Brad Peterson enters into his third year as head cross country coach and fourth year as head men's track coach at Friends University. Peterson is in charge of all of the men's and women's distance and middle distance runners.
In cross country, Peterson had a history making year for the program in just his first year at Friends as both the men's and women's teams became nationally ranked for the first time in school history and 5 different individual runners qualified for cross country nationals. There has never been more than one individual qualifier in a year before in school history. Coach Peterson coached Matt Ditzler to All American honors as he finished 28th place at cross country nationals and Jordan Arnold was only 5 seconds from being All American as she placed 32nd place. The 2010 women's and men's cross country teams both placed runnerup at the KCAC Championships and qualified three women to the national meet and two men.
In track in 2010, Peterson sent 10 men to indoor nationals and 12 more to outdoor nationals. There have never been more than 6 individuals to qualify for a national track meet. The men's team placed 2nd at the 2010 KCAC track and field championships and the women were first, both the best finishes in school history. The 2011 women's track and field team won the KCAC title for the second year in a row behind 110 points from the distance gals. The men's team sent 10 different men to track nationals in 2011 and the women's team sent 8 individuals.
Highlights for Peterson's athletes in track and field thus far on the men's side are the following national qualifiers: Junior Matt Ditzler ran 30:12 10k, which was the third best time in all of NAIA last year and broke the school record at Friends by four minutes. He also holds the 5k school record at 14:52 and the 3k school record of 8:32; Junior Dan Neidlinger ran 31:05 for 10k and this was the 10th best time in all of NAIA. He also ran 15:11 for 5k; Junior Tim Patterson ran 4:01 for 1500 meters after never being under 4:30 before 2010. He also ran 32:48 for 10k and 15:42 for 5k; Sophomore Michael Gurley ran 1:54.88 for 800 meters after never breaking 2:00 in high school; The 3200 relay team ran 7:49 and broke the school record by 5 seconds; Freshman Cameron Sprague ran 15:01 for 5000 meters and 4:00 for 1500 meters.
Highlights on the women's side in track and field for Peterson's athletes are the following national qualifiers: Sophomore Jordan Arnold running 17:47 for 5000 meters and breaking the school record. Arnold never broke 19:00 in high school; Sophomore Karissa Cominator running 37:22 for 10000 meters and breaking her own school record. She also ran 17:56 for 5k indoors and qualified for the marathon national championships Senior Taylor Doll ran 38:50 for the 10k and 18:58 for 5k and also qualified for the national marathon championships and ran 3:13, placing 16th; Junior Lindsay Dunham qualified for the national marathon championships and ran 3:31; Senior Tavi Davis running 57.0 for 400 and 2:15 for 800 meters after never before running the 800; The 4x8 relay team placed 9th at the 2010 nationals and ran 9:12, breaking old school record by 20 seconds; Sophomore Kristie Adams ran 4:48 for 1500 meters after never running faster than 5:15 prior to this year; Freshman Connie Collins ran 18:55 for 5k after never breaking 20:00 before this year.
Before Friends University, Coach Peterson started the track and cross country programs at Indiana Tech University from scratch and built a top 10 national team in just two years. The men's cross country team placed 5th at nationals and the women placed 7th in 2008. He coached Alissa McKaig to the national championship in cross country and Camron Walter to a 7th place finish at nationals in 2008. He also coached McKaig to three different national championships in track in the same year, two in the 5k and one in the 10k. Coach Peterson coached McKaig to a qualifying mark in the 2009 USA championships in the 10k and helped her to a professional contract at ZAPP Fitness. He also coached Rod Waters to the national championship in the 110 hurdles in 2008.
Before coaching college, Peterson was the men's and women's track and cross country coach at Concordia Lutheran High School and Northrop High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he coached 12 different state champions in the one class Indiana state meet. The highlights at Concordia were coaching the women's team in 2004 where he coached the following state champions: Alissa McKaig, 4:49 mile and a 10:29 2mile, Adele Mitchell, 4:56 mile and 10:46 2mile, Amber Williams, 14.32 100 hurdles, Christina Whitt, 24.40 200 meters, and Joy Eloms, 11.92 100 meters. He also coached the 4x100 girls team to a 46.12 state championship time. All of these young ladies went onto full scholarships at division one schools: Michigan State, Wake Forest, Ball State, Baylor, and Western Michigan. Peterson is the only coach in Indiana history to coach back to back different athletes to state titles in cross country in Alissa McKaig and Adele Mitchell. At Northrop, Peterson coached Brett Tipton to a 1:49 800 meters and a national title in the 800 in 1999, and also helped him earn two state titles in the 1600 meters, with a best time of 4:12. Peterson was the first coach in state history to coach a one-two finish in the 1600 from the same school in Tipton and Nathan Peffley in 1999. Peterson also coached the national runnerup 4x8 relay team in 1998 as they ran 7:41. Finally, he coached female Talia Barwick to a state title in the 800 in 1998 as she ran 2:14 and she also was runnerup in the 1600 in the same year, running 4:58.
Peterson was born and raised in Fort Wayne, where his parents, Barrie and Judy still reside. He has two brothers, Mike and Jeff. He has two nieces, Amber and Taylor, and three nephews, Shane, Luke and Justin. He graduated from Concordia Lutheran High School then Ball State University, with a major in English and a minor in Physical Education and Health. He also earned his Master's degree in Administration from Indiana University.
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