Rock Hill, S.C. – Interim Head Coach Jeremy Chavis has announced the hiring of Ryun Anderson as the program's new assistant track and field coach.
 
Anderson is joining the Eagles after spending last season as a graduate assistant for the cross country and track and field programs at East Stroudsberg University.

At East Stoudsberg, Anderson guided both the men's and women's cross country squads to fourth place finishes at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships and Top 15 placements at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championships in the fall of 2023. At the regional championship, Anderson oversaw Bri Hennett qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championship as an individual.

In the winter of 2024, Anderson assisted the track and field programs to Top 10 finishes at the PSAC Championships (Indoor and Outdoor).

The cross country programs achieved even greater success in the fall of 2024 under Anderson's guidance.

In his second and final season with the cross country team, the men finished runner-up at conference and recorded a Top 10 finish at regionals while the women recorded third at both conference and regionals. The second place finish at conference for the men tied the best finish in school history while the third place mark at regionals for the women also tied the best finish in program history.

With the third place finish for the women at regionals, the squad qualified for nationals for the second time in program history.

Prior to East Stroudsberg, Anderson was the cross country and track and field coach at Hammond High School from 2021-23.

He guided the program to a runner-up placement in outdoors at states at the 2A level in 2022 while finishing fifth in states in cross country in the fall of 2021, which was the best finish in school history.

While still competing in college, Anderson also served as a volunteer assistant for the cross country and track and field programs at Paint Branch High School from 2015-20, where the boys indoor team won back-to-back 4A state titles in 2019 and 2020.
 
Prior to his career as a coach, Anderson was a four-year member of the cross country and track and field teams at the University of Maryland at College Park. As a Terrapin, he is in the Top 5 in school history in the 1500m run, 3000m run and the 5000m run in track and the 8K in cross country.
 
"I am very blessed to have the opportunity to come and step into this role at a place like Winthrop University," Anderson said. "I look forward to continuing my own growth as a coach and a person, as well as fostering a culture of both personal and collective success among our student-athletes, be it on the track or in the classroom. I want to thank coaches Falwell and Best for bringing me in and I am excited to help mold the track and field programs here at Winthrop into models of athletic and academic success."
 
Anderson earned his bachelor's in broadcast journalism from Maryland in 2019, a master's degree in secondary teaching (English) from the University of Maryland-Global Campus in 2023 and is currently pursuing a second master's degree in sports management from East Stroudsburg.