Olympus XC Coaching staff
Head Coach: Chris Humbert; University of Buffalo, North Carolina State University
Coach Humbert has been involved in youth sport since 2000. He is a USSA licensed Nordic ski coach, a US Soccer licensed coach, and is certified through UHSAA for track and cross country. He currently coaches Nordic skiing in addition to track and cross country, and is excited to learn how training for running is both similar and differs from other endurance sports!
Chris came into coaching from a long history of being an endurance athlete himself. He started racing road bikes in high school, and raced US Nationals as a junior, an elite senior and as a master. He was a six-time state champion in New York, North Carolina and Utah, and placed as highly as ninth at the U.S. Elite Nationals. Chris qualified for and raced in three U.S. Olympic Trials, and raced for two years in Europe at the professional level as the sole American on a Swiss team based near Zurich. During that time, he competed in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and Austria.
Chris transitioned to Nordic skiing, and raced for Team Rossignol for ten years. During that time, he won several US Master's National Championships and placed as high as 4th at the Master's World Championship. He still loves to ski and ride on most days of the year, and you will often find him riding his bike through Holladay!
Assistant Coach, Cardio: Alex Lyons
Assistant Coach, Strength: Reed Ericson; Utah State University
Coach Ericson is the Olympus High School Track & Field Head Coach and will be coaching strength training for the cross country team as well as be available to help the cross country coaches with any extra help they may need.
Coach Reed participated in cross country starting in 8th grade through his junior year of high school. He was a member of a very successful cross country program and was a minor contributor on a state runner-up squad his junior year. He deeply cherishes his memories running on the cross country team! In track & field, he mainly competed in the 400m & 200m sprint events and finished high school with multiple state titles.
At the age of 17, Coach Reed was invited by his summer/winter track club to help coach his peers in the sprints. After a long break from coaching, he coached the short sprints at East High School in 2022 and was also an assistant cross country coach there before moving on to Olympus High School.
Reed graduated from Utah State University in 2021 with a degree in Communication Studies with an emphasis in human relationships and conflict management. He worked in the mental health/human services field while in college and for some time after, mainly working with adolescents/young adults. He is currently starting a new position at Olympus High School mentoring students in need of extra hands-on support while dealing with hardships. Reed is currently the head trainer at F45 Training Sugarhouse where he coaches group fitness classes based in functional training. He is an ISSA Certified Personal Trainer and has a growing speed training business.
Coach Reed’s favorite aspect of coaching is getting to be a part of and impacting the lives of young people. His coaching philosophy is based around his coined phrase, “coach humans, not athletes”.
Assistant Coach: Betsy Alexanderson; University of Oregon
Coach Alexanderson has been involved in youth sport since 2013 and has been coaching at Olympus since 2019. Before becoming Head Cross Country Coach in 2021, she was the Head Track & Field Coach. She is certified through UHSAA for track and cross country. Before Olympus High, she coached middle school track and Girls on the Run while teaching in Oregon. Betsy was a volunteer distance coach at Pacific University before moving to Utah.
Betsy came into coaching after running collegiately at the University of Oregon. She had a successful high school career as an elite distance runner at Yankton High School in South Dakota. She was on four state championship winning cross country teams with an individual championship her junior year. Her team qualified for Nike Team Nationals (now NXN) three times with a third place team finish her sophomore year and with an individual win her junior year and runner up her senior year. Betsy qualified for and raced in two Foot Locker National Championships (now Champs Sports) finishing 10th and 12th. At Oregon, Betsy was a member of the 2007 NCAA DI XC runner-up team, a point scorer at the PAC-10 track championships in the 10k, and a two-time qualifier for the NCAA DI West Regional Track Meet in the 5k.
She continued running post-collegiately in a semi-recreational manner with a shift towards trail running where she ran as an elite at the US Trail Half Marathon championship. She had a brief stint as an Altra brand ambassador, and during that time she raced the 50k and placed third at the Red Hot 55k in Moab.
Betsy received her Master's degree in education and is passionate about both teaching and coaching. Her favorite part of coaching cross country is watching her athletes create lasting friendships and choose to make running a part of their lifestyle. Her biggest hope for her athletes is that they continue to feel passionately about running after high school, whether that be competitively or recreationally.
