Gabe Sanders
DIRECTOR OF TRACK & FIELD AND CROSS COUNTRY, BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Sanders, who coached 16 All-Americans and 17 NCAA finalists while at Stanford, was named Boston University’s Director of Track & Field and Cross Country in August of 2019.
During the 2019-20 indoor season, Sanders first at BU, he coached the men’s and women’s teams to a combined five individual gold medals and 10 overall medals at the PL Indoor Championships. Sophomore Andrea Claeson won gold in 1 mile run and the 3000m run and was named PL Female Athlete of the Meet. Freshman Sophia Jacobs-Townsley who won gold in the 5000m and silver in the 3000m run and was named PL Rookie of the Meet. Despite not being seeded in the top 15, junior Bridget Chiaravalle won gold in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.50, a new personal best and a new PL Championship meet record.
During his four seasons at Stanford, Sanders coached Cardinal student-athletes to unprecedented success. Sanders directly coached 14 NCAA First Team All-Americans, three Second Team All-Americans, 17 NCAA finalists and 21 first-round qualifiers. Under Sanders, 11 Stanford school records were broken, including the sixth-fastest 800-meter run in NCAA history (Olivia Baker – 2018). Sanders helped Stanford earn the 2018 USTFCCCA NCAA Women’s Program of the Year award and the 2019 USTFCCCA NCAA Men’s Program of the Year honor.
Under Sanders’ guidance during the 2018 season, Stanford qualified three relay teams to the NCAA Championships, including both the men’s 4×100 and 4×400, for the first time in Cardinal history. The men’s 4×400 became the first from Stanford to reach an NCAA final while the 4×100 team was the first to advance to NCAA in 14 years. The top six men’s outdoor 4×400 times in Stanford history all were run under Sanders, with the top three coming in 2018. Also in 2018, both the school indoor and outdoor men’s 4×400 records were broken, while the indoor 4×400 mark was eclipsed once again in 2019.
In 2016, Sanders’ first season at Stanford, the men’s 4×400 team gave Stanford its first conference 4×400 or mile-relay championship in 62 years. In that same year, the women’s 4×400 set a school indoor record, was No. 2 all-time outdoors in school history and finished as the Pac-12 runner-up while earning a berth in the NCAA Championships.
Sanders served as an assistant coach at BU for seven years, from 2008 to 2015, where he was the program’s recruiting coordinator and responsible for coaching student-athletes in sprints, hurdles and relay events. While at BU, the Terriers broke 15 school records under his watch while BU sprinters and hurdlers combined for 16 Patriot League titles and 28 America East crowns. He also coached student-athletes to 10 conference meet records in both the America East Conference and the Patriot League.
In 2015, Gemma Acheampong was named the Female Track Athlete of the Year at both the Patriot League Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships after helping lead the Terriers to second place at both events. Acheampong won the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at both events, with her 100 time of 11.49 seconds at the outdoor meet setting a new school and Patriot League record. Acheampong also set the 60-meter dash school record with a time of 7.49 seconds.
During the 2015 outdoor season, the BU 4×100-meter relay team of Justin Flynn, David Lagerberg, Alastair Prenn and Cameron Williams set a new school record with a time of 40.19 which also broke the previous New England record of 40.27.
Sanders was named 2012 USTFCCCA Northeast Region Indoor Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year and had 21 NCAA regional qualifiers and one NCAA Championships finalist.
Sanders was an assistant coach for jumps and multi-events at Williams College in 2006 and 2007, coaching 12 All-Americans and overseeing eight school records. He coached sprints, hurdles, relays, jumps and throws at Colgate in 2008, and his athletes broke five school records.
A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sanders earned his degree in kinesiology with minors in sport management and communication from the University of Michigan in December 2005. In 2014, Sanders earned his master’s in physical education with a specialization in coaching from Boston University.