Adams State University

Hall of Fame Head Coach Damon Martin has built the Adams State University cross country and track programs to the absolute premiere level, not only at Division II, but in all of collegiate athletics. Winner of 38 National Coach of the Year awards, Martin is recognized as one of the best coaches in the country, especially with distance runners, his specialty.

Martin has guided Adams State to a total of 39 National Championship teams (22 women’s cross country, 10 men’s cross country, 4 women's indoor track & field, 2 men's indoor track & field, 1 men's outdoor track & field), including a stretch of nine straight women’s cross country titles from 1991-99, another stretch of seven straight women's titles from 2003-09 and two separate runs of three straight men's cross country national titles (2008-10 & 2012-14). He has also guided athletes to 1,275 combined all-America honors and 137 individual national championships while also coaching 10 national championship relay teams.

Martin has also guided his men’s cross country and track & field teams to nine USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Men's Program of the Year honors, awarded to the school with the best combined finish at the national championships in cross country, as well as indoor and outdoor track & field. He also led the ASU women to three USTFCCCA NCAA DII Women's Jerry Baltes Program of the Year. In 2014 the USTFCCCA officially named the NCAA DII Men's Program of the Year award after Martin. His strong relationship with USTFCCCA was reinforced in December of 2014 as Martin was voted by his peers to lead the organization as President from 2015-2017.
 
Martin first came to Alamosa in the fall of 1985 after a brilliant collegiate career at the University of Arkansas-Monticello, where he was a two-time All-American and seven-time All-Conference middle distance runner. His career highlight was a second place finish in the National Championship 1,500-meter event. After earning his bachelor of arts degree in the summer of 1985, he came to Adams State as a graduate assistant for the women’s cross country and track programs.

The next year, Martin finished his master’s degree while working at Valley Athletics and training under the Reebok flag. He continued training after completing his masters’ degree in the spring of 1985. In 1988, Martin competed in the United States Olympic Trials in the 5000 meters.

Martin then caught his big break which vaulted him onto his absolutely amazing career path. In 1988, Martin was named the interim coach for the men’s cross country team, filling in for ASU coaching great Dr. Joe I. Vigil, who was coaching at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The team won their sixth consecutive NAIA National title that year.

The next spring, Martin began a teaching career serving as a half-time physical education instructor and volunteering as a men’s track and field coach. In the fall of 1989, Martin was named the head women’s cross country and track coach. Incredibly, Martin’s inaugural women won the schools first women’s national title since 1981, and the second overall. After finishing second in 1990, the team went on a tear, winning nine consecutive national titles from 1991-99. Martin won National Coach of the Year honors every year in that streak. In 1995, he also won the Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year.

In 1996, Martin was named the head coach of the men’s programs and has never looked back. He began rebuilding the team that had gone through tough times the previous year, not qualifying for the national cross country championships for the first time in 28 years. In three short years, he returned the program to dominance with a 1998 Dual National Championship. The Grizzlies repeated that feat for the tenth time in 2018.

In addition to his National Coach of the Year Awards, Martin has numerous Regional and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors. Under Martin, the Adam State Cross Country and Track & Field teams have won a total of 92 RMAC Team Championships.
 
Martin has been selected to represent Team USA on three occasions, including 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar as the men’s distance coach.

With all his success, have come special invitations. Martin has been a guest speaker at several coaching association conventions, including the 2001 National High School Coaches Convention in North Dakota. He also spoke at the Ohio State Coaches Association, the largest in the country.

In 2018, Martin was inducted into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame. Martin was inducted into his alma-mater's athletics hall of fame in 2004, into ASU's Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Colorado Running Hall of Fame in 2015. He was also inducted into the Arkansas State Track & Field Hall of Fame in the fall of 2007. Around the same time, Martin became a published author as he wrote "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Injury Free Running:", a book that can be purchased world-wide.

Martin graduated from Longview High School in Texas in 1981. He met and married his wife Konnie while attending University of Arkansas-Monticello. The couple has two children, Lauren and Tanner. Lauren currently is the head coach for cross country and track & field at Trinidad State College. Tanner is the corporate partnerships senior coordinator at USA Triathlon.
 

Championships Won Under Coach Martin