Hamline University Athletics

One of the most decorated runners in HU history, Devin Monson was named the head men's and women's cross country coach in 2016 and is in his ninth season during the 2024-25 academic year.

In the fall of 2020, Monson added the role of director of track and field operations to his title and will begin his fifth year in this position in the 2025 season.

At the helm of the cross country program, Monson has coached two All-Americans in Helen Dolan and Fernando Benitez, who earned the honor in 2019. Dolan was the women’s team’s third All-American and the first in 10 years. Benitez was the men’s program’s 12^th All-American and the first since 2011.

Monson has also coached individuals to seven All-MIAC awards and seven All-MIAC Honorable Mention performances. Academically, the women’s program earned USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition seven times (2016-2020, 2022-2023), while the men earned the distinction five times (2016-2019, 2022) for maintaining a team GPA of at least 3.10.
 
On the track, Monson helped four distance runners qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 2020 indoor season and coached two student-athletes who broke school records - Alexandra Maddux set a new 1000-meter record (2:57.04) and Dolan set a new mile record (5:01.05). In Monson’s first year as the director of the track and field program, the Pipers sent four to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2021, with two (Dolan - 5000-meter run and Joe Martin - shot put) putting up All-American performances.

Monson was a member of the Pipers' three consecutive men's cross country titles (2009-11), and the Thompson, North Dakota native (who is still the school record holder for the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races) also had his own individual honors. He was a three-time All-American, receiving the honor in the 2010 cross country season as well as earning it in the 5k and 10k races in the 2012 track and field season.

In 2011, he bested 330 runners to finish first at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational held at the University of Minnesota.

Monson also has three MIAC titles to his credit. He beat back the field to take the top spot at the 2010 men's cross country meet and in 2012, he won the 5,000 indoor race and 10,000 outdoor race at the MIAC Championships. 

After graduation from HU, Monson spent a season as an assistant cross country coach at the U of North Dakota, but running was still in his blood. In 2013, he moved to Austin, Texas to train with the Rogue Athletic Club, an Olympic Development team led by Steve Sisson. 

In 2014, Monson showed he still had the long-distance wheels by finishing 12th in the 10,000 Meters at the USA Track & Field Championships. 
 
Although he had an impressive career of his own, Monson says his favorite part of coaching is “seeing my athletes achieve results they didn’t think were possible. I get as much joy out of their success as I did with my own running accomplishments.”

Monson, an Exercise Science/Education major at Hamline, also holds a master’s degree in Education from UW-Stout.