The Grace Christian University Athletics department is thrilled to announce the hiring of Kristina Brandenburg to lead the men's and women's cross country program. Kristina was a nationally competitive runner for the Cross Country team at Grace Christian University for the past three falls, and is in the top-10 in program history in the 5k. On top of her athletic achievements, Kristina's leadership capacity grew exponentially on campus while she was a student-athlete. She was a team captain, RA, marketing intern, and enrollment ambassador on campus, and graduated with her Business and Christian Studies degrees with honors. She also received the Velting Award – the top award given to a business student at Grace Christian University.

Previous Head Coach Gerry Verwey will continue pouring his love and leadership into the program in a different capacity to ensure a smooth transition for the program that he has elevated to new heights in the last decade. Coach Verwey had this to say about Coach Brandenburg's hiring:

"Kristina's leadership both as a captain of the cross country team and her multitude of roles on campus as a student-athlete have proven that she has the desired characteristics to carry on the wonderful family-like culture of our team, while also have the drive and passion to build the program. Very early on, Kristina expressed a desire to coach this team and to grow in the sport as a whole.  As her coach, she has been a joy to work with and I knew on the first day that I met her for her recruiting visit that Grace was the place for her.  As her coach, I'm proud to hand off the head coaching responsibilities to her and excited to know that our runners are in good hands.

Coach Brandenburg commented on her excitement to take the leap from player to coach.

"I am so excited to start at Grace Christian University! My favorite part of college was having the team community and culture I experienced while running for Grace and I am extremely blessed to be able to see it continue to grow and have a hand in it!"

If you are interesting in being a part of the Grace Christian University Cross Country program, or know a prospective college athlete that may be interested in exploring Grace, please reach out to Coach Brandenburg at kbrandenburg@gracechristian.edu.