Alma Mater: University of Colorado '10
Season as Head Coach: 4th
(including 2020; 2019 as interim)
SUNYAC Coach of the Year: 1 (2019)
Ais Ryan (they/them) began their first season as interim Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach in 2019 and was promoted to full time Head Coach for the 2020 season. They are the chair of the Transgender Participation Committee at SUNY New Paltz. Ryan was nominated for the NCAA 2021 Division III LGBTQ Administrator/Coach/Staff of the Year Award. They begin their fourth season at the helm of both programs entering 2022.
Ryan led the Hawks to their most prolific season to date in 2019, guiding three national qualifiers (Emily Cavanagh, Reed Williams and Matt Whitworth) — the most ever in a single season in program history — with Whitworth becoming the first male runner to qualify to NCAAs. Additionally, Ryan led SUNY New Paltz to its best team standing at the SUNYAC Championship meet on the women's side, coaching five All-SUNYAC honorees as well as four All-Region honorees. Ryan was voted the SUNYAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year — also a program first.
Prior to SUNY New Paltz, Ryan gained coaching experience at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where they were at the helm of the UAF Men’s and Women’s Cross Country team from 2014 to 2015.
Ryan was the Footlocker Cross Country National Champion in 2004. They ran for the Buffaloes at the University of Colorado placing 46th overall at the DI National Championships helping Colorado to a second-place team finish in 2006. Ryan competed in the Junior Cross Country Nationals, earning a spot on the USA Cross Country Championship team in 2007. In 2017 they were inducted into the inaugural class of the New York State Section IX Hall of Fame.
Ryan is a 2010 graduate of the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture. They are pursuing their master's in Social Justice in Education at SUNY New Paltz. Ryan lives in Woodstock, NY with their wife Natalia, their two dogs Reba & Ramone along with their cat Mojo.
Contact Aislinn Ryan at ext. 3922 or
ryana@newpaltz.edu.
