Men's Cross Country | December 17, 2020

PHILADELPHIA – Former All-American runner Tyler Deck Shipley has joined the La Salle cross country and track & field programs as an assistant coach, it was announced Friday by head coach Tom Peterson. Shipley comes to the Explorers from nearby Temple, where he worked with the Owls' cross country and track & field programs.

"Tyler comes to us most recently from Temple University having also held coaching positions at Oklahoma State and the University of Puget Sound," said Peterson. "Personally, I have followed Tyler's progress and impact on the Temple program closely, leading Temple to two of the most successful years in program history. Most importantly, he believes in what our program is and what it can become. Tyler will be an asset to this program, the department and to La Salle University."

Shipley spent the last two years as an assistant for Temple's men's and women's cross country teams while also assisting on the track, specifically serving as Director of Operations for the women's track & field team. With the Owls, he helped the cross country teams to program-best finishes at the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championships and the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, where he mentored four men's all-region performers. The men's and women's cross country teams were the highest achieving academic teams at Temple during his time, and the women's squad had the highest GPA in the AAC in 2018.

On the track, Shipley led an international recruiting effort that brought in distance runners from three countries and five states. He assisted the women's middle distance and distance runners to a gold medal in the DMR and a clean sweep of the podium in the 800 meters at the 2020 AAC Indoor Championships. Shipley also coached three school records in the men's indoor 5000 meters as well as assisting two regional qualifiers in the women's 1500 meters, including Millie Howard, who qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships.

"Spending the past two years just south on Broad Street was a great opportunity to get to know the sport in Philly and the Mid-Atlantic Region. Seeing La Salle and Tom's success firsthand, I couldn't be more excited to join the program!" Shipley stated. "I look forward to getting to work and continuing the program's ascension into an elite cross country and track & field program. Additionally, the Philadelphia running community is a special one and I am thrilled to be able to continue to work next to close mentors and friends."

Prior to Temple, Shipley spent the 2017-18 season as a volunteer assistant coach for the men's and women's cross country and track teams at Oklahoma State. While with the Cowboys, both the men's and women's teams qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, while the indoor and outdoor track teams had 23 All-Big 12 honorees, three individual Big-12 titles and two All-Americans.

He spent the previous academic year at his alma mater, the University of Pudget Sound. There, he brought in two of the biggest classes in school history and mentored athletes to five All-West Region teams, three Northwest Conference teams, a national qualifier in the 800 meters, and three school records.

Shipley was a 10-time North West Conference Champion, six-time school record holder, two-time Division III All-American and seven-time national qualifier as an athlete at the University of Pudget Sound. He earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology and was the recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Award. Shipley has a USATF Level I Track and Field Certification and earned a master's in business from Temple in 2020, where he also served as an adjunct professor of human performance and education in Temple's College of Public Health.