BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Chad Balyo has been named the new cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for Samford University, Head Coach Rod Tiffin announced on Wednesday.
 
Balyo will coach the Bulldogs' cross country team, as well as the distance runners on the track and field squad.
 
"I am really excited to bring Coach Balyo on board," Tiffin said. "He will be a great addition to our staff. He has a solid recruiting and coaching base with years of experience coaching at the Division I level. I think he will make a quick transition to our program style and philosophy, and will help lead the distance program to great heights."
 
Balyo was a member of the varsity cross country, indoor and outdoor teams at the Ohio State University from 2006-2011.
 
Balyo comes most recently from Furman University where he served as an assistant coach for the Track and Cross Country teams since 2013. The men's and women teams won the Southern Conference Cross Country Championships five times under Balyo's assistance from 2013-2017.
 
Most recently, the men's and women's teams both competed in the 2017 NCAA Cross Country National Championships, where the women's team placed 7^th and the men's team was named the NCAA Southeast Regional Champions.
 
The Samford men's cross country team returns 13 runners and the women's cross country team returns 10 runners.
 
Both cross country teams placed in the top three of the SoCon Championships last season. The women's team came in third at the NCAA South Regional in 2017, the highest finish of any non-Power 5 team. The men's team came in 10^th in the Regional.