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Clayton Foster

Men's Cross Country Bob Shreve, Sports Information Director

Clayton Foster Named Head Cross Country Coach

Former Adams State Assistant to Guide Distance Runners

EDINBORO, Pa. – Edinboro University Interim Director of Athletics Dr. Katherine Robbins today announced the hiring of Clayton Foster as head cross country coach and assistant track & field coach. Foster joins the Fighting Scots after serving as an assistant coach at Adams State, one of the perennial standard bearers in Division II running circles.
 
Foster is no relation to former head coach Ryan Foster, but Anne Cleary hopes the Foster name will continue to produce great results. Cleary, Edinboro's Head Track & Field Coach and Director of Cross Country Operations, spearheaded the search for Edinboro's latest head coach.   
 
"I am very excited to welcome both Clayton and his wife Erin to Edinboro and our program," related Cleary.  "Clayton has done an outstanding job during his time as an assistant coach at Division II cross country and track & field powerhouse Adams State, and had a great college running career at Minnesota State Moorhead.  He will bring a lot of knowledge and experience to the Boro. Ryan Foster left us a great program and I am looking forward to working with Clayton as he starts the Clayton Foster era at Edinboro"
 
Foster looks to continue the great tradition of Edinboro cross country that began with the long tenure of Doug Watts and continued with Ryan Foster. "I am very excited for this opportunity to lead the men's and women's distance programs," Clayton Foster related. "I believe the future for Edinboro has a high potential for success being such a young, and talented group. I cannot wait to get to work and begin building a program which has been developed from a very rich tradition and strong history.
 
"I want to thank Anne Cleary and everyone involved in the hiring process as they truly made Edinboro feel like home to my wife and I. A place which feels like home is a great place to be!"  
 
The Edinboro women's team, a freshmen-dominated squad, won the PSAC and Atlantic Region, titles, with the men finishing second in both races. Cleary feels Clayton Foster is the perfect coach to continue Edinboro's reputation as a top Division II program.
 
"Clayton will start just a few days before we bring the student-athletes back to campus for the fall, but from the talks I have had with him he is ready to hit the ground running with the very talented group we have coming in this season," Cleary noted. "Both our men's and women's team have big goals for this upcoming cross country season and the year as a whole, and I'm confident that Clayton can lead them to achieve those goals and more."
 
Foster joined the Adams State staff in 2013 as assistant coach for the cross country and track & field teams. He oversaw the training plans and competition strategies for all track athletes from 800-meter to 10,000-meter events.
 
The Grizzlies enjoyed incredible success during Foster's five seasons as an assistant coach under head coach Damon Martin. In cross country, Adams State won nine NCAA Division II National Championships, with the men's harriers winning national titles in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017, and the women coming away with championships in 2015 and 2017. The women's indoor track -field team won a pair of indoor national championships – in 2014 and 2017 – while the men's indoor team claimed the national championship in 2015.
 
"I want to give a special thanks to my mentor and friend Damon Martin, as he has been a huge impact on my coaching career," Foster commented. "Without his genuine passion and love for the sport and development of young student-athletes, I would not have grown into the coach I have become today."
  
Individually, the Grizzlies had 25 NCAA individual champions in cross country and track & field from 2013 to 2018, along with four relay national titles. All told, Adams State produced 177 All-Americans in cross country and track & field during that period. Eleven ASU school records have fallen during Foster's tenure along with laying claim to 15 RMAC team titles.
 
Like Edinboro, Adams State places a great deal of emphasis on a strong performance in the classroom, as well.  Since 2013, the Grizzlies have notched 79 USTFCCCA All-Academic Student-Athlete honors and five USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Year awards. Adams State was named the USTFCCCA Men's Program of the Year in 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, & 2016-17, and the USTFCCCA Women's Program of the Year in 2013-14 and 2017-18.
 
Foster was a four-time NCAA national qualifier as a student-athlete at Minnesota State University-Moorhead. He qualified in the 800m, mile, 1500m, and 4x400m relay. In addition, he was a four-time Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference individual champion and two-time NSIC relay champ. By the end of his collegiate career, Foster was a 10-time NSIC All-Conference selection and the holder of two MSU-Moorhead school records. He was a captain from 2011-13 for both cross country and track & field. He was a standout in the classroom, as well, earning USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

A native of Pequot Lakes, Minn., Foster earned his Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science from MSU-Moorhead in 2013 and a Master's Degree in Human Performance & Physical Education from Adams State in 2016.
 
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