Golden Eagle Men's Cross Country

Matt Pearson
Head Coach
(479) 524-7342
mpearson@jbu.edu

Matt Pearson begins his second year as the head coach for John Brown University’s men and women’s cross-country teams. With one year in the books including a fourth place conference finish for the women and an eighth place finish for the men, he is looking forward to significant improvement from each team in 2011. The experience and talent of the returning runners coupled with a good recruiting class should result in an exciting season.

Pearson is a 1981 graduate of Siloam Springs High School (AR) and a 1985 graduate of JBU where he earned a degree in Building Construction. He later attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota where he earned a Master’s in Architecture in 1991. After graduate school, he spent nine years in Little Rock, AR and seven years in Fayetteville, AR in architectural practice and teaching at the University of Arkansas School of Architecture. He taught for seven years at JBU and now maintains his own architectural practice in Siloam Springs.

In high school, Pearson held the state record in the two-mile run before being recruited to run for JBU. At JBU, he competed in cross-country and track and was the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Cross-Country National Champion in 1983 and 1984 and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American in 1984. He was the recipient of the Male Athlete of the Year award at JBU in 1984 and 1985. During graduate school he competed with Four Winds Christian Athletics, a regional track and cross country club. He holds personal bests of 3:53 (1,500), 9:00 (3,200), 9:14 (3,000 steeple), 14:38 (5,000), 30:48 (10,000) and a 2:36 (marathon).

He and his wife Kirsten reside in Siloam Springs with their two children, Elliott, 13 and Allika, 11.