Men's Cross Country
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Phone:
- 406.994.7837
Stephanie Brokaw returns to Bozeman as an assistant coach for Montana State track & field and cross country in 2026-27. Brokaw, previously Brown, was on staff from 2016-19 and will again assist coaching the middle distance and distance runners.
Brokaw spent the past two years as an assistant coach at Kansas State University, where the men’s track & field team went from last in the Big 12 Conference in 2025 to finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships during the 2026 indoor season. One of the fastest turnarounds in NCAA track & field history, the 2026 men’s team also finished eighth at the NCAA outdoor national meet. On the women’s side, the turnaround was equally as impressive, with K-State finishing seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2026. Â
At K-State, Brokaw coached the middle distance runners. Under her direction, Vienna Lahner had one of the best seasons in the history of the program. The Adams State transfer broke school records in the 1,000-meters (2:44.33) and the mile (4:38.84) in 2026, the latter of which stood since 1983. The mile school record is even more impressive considering her high school personal best a few years earlier was 5:11.03 for 1600 meters. Lahner almost broke the school record in the 3,000m as well, running 9:17.52, nearly one minute faster than her personal best from Adams State (10:06.19).
Elite student-athlete development extended beyond Lahner, with true freshmen Stella Miner earning Big-12 all-conference honors with a third-place result in the 1,000m during the 2025 indoor season. Miner’s 800m time of 2:06.09 as a freshman qualified her for the USA U20 Championships. Brokaw also assisted in the development of two other conference scorers in the middle distance events, Oskars Bambals and Anna Pozdeeva. Their performances, along with Miner in 2025 and Lahner in 2026, landed them top-10 in K-State school history.
Prior to K-State, Brokaw was an assistant coach at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. Brokaw guided 2023 OVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Logan Lommel, who set eight school records, ranging from the 4x400m relay during the indoor track & field season to the 10,000-meters in cross country. Another standout performer, Ackeen Colley, set five school records, including the men’s indoor and outdoor 800m. The Oklahoma transfer ran a 1:47.98 indoors, ending his Leatherneck career with five conference titles, a Drake Relays 800m title, a conference record in the 800m, and a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
On the women’s side, Brokaw helped guide 2023 WIU Female Student-Athlete of the Year Paulina Wuestefeld. She anchored the school-record distance medley relay, breaking the previous record set in 1982. Wuestefeld also ran top-three performances in school history for the mile, 3,000m, and 5,000m. In cross country, she broke the women’s 6k school record at the conference championships. Outside of her coaching duties, Brokaw helped significantly as Director of Operations, designing new team uniforms and assisting with team travel.
Prior to Western Illinois, Brokaw, then Brown, served as an assistant coach at the University of Akron, Montana State University, and the University of Arkansas. At Arkansas, she helped lead the program to its first NCAA Championship in women’s indoor track & field during the 2015 season. Brown also ran professionally for Nike. She qualified for the 2012, 2016, and 2024 USA Olympic Trials, making the finals of the 1,500m in 2016. From 2009-18, she qualified for the USA Championships 10 times in a row. With personal bests of 2:01.71 in the 800m and 4:06.71 in the 1,500m, she still trains professionally.
A graduate from the University of Arkansas, Brown was the 2009 SEC Freshman of the Year, a multiple-time SEC champion, a 12-time NCAA national qualifier, a five-time NCAA First-Team All-American as a top-eight finisher at the NCAA Championships, and won an NCAA title for the Razorbacks in 2014. Brown graduate from the University of Arkansas with degrees in Communications and Advertising & Public Relations. A graduate of Downs Tri-Valley High School near Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, Brown was an eight-time state champion in the 800m, mile, and 4x800m relay.
