Courtesy of Puma
The majority of America’s Olympic hopefuls belong to pro training groups, in which small numbers of athletes practice together in places around the country, from Boston to Rochester Hills, Michigan, to Flagstaff, Arizona, to Portland, Oregon. These teams are often funded by a single sponsor, a shoe company trying to build visibility for its products through athletic performances.
The biggest of these teams are all coached by men. So across the insular world of elite running, coaches and athletes noticed when two recent plum jobs went once again to male coaches. For some, it rankled. Others shrugged it off as the same old, same old: It’s all about connections, who you know.
HOKA NAZ Elite adds Jenna Wrieden as an assistant coach
Press Release
January 12, 2021. Published January 13, 2021
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – HOKA NAZ Elite announced that it has added Jenna Wrieden to its coaching staff. Wrieden is coming off a four-and-a-half year run as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville where she worked with multiple NCAA All Americans including 2017 National steeplechase champion Edwin Kibichiy, and 2018 10,000 meter runner-up Dorcas Wasike. Wrieden will serve as a full-time assistant coach for HOKA NAZ Elite, alongside head coach Ben Rosario.
NAZ Elite, who last year announced a new, multi-year agreement with its title sponsor, HOKA ONE ONE®, a division of Deckers Brands (NYSE: DECK), launched its search for an assistant coach last year and the hiring process took more than three months to complete. Rosario said that Wrieden beat out an amazing group of candidates.