Assistant Coach Ryan Lane

ASSISTANT COACH 11TH YEAR // SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE, 2006 & 2009

Ryan Lane is in his 11th season at Southeast Missouri as the head cross country coach, while also serving as the assistant track coach specializing in distance running.

The Redhawk women’s cross country team has finished in the top four each of the past seven seasons.

In 2020, Lane coached Kaitlyn Shea (5,000 meters Silver Medalist), the OVC Female Track Athlete of the Year, who broke a pair of Redhawks Indoor Track & Field records before the outdoor season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shea set a pair of SEMO indoor track records over a three-week span during the 2020 season. Shea broke the 5,000 meters (16:59.70) record on Feb. 1 at the Indiana University Relays before returning to Bloomington, Indiana, to secure the 3,000 meters (9:32.79) record at Hoosier Hills Invite on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14).

The women’s distance medley relay team of Katie Wegmann, Kendall Long, Claire Morrill and Carli Knott concluded the opening day of the OVC Indoor Championship with Silver after finishing in 12:00.67. Maddie Keller also garnered Bronze in the 3,000 meters with a career-best time of 9:53.81.

Maddie Keller and Carli Knott both placed in the top-10 to earn All-Ohio Valley Conference honors as the Southeast women grabbed fourth as a team in the 5K at the 2019 OVC Cross Country Championship. Keller placed fifth overall in the 5K for FirstTeam All-OVC laurels. Keller’s finish is the best Redhawk women’s finish at the Championship since Rebekah Lawson was the runner-up at the 2013 Championship in Morehead, Kentucky. Knott garnered her second career Second-Team All-OVC cross country laurel with a 10th place finish.

In 2019, Lane also coached OVC Outdoor Track Champions in Carli Knott (1,500 meters) and Kaitlyn Shea (3,000 meter steeplechase).

Kaitlyn Shea, Sydney O’Brien and Carli Knott registered three All-OVC performances for the first time since 2008 as SEMO’s women finished runnersup at the 2018 OVC Cross Country Championship in Cape Girardeau at the Osage Centre.

The 2017 season was highlighted by a fourth place finish from the women at the OVC Championships. Kaitlyn Shea led the Redhawks on the season with two first-place finishes and a second team All-OVC selection.

During the 2016 season, the women placed second in conference and 16th at regionals. Megan Parks and Sydney O’Brien became the first Southeast duo to finish in the top 50 at Regionals since 1998.

In 2015, the women’s team placed third in the Ohio

Valley Conference. Megan Parks earned Second Team All-Conference honors with a 12th place finish at the OVC Championships. Kaitlyn Shea was named Female Freshman of the Year and was the first female in program history to win the award.

The 2014 season saw the end of Rebekah Lawson’s cross country career. Lane saw Lawson through her career for four seasons. Lawson is the only Redhawk in Division I history to earn First Team All-OVC honors all four years of their career. The women’s team capped a great 2014 season with a fourth-place finish at the OVC Championships. The men finished sixth at the event.

In 2011, both the men and women had one first-team and one second-team All-OVC finisher. Nate Shipley’s thirdplace finish garnered him a spot on the all-conference first team while Brent Collins earned second team allconference on the men’s side. Rebekah Lawson took sixth as a freshman to earn the first team nod while fellow freshman Jenny Govero made second team All-OVC.

The cross country programs have combined for 23 All-OVC performers, including eight first-team runners while under Lane.

The Redhawks have also excelled in the classroom under Lane. Since 2010, at least one of the cross country programs has earned USTFCCCA academic recognition under Lane including both teams eight times in that span.

In 2013, both the men’s and women’s programs earned All-Academic honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA). Southeast’s women posted a 3.72 team GPA, the fifthhighest mark in the nation, while the men’s 3.48 GPA was good for 11th.

Lane’s success with the distance runners has carried over to the track as well. Lawson notched a runner-up finish in the 5000m indoors to earn second-team AllOVC honors in 2013. During the outdoor season, Charles Johnson garnered secondteam All-OVC recognition for his runner-up finish in the steeplechase.

The 2012 season saw Jessica Bollinger win an OVC title outdoors in the 10,000m while Lawson finished runnerup in both the 5000m and 10,000m. On the men’s side, Mohammed Souleiman won an OVC title in the 800m while Chris Loseman earned second-team All-OVC honors after finishing runner-up in the 10,000m. Lane’s athletes have combined for 10 All-OVC selections and three OVC titles in his first three seasons.

Lane returned to the Southeast program in which he interned as coach in 200809. That season, the Redhawk cross country teams recorded top-three finishes at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships. During that time, he received his Master’s in Higher Education, finishing with a 4.0 GPA.

Prior to his coaching internship at Southeast, Lane worked as an assistant coach for the Cape Central High School cross country and track programs. He also served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Francis Howell North High School (2006-07). In all, Lane coached 41 All-State performers at the prep level.

Lane competed as a member Southeast cross country and track teams from 2002-2003, before an injury cut his career short.

He received his undergraduate degree from Southeast in 2006, graduating with magna cum laude distinction in Education.