for a Cowgirl jumper in program history. Henderson earned four all-Mountain West honors in the indoor and outdoor long jump and triple jump, with the season culminating in Henderson earning a pair of All-American honors in the outdoor long jump and triple jump, the first Cowgirl to earn the honor in triple jump. Henderson broke the school’s triple jump record four times during the season. In 2017, Howe led Scott Carter to an historic senior campaign. Carter won both the indoor and outdoor Mountain West triple jump championships as well as taking runner-up honors in the long jump at both meets. Carter posted a mark of 53 feet, 4.25 inches in the triple jump at a dual meet in May 2017, second on the UW all-time list behind only Howe. He went on to record the No. 2 mark on the UW all-time list in the outdoor long jump, leaping 25-3.5 at the MW outdoor championships. Carter ended his season with one of the most incredible performances in Cowboy track & field history, taking the bronze medal in the triple jump at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a jump of 53-3.5 to become the first Cowboy All-American in the event since Howe in 2002. A 2009 inductee into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame, Howe is widely considered the best jumper in Cowboy history. He was a two-time All-American indoors in the triple jump in 2001 and 2002, but was dominant at the conference level. He never lost to a conference foe in his four years in the Western Athletic Conference and Mountain West, as he won a total of eight conference titles. The native of Parry Lands, Trinidad, still owns Wyoming school records in the triple jump indoors at 54-9.25 and outdoors at 54-4.75, while ranking seventh outdoors in the long jump at 24-5.5. His indoor triple jump mark still stands as a MW all-time record, while his outdoor mark is second in conference history. For his accomplishments, Howe was named to the MW 10th Anniversary Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field teams.  Howe went on to compete professionally for his native country of Trinidad & Tobago, as he placed third at the 2002 NACAC games and ninth at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. He was also a 2003 Pan-Am Games team selection, before joining the Wyoming coaching staff as a graduate assistant. He was hired full-time in 2005 and went on to coach three NCAA Championship participants, 12 conference champions, 37 all-conference performers and 17 NCAA Regional qualifiers during his first nine years with the Cowboys and Cowgirls.  During his two years at NCAA Division II West Texas, Howe coached six All-Americans, 12 NCAA Championship participants and three conference champions. Howe earned his bachelor’s degree in bioelectrical engineering from UW in 2003 and a master’s degree in biomechanics in 2010. He is a USATF Level I and Level II (jumps) certified coach. He and his wife, Lay-nah, have two sons, Mahlon and Imriy, and a daughter, Adsila.

Henderson said at the time of her hiring. "Wyoming has a great athletics department and I'm excited to be in a community where everyone supports the student-athletes and the department. I can't wait to get back into track and field and cross country." A native of Hamilton, Mont., Henderson earned bachelor's degrees in political science and journalism from CSU in 2014. She was a five-time Academic All-MW honoree, while serving as CSU's SAAC vice president as a junior and president as a senior.

Barrett will be entering his 27th year as the Cowboy and Cowgirl Throwing Coach/Strength Coach for Throws at the University of Wyoming Track and Field Program.    Barrett has coached 2 NCAA Champions, 22 All – Americans, and 36 Conference Champions during his time at Wyoming.  He has also had 49 conference Runner-Ups and a total of 127 All-Conference (Top 3) award winners while at Wyoming. Top athletes coached by Barrett at Wyoming include 3 Time All-American Daniel Reynolds who recently won the 2025 NCAA 35lb Weight Throw Championships with an NCAA Meet Record and #2 All Time NCAA History Performance of 25.08m (82’ 3.50”) along with UW Hammer and Shot Put Records = 239’ 5” / 64’ 1.75”), 1996 NCAA Champion Ryan Butler in the 35lb Weight Throw (71’ 1.5”) as well as All American in the Hammer: (217’ 4”),  All American, 2016 Olympian, and 2018 World Championships Bronze Medalist Mason Finley in the Discus/Shot Put/35lb Weight (210’ 6” – 66’ 3.25” – 63’ 8.75”), All-American Matt Spears in the Shot Put (61’ 5.5”), All-American Jason Hammond in the 35lb/Hammer/Shot Put (69’ 1.5”- 221’ 1”- 61’ 10.25”),  All-American Andrea Batt in the Javelin/Shot Put/Discus/20lb (168’ 8” – 53’ 4.25” – 167’ 8” – 64’ 10.50”), All American Jake Shanklin in the 35lb/Hammer: (71’ 10.25”/219’ 11”) , Olympic Trials competitor and UW School record holder Kate Burton in the Hammer/20lb/Discus (209’ 8” – 63’ 11.50” – 158’ 5”), All-American Zack Schaefer in the 35lb/Hammer (68’ 6” – 213’ 10”),  All-American Kyle Herl in the Hammer/35lb/Shot Put (219’10” – 67’ 5.50” – 59’ 11.75”),    While at the University of Kentucky (1997-1999), he coached 2 time All-American Matt Kavanaugh, who placed 7th in the Hammer Throw (221’ 4” PR - Still Current UK School Record) at the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championships.  Kavanaugh was the 3rd best American finisher in that event.    Barrett competed at the college level for Washington State University, where he was a WSU Letterman / PAC-10 finalist in the Hammer throw and consistent dual meet scorer for the Cougars in the Discus and Javelin events as well.  He finished up his senior year at WSU ranked 25th in the NCAA and 45th in the USA in the Hammer Throw.  Barrett also competed for Spokane Community College before transferring to Washington State University, where he was a 2 time NWAACC Conference Champion in the Discus throw as well as 1 Time Champion in the Hammer throw, qualifying him as a 3 Time Juco All American.  In April of 2013 Barrett was inducted into the Community Colleges of Spokane Hall of Fame for his achievements during his SCC Career.  Competing for Class A Okanogan, WA High School, Barrett was the State Champion in the Discus Throw, and State Runner-up in the Javelin Throw in 1985.  Barrett still owns Okanogan School Records in both events at 174’ 0” and 196’ 10”.  Barrett stays competitive by competing in Masters Track and Field competitions.  In a competition in April 2003, he set an American Record in the Throws Pentathlon for the 35-39 age group, which is currently ranked 8th All Time on the World All Time Rankings.    Barrett graduated from Washington State University in 1991 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation Leisure Studies (Sport Management Emphasis)  Paul has 2 children; Daughters Kala and Kelsey.