TitoMedrano

Tito Medrano enters his first season as an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats, primarily working with the cross country and distance group. Most recently, Medrano served as the associate head coach of the cross country and track and field program at the University of Toledo for the past two seasons, primarily working with the women’s distance and mid-distance runners.

In his nine seasons of collegiate coaching experience, Medrano has won 12 conference championship team titles and has coached 12 student-athletes to All-American honors. He has also coached 39 conference champions and has seen 21 of his student-athletes represent their home country in international competitions.

In 2024, Medrano led Toledo’s men’s cross country team to the program’s first-ever Mid-American Conference Championship, also resulting in him earning his second consecutive MAC Men’s Coach of the Year award. Prior to his two-year stint at Toledo, Medrano served as an assistant coach at Syracuse, Illinois and Eastern Kentucky, while also working as a recruiting coordinator for the latter.

Medrano led the Toledo men’s cross country team to its first-ever Mid-American Conference Championship in 2024. Dominic Serem became just the second individual champion in Toledo men’s cross country history in 2024, crossing the finish time in 23:20.28 while Rockets had five top-20 finishers in the championship meet. Medrano was named the MAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Following his individual championship at the MAC Championship race, Serem claimed the highest-ever individual finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional as he placed third overall with a time of 29:14.1. Serem became first male runner to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships since 1975 and was the second Rocket to earn Great Lakes All-Region Honors.

In his first season with the Rockets, Medrano helped Dennis Mutai became Toledo’s first-ever individual cross country MAC champion in 2023, finishing with a course-record 8K time of 23:57.19. Toledo finished runner-up overall in the MAC with six top-20 finishers, leading to Medrano’s selection as MAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, Toledo’s first-ever MAC Coach of the Year honor in men’s cross country. UT finished runner-up for the third consecutive season in the MAC Championship meet. Mutai claimed First Team All-MAC while Benjamin Otis (11th/24:37.16) and Geoff Howles (14th/24:47.99) each were selected to the second team.

Following his success at the MAC championship, Mutai then claimed a 17^th-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional with a PR time of 30:10.8 and earning Toledo’s first-ever Great Lakes All-Region honors. Otis, a senior, also claimed a top-50 finish regionally, coming in at 48th with a 30:54.9.

Medrano came to Toledo from Syracuse University, where he has served the past two seasons as an assistant coach. He worked with both men’s and women’s distance athletes. During the fall, the men posted their highest finish since 2016, finishing 12th as a team at the NCAA cross country championships. Savannah Roark earned All-American honors finishing 23rd overall at the NCAA cross country championships. During the indoor season, Amanda Vestri finished sixth in the indoor NCAA 5k championships and set school records in the 3k, 5k, and ran the 16th-fastest 10k race in collegiate history. Paul O’Donnell also won the indoor ACC individual 5k title. In the last two years, three Syracuse men broke the four-minute barrier in the mile during the indoor season.

At Eastern Kentucky, Medrano served as the recruiting coordinator and coached both men and women’s distance runners over the course of six years. During that time, the Medrano coached seven All-Americans, including the 2018 NCAA Steeplechase runner-up Jamaine Coleman. EKU won a total of 14 OVC titles, including the only triple crown EKU ever earned by securing team titles in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track in the 2017-18 season. EKU also finished in the top 20 of the NCAA cross country championships by securing 16th place.

Medrano has extensive experience in international recruiting and coaching, working with some of the best student-athletes in school history in their respective schools such as Ahmed Jaziri (NCAA champion in the 2022 steeplechase), Jamaine Coleman (the 2018 NCAA steeplechase 2nd), James Sugira (World Cross Country, NCAA Cross Country All-American), Jakob Abrahamsen (World Championships steeple, NCAA track All-American), Paul O’Donnell (ACC 5k champion) and many others.

Before Eastern Kentucky, Medrano spent 2015 at the University of Illinois. The Illini finished second at the Big Ten Cross Country Championship – its best finish in 26 years – and finished with its highest ranking since 1986, finishing at No. 19 in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. Dylan Lafond also earned All-America honors under his watch.

Medrano is an All-American cross country runner and earned All-America honors twice in the 10,000-meter run while at Syracuse University. He was also a two-time BIG EAST Champion in the 10k. He was part of the Orange cross country squad that ended a 35-year drought and qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, along with winning its first Big East team title. He also competed for Team USA at the 2009 World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan.