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Wayne State University Athletics

Eric Hansen

Eric Hansen

UPDATED December 21, 2022

Eric Hansen joined the Wayne State University cross country and track & field coaching staff in August of 2019 after spending the previous two years (2017-19) as an assistant cross country and track & field coach at Wilmington College.  He was elevated to a full-time coaching position in the winter of 2021-22 and concluded his third season on coach Grant Lofdahl's squad in the spring of 2022.

In the fall of 2022, Hansen helped guide the women's cross country program to a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, equaling the second best mark in program history.  In addition, men's cross country runner Ransom Allen placed ninth individually, the highest finish ever, breaking a mark that had stood since 1974.  In addition, the women's cross country staff was voted GLIAC Staff of the Year.

The men's cross country squad finished 15th at the NCAA Championships in 2021, in its first appearance at nationals since 2008.  Both Ransom Allen and Zac Truman earned All-America honors.  The WSU coaching staff was selected as the 2022 GLIAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coaching Staff of the Year after leading the Warriors to a second-place finish.  WSU compiled 139.50 points during the championships, obliterating the previous school record by over 60 points.

The 2021 cross country squads combine to place 20 student-athletes (11 men, nine women) on GLIAC All-Academic teams, while Ransom Allen was a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District honoree.

In his second season (2020-21) at WSU, Hansen helped the men's cross country squad set school records with 13 Academic All-GLIAC honorees, including a school best eight on the Academic Excellence squad.  The women's cross country team also set school records in terms of Academic All-GLIAC recipients (11) and Excellence Team selections (10).

At the 2021 GLIAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships, all three of his runners scored in the steeplechase, while another runner placed seventh in the 10K race.

WSU had its best finish in school history at the 2021 GLIAC Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships by finishing fourth.  He had a runner finish fourth in the 3K event, after she placed sixth in the 5K race the day before.  In addition, the DMR placed fifth.

In his inaugural year at WSU, Hansen helped the men's cross country squad to a fourth-place finish in the GLIAC and seventh place at the NCAA Midwest Regional.  He aided in the women's cross country team placing fourth at the GLIAC Championships, seventh at the NCAA Midwest Regional and 25th at the NCAA Division II national championships, the first appearance at nationals for the women's squad since 2014.  The men's team had a then school-record 11 GLIAC All-Academic honorees for the fall 2019 season.

While coaching the WC Quakers, Hansen helped tutor 2018 OAC Freshman of the Year in Evan Whitaker.

A native of Solon, Ohio, Hansen began his collegiate career at John Carroll where he competed in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.  He placed sixth at the 2014 Ohio Athletic Conference indoor meet in the 1000m race and also finished fifth in the DMR.  Hansen finished fourth in the 1500m race at the 2014 OAC outdoor meet and was a member of the champion 4x800m relay.

As a sophomore, he was seventh at the 2015 OAC indoor meet in the 1000m race, then finished ninth at the outdoor meet in the 800m race.

Hansen spent his final two seasons at Ashland University.  He competed in the GLIAC Cross Country Championships in 2015 and 2016, improving by 25 places from his junior season to his senior campaign.  Hansen finished sixth in the mile at the 2016 GLIAC Indoor Championships and was a member of the fourth-place DMR.  At the 2017 GLIAC Outdoor Championships, he placed eighth in the 1500m race.

He earned his bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from AU in 2017.

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