Hamilton tapped to lead Men's and Women's Cross Country

Heartland Community College has hired a new head coach for their successful Cross Country program. 

C.J. Hamilton will serve as the new Head Coach for both the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams at Heartland. 

Hamilton fills the slot left by Ty Wolf who announced his retirement from coaching earlier this spring. Wolf led Heartland’s cross country and track programs since their inception in 2020. 

“I am extremely grateful to Athletics Director Ryan Knox for his confidence in me and am very excited to take over a program which has had so much success at the national level,” said Hamilton. “I look forward to working with current athletes, alumni, and the local running community to create a true team culture and build on the tremendous success the program had under Coach Wolf.” 

Hamilton’s previous coaching experience includes roles as Co-Head Cross Country and Assistant Track Coach for University High School, Head Cross Country and Track Coach for Olympia CUSD #156, and head Track and Field Coach for Fieldcrest High School. He was a Division I Track and Field Athlete as a student at Illinois Sate University, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team, MVC Champion in 800 meters, and winner of the Missouri Valley Conference Leadership and Service Award.  

Coach Hamilton holds a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) and a BA in English from Illinois State University. He currently serves as Director of MSW Student Services at ISU. 

Added as a new sport at Heartland in the 2020-2021 academic year, the College has had a strong Cross Country program. Both the Men’s and Women’s XC teams ran in National Championship competition their first season in 2020. Hawks runners have included 35 All-Americans, five national team runner-up finishes, two third-place team finishes and a fifth-place team finish.