Bailee Krings entered her third year as the Head Cross Country Coach, and her sixth year as an Assistant Track & Field Coach at Pacific University in the fall of 2023. Krings was an Assistant Cross Country Coach from 2018 - 2021 before taking over the head coaching position in the fall of 2021. She primarily works with the mid-long distance runners in the track & field program.
So far in the 2024 Outdoor Track season, Henry Tierney has broken one school record. He rewrote the men's 1500m record with his season opening time of 3:49.55. In the 2024 Indoor Track season, the Boxers broke two school records. Henry Tierney and Annie Berry took down the men and women's mile records with their times of 4:13.51 and 5:11.17, respectivley. In the 2023 Cross Country season, the women's team produced a third place finish, with Annie Berry earning Second-Team All-Conference honors for her 9th place finish. Berry went on to also earn All-Region Honors for her 21st place finish in the NCAA DIII West Region Championships.
In the 2023 track season, the men's distance program saw their first Northwest Conference Outdoor Champion in an individual event since 2014. Freshman Henry Tierney won the men's 800m race, and went on to place second in the 1500m. The last time a Pacific man won the 800m was in 1998. Junior Annie Berry continued her successful year by placing second in the women's 1500m at the NWC Outdoor Championships, and then going on to set the women's 800m school record (2:12.51). Maddy Hubbs placed 3rd in the NWC Outdoor Championship women's steeplechase - Hubbs has placed in the top three of that event her entire career. Annie Berry earned All-West Region Honors from USTFCCCA for her performance in the 800m.
During the 2023 cross country season, Krings' teams produced another NCAA National Qualifier. Annie Berry took 7th place at the NCAA West Region Championships to earn her spot in the 2023 NCAA DIII National Cross Country Championships. Berry took 67th place - the highest NCAA finish in school history for a Boxer on the women's team. Liz Bradley took 26th place at the Regional Championship to earn All-West Region honors along with Berry. The women's team placed 3rd at the Northwest Conference Championships and the men placed 6th. The women went on to place 7th at the NCAA West Regional Championship, the highest finish at that meet in school history for the women's team.
In the 2022 track season, Kring's distance runners saw quite a lot of success, as they acquired seven top-three podium finishes and scored a total of 50 points for the Boxers at the Northwest Conference championship outdoor meet. Most notable was Maddy Hubbs' decisive victory in the women's 3,000m steeplechase race. Stand out senior Kara Putman finished runner up in both the 5k and 10k races. Four Boxers earned All-West Region Honors from USTFCCCA for their 2021 seasons, including Putman.
The 2021 cross country season was notable for the Boxers on the conference and national level. At the Northwest Conference Championships, Krings coached the men to a 4th place finish (the best finish since 2002) and the women to a 2nd place finish for the second consecutive time. This is the best combined finish by the men and women's teams in program history. Krings then had her first male athlete, Riley Stewart, qualify for the NCAA DIII National Championships where he took 125th place - the highest NCAA finish by a male Boxer in program history. Krings also had her second female athlete, Kara Putman, qualify for the National Championships. Putman took 111th place - the best women's NCAA finish in more than a decade. It was also the first time in program history that a member of both the men and women's teams qualified for the NCAA Championships in the same year.
During the 2021 track season, Krings helped coach the women's team to a 4th place finish and the men to a 6th place finish at the 2021 Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships, hosted by Pacific University. Eliza Irish was the champion in the women's 3,000m steeplechase, and Maddy Hubbs took third place in that race. Kara Putman was runner-up in the women's 10,000m, and Garrett Stewart was runner-up in the men's 800m race.
During the 2019 cross country season, Krings helped the women's cross country team post their then-highest finish in school history in the Northwest Conference as the team were runner-ups in the 2019 season. A pair of runners earned first team All-Conference honors.
In Kring's first season with the Boxers in 2018, the Pacific women finished fourth and the men finished seventh at the Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships. At time, that fourth place finish was the women's highest finish in school history.
Serena Wallace (First Team) and Hannah Berdahl (Second Team) earned NWC All-Conference honors in 2018. On the men's side, Riley Stewart finished 10th en route to Second Team All-Conference recognition. Wallace, Stewart and Berdahl later earned NCAA All-Region honors for their 12th (Wallace), 18th (Stewart) and 30th (Berdahl) finishes at the NCAA West Regional Championship. Wallace’s finish there secured her a spot at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships where she placed 150th.
During the 2018-2019 track season, Krings and the Pacific men finished third and women finished fourth at the Northwest Conference Championships. On the women's side, Wallace won a conference title in the 10,000m and 2nd place in the 5,000m. Eight Boxers earned USTFCCCA All-West Region honors on the outdoor circuit and six earned All-West Region Honors on the indoor circuit. Wallace went on to earn Pacific University Female Senior Athlete of the Year and was named to the Northwest Conference Female Scholar-Athlete First Team.
Krings came to Pacific after a four-year career in NCAA Division I cross country and track & field as a student-athlete at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. While at Drake, she was a team captain on both the cross country and track & field teams, and earned numerous honors throughout her career. In track & field, she was named to the Missouri Valley All-Conference Team in 2018 after finishing third in the 3,000m run at the 2018 Indoor Track and Field Championships. Krings graduated from Drake earning her bachelor's degree with a double major in public relations and creative writing.
Notable Coaching Achievements:
4 NCAA DIII Cross Country Academic All-Americans
4 NCAA DIII Cross Country National Championship qualifiers
8 NCAA DIII Cross Country West All-Region Honorees
6 Cross Country First-Team All-Conference Honorees
1 Northwest Conference Champion in cross country
4 Northwest Conference Champion in track & field
8 School Record Holders (Indoor/Outdoor)
17 Top 3-finishers at NWC Outdoor Championships
27 NCAA DIII Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field All-West Region Honorees
Highest combined finish in school history for cross country programs: fall 2021, women placed 2nd and men placed 4th
