ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford University athletic department is excited to announce the hiring of Nathan Freyling as its next head men's and women's cross country coach. Freyling joins the Regents with both coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level and running experience at the NCAA Division III level.

"We are excited to have Nathan Freyling join the Regent family and believe in his ability to take the RU Cross Country programs to new heights," Director of Athletics Jason Mulligan remarked. "Nathan impressed us with his enthusiasm for making a positive impact on our student-athletes and his determination to continue moving the program in the right direction. We look forward to seeing how the program evolves under Coach Freyling's leadership."

"I am incredibly excited and honored to be the next head men's and women's cross country coach at Rockford University," Nathan Freyling stated. "I would like to thank Jason Mulligan, Jess Stanek and Brian Vanden Acker for believing in me and my ability to lead the cross country programs going forward. I knew that I wanted to coach at Rockford after meeting the athletic staff and the amazing student-athletes that were involved in my hiring process."

Prior to coming to Rockford, Freyling spent two years as an assistant coach for the cross country and track & field programs at Eastern Illinois University (EIU). Coach Freyling assisted in all aspects of the cross country and track & field programs, including: recruiting, coaching, implementing and teaching training plans, monitoring academic progress and managing the teams' social media accounts. The Panthers had an incredible amount of success in both cross country and track & field with Coach Freyling on staff. In 2022, both the men's and women's cross country programs won the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Championship. The Panthers had a total of seven All-OVC performers, including the 2022 OVC Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year. The track and field programs had an equal amount of success over that span, including winning the 2023 OVC Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship. The Panthers also amassed a total of 45 All-OVC honorees, including both the 2022 OVC Indoor and Outdoor Male Track Athletes of the Year, broke ten different individual school records and posted 38 EIU top ten all-time performances. The Panthers' cross country and track & field programs capped off the 2021-22 school year by earning the Ohio Valley Conference's Male and Female Athletes of the Year. In addition to all of their athletic success, the Panthers performed extremely well in the classroom. The men's team earned USTFCCCA All-Academic status in 2022 and posted the nineteenth highest team GPA in the nation.   

Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Freyling was an all-conference performer in both cross country and track & field at Webster University. He was a three-time First Team All-SLIAC (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) cross country honoree and finished as high as second place at the conference's cross country championship during his senior year. Freyling also earned all-conference status a total of ten times in multiple events for indoor and outdoor track and field, and was tabbed the SLIAC Men's Track and Field Athlete of the Week once during the 2019 season. In addition, he currently holds three school records at Webster University in the indoor 5k, outdoor 3k and outdoor 10k. Freyling also earned SLIAC All-Academic Team and All-Sportsmanship Team status in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

"We have such a committed and inviting group of student-athletes here at Rockford, and we will continue to build off the past successes of the programs," Coach Freyling commented. "I look forward to the start of the season and to all the success in store for us. Go Regents!"