Sarah Burnell '14, a standout runner and 2020 Athletics Hall of Fame inductee at Grinnell College, took over as coach of the Pioneer cross country teams in the summer of 2020.
Prior to coming to Grinnell, Burnell served as assistant cross country and track and field coach at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. Before that as an assistant coach at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, and Grinnell.
Burnell's professional experience goes well beyond coaching, though. The Grinnell native served as assistant director of alumni relations at Otterbein and at Grinnell held many roles, from campus visits/events coordinator to coordinator of commencement and conferences.
Burnell majored in anthropology at Grinnell and attained her master's degree in exercise and sport science from Smith College. She holds certificates in ASEP coaching and completed the USATF cross country specialist course and Level 1 and 2 track and field coaching schools.
As a cross country runner and mid-distance specialist in track at Grinnell, Burnell consistently found success at conference and national levels. In cross country, she was a two-time Midwest Conference champion, four-time all-conference honoree and two-time participant in the NCAA National Championships. In track, Burnell was a multi-time conference champion in the 800, mile, 1500 and 4x400 relay and qualified for the NCAA National Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2014. Her third-place finish in the indoor mile and fourth-place finish in the outdoor 1500 earned her All-America honors in both events in her final year as a Pioneer.
As of 2020, she still held MWC outdoor records in the 1500 and 4x400 relay. Burnell, who was given the Joyce Buck '56 Award for top athlete at Grinnell in more than one sport in 2014, currently holds Pioneer records in five different events and is among the top four in four others.
