Brian Power is in his sixth season as the head men's cross country coach and his seventh season as the head men's track and field coach at St. Olaf in 2025-26.
He was named the head men's track and field coach on Aug. 12, 2019 and, after leading the program in the spring of 2020, he was appointed as the head men's cross country coach on Apr. 29, 2020. Power also serves as the advisor for the department's
Chi Alpha Sigma chapter.
CROSS COUNTRY
Power has led St. Olaf to four consecutive top-20 finishes at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships over the last four seasons, including an eighth-place finish in 2024 that was the program's highest national finish since 2015. Under Power's direction, the Oles have also won Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) team titles in each of the last three seasons, including posting the largest margin of victory in the meet's history (73 points) in 2024. Power has been named the MIAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year twice (2022, 2024).
Prior to last season's eighth-place national finish, St. Olaf was 13th in 2023, 14th in 2022, and 17th in 2021. Each of the Oles' last three MIAC Championships have come by at least 25 points. St. Olaf has also played third at the NCAA Division III North Region Championships - one of the most competitive regions in the country - in each of the last three seasons.
Under Power's leadership, St. Olaf has been ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll throughout each of the last four seasons, extending its streak to 58 consecutive weeks in the national poll dating back to 2018.
In four seasons of competition under Power (2020 season canceled), St. Olaf has produced five All-Americans, 17 USTFCCCA All-Region honorees, 23 All-MIAC selections, and nine Honorable Mention All-MIAC honorees. His teams have also excelled academically, earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors each season while producing 15 USTFCCCA All-Academic Athletes and 59 Academic All-MIAC honorees.
In 2024, St. Olaf completed a "three-peat" at the MIAC Championships by placing all five of its scorers in the top 10 to record the lowest point total (23) for a MIAC champion since the Oles won the title with 16 points in 2014. St. Olaf cruised to the team title with a 2-3-4-5-9 finish from its five scorers and had 10 of the top-25 finishers overall. At the regional meet, St. Olaf placed third behind five All-Region (top 35) individual performances, trailing a pair of programs ranked in the top six nationally at the time. After landing another at-large bid into the field, the Oles were eighth at the NCAA Division III Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. thanks, in part, to All-America showings from Kevin Turlington '26 and Andrew Skemp '25. St. Olaf concluded the season ranked eighth nationally by the USTFCCCA.
In 2023, St. Olaf successfully defended its MIAC team title by using a 2-6-7-9-10 finish to claim its 10th MIAC cross country crown. The back-to-back titles were the first for the Oles since a run of five in a row from 2012-16. St. Olaf matched the MIAC record with seven all-conference honorees, as the Oles put seven in the top 15 and 11 in the top 25 at the conference meet to finish 31 points ahead of crosstown-rival Carleton. St. Olaf went on to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Championships after placing third in the region. At the NCAA Championships in Newville, Pa., the Oles improved one spot from the season before with a 13th-place finish, led by a second consecutive All-America performance from Will Kelly '24.
In 2022, St. Olaf claimed its first MIAC title since 2016 by finishing 27 points clear of the field with a 2-3-7-8-12 showing from its top-five finishers. Six Oles earned All-MIAC honors with top-15 finishes. After placing third at the NCAA Division III North Region Championships, the Oles earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Championships and went on to place 14th for their highest national finish since 2015. Logan Bocovich '23 and Will Kelly '24 both placed in the top-15 runners to earn All-America honors. St. Olaf was nationally-ranked by the USTFCCCA throughout the entire 2022 season, reaching as high as No. 12 before finishing at No. 14.
In 2021, St. Olaf was the runner-up at the MIAC Championships, placed fifth at the NCAA Division III North Region Championships, and finished 17th at the NCAA Division III Championships. The Oles were ranked in the top 35 nationally by the USTFCCCA, peaking at No. 12 in the country and finishing the season ranked No. 17.
TRACK AND FIELD
During Power's time with the men's track and field program, St. Olaf has recorded top-three finishes at the MIAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships in each of the last four seasons, including runner-up runner-up finishes outdoors in 2022 and 2023 and indoors in 2024.
Under Power, St. Olaf has produced 92 performances (51 indoor, 41 outdoor) that currently rank on the program's all-time top-10 lists, including eight school records (3 indoor, 5 outdoor). The Oles have also had 20 individual conference champions (9 indoor, 11 outdoor) and 79 All-MIAC performances (39 indoor, 40 outdoor) over the last 10 conference meets.
Power has coached 19 national qualifiers (10 indoor, 9 outdoor), 11 All-Americans (5 indoor, 6 outdoor), and 19 USTFCCCA All-Region selections (6 indoor, 13 outdoor). Lucas Kramarczuk was named the MIAC Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year in 2023 and Stephen Peper was tabbed the USTFCCCA Central Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year in 2021.
The men's track and field program has also continued its lengthy streak of USTFCCCA All-Academic Team awards, as the Oles have earned the accolade in each of the last 19 seasons. St. Olaf has had 20 USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals under Power.
BEFORE ST. OLAF
Power came to St. Olaf from Hanover College in Hanover, Ind. where he led the Panthers' men's and women's track and field programs for eight seasons and was appointed as the director of cross country and track and field in 2015. At Hanover, Power was a seven-time Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Coach of the Year.
During his eight seasons at the helm of the Hanover men's and women's track & field programs, the Panther women won seven Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) indoor or outdoor titles, while the men finished as high as second in both meets in 2019. His squads broke 65 school records during his tenure and Power coached over 130 first and second team all-conference honorees at Hanover.
Prior to Hanover, Power served as the track and field and cross country coach at the International School of Indiana from 2007-11, producing 18 academic all-state selections, three all-state cross country runners, and a sectional champion.
A 2003 graduate of DePauw University with a bachelor of arts in English, Power was a four-year member of the track and field and cross country squads at DePauw. He has completed his coursework towards a master of arts in English Literature from Eastern Illinois University.
Power has previously served as the USTFCCCA Great Lakes women's cross country representative and is both a USTFCCCA certified track and field coach and a USTFCCCA jumps specialist. He also serves on the board of
Looking Back Moving Forward, an organization founded by one of his former student-athletes dedicated to facilitating a better quality of life for the people of Sierra Leone.