Assistant Coach: Brad Rutledge; Idaho State University, Westminster College
As a successful collegiate and high school distance runner, Brad is supporting our team as an Olympus High Cross Country Assistant Coach. Growing up in Colorado, Brad specialized in the 1600 and 800 meter distances, going nearly undefeated his high school senior year in track and field.
In college, Brad was a student-athlete at Idaho State University (ISU) in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field. He was a consistent top-three finisher for ISU’s nationally ranked XC team, which ranked as high as #12 in the nation (NCAA Division I). Brad learned to leverage grit, determination and the team aspect of cross country that led to defeating larger schools like UCLA, Michigan, Texas, Virginia and even BYU on its home course. He received a Bachelor's degree from ISU and an MBA from Westminster College. Brad is a founding board member for Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, formerly served on the board of the Utah High School Cycling League, and currently runs a marketing firm specializing in supporting high-tech business and grass-roots movements.
While at Olympus High, he hopes to help inspire a lifetime of running. Brad plans to share his experiences and strategies to help Olympus runners build mental toughness, develop smart racing strategies to help the team succeed, and help the athletes grow.
Coach Humbert has been involved in youth sport since 2000. He is a USSA licensed Nordic ski coach, a US Soccer licensed coach, and is certified through UHSAA for track and cross country. He currently coaches Nordic skiing in addition to track and cross country, and is excited to learn how training for running is both similar and differs from other endurance sports!
Chris came into coaching from a long history of being an endurance athlete himself. He started racing road bikes in high school, and raced US Nationals as a junior, an elite senior and as a master. He was a six-time state champion in New York, North Carolina and Utah, and placed as highly as ninth at the U.S. Elite Nationals. Chris qualified for and raced in three U.S. Olympic Trials, and raced for two years in Europe at the professional level as the sole American on a Swiss team based near Zurich. During that time, he competed in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and Austria.
Chris transitioned to Nordic skiing, and raced for Team Rossignol for ten years. During that time, he won several US Master's National Championships and placed as high as 4th at the Master's World Championship. He still loves to ski and ride on most days of the year, and you will often find him riding his bike through Holladay!
Assistant Coach, Cardio: Alex Lyons
Assistant Coach, Strength: Reed Ericson; Utah State University
Coach Ericson is the Olympus High School Track & Field Head Coach and will be coaching strength training for the cross country team as well as be available to help the cross country coaches with any extra help they may need.
Coach Reed participated in cross country starting in 8th grade through his junior year of high school. He was a member of a very successful cross country program and was a minor contributor on a state runner-up squad his junior year. He deeply cherishes his memories running on the cross country team! In track & field, he mainly competed in the 400m & 200m sprint events and finished high school with multiple state titles.
At the age of 17, Coach Reed was invited by his summer/winter track club to help coach his peers in the sprints. After a long break from coaching, he coached the short sprints at East High School in 2022 and was also an assistant cross country coach there before moving on to Olympus High School.
Reed graduated from Utah State University in 2021 with a degree in Communication Studies with an emphasis in human relationships and conflict management. He worked in the mental health/human services field while in college and for some time after, mainly working with adolescents/young adults. He is currently starting a new position at Olympus High School mentoring students in need of extra hands-on support while dealing with hardships. Reed is currently the head trainer at F45 Training Sugarhouse where he coaches group fitness classes based in functional training. He is an ISSA Certified Personal Trainer and has a growing speed training business.
Coach Reed’s favorite aspect of coaching is getting to be a part of and impacting the lives of young people. His coaching philosophy is based around his coined phrase, “coach humans, not athletes”.
Assistant Coach: Betsy Alexanderson; University of Oregon
Coach Alexanderson has been involved in youth sport since 2013 and has been coaching at Olympus since 2019. Before becoming Head Cross Country Coach in 2021, she was the Head Track & Field Coach. She is certified through UHSAA for track and cross country. Before Olympus High, she coached middle school track and Girls on the Run while teaching in Oregon. Betsy was a volunteer distance coach at Pacific University before moving to Utah.
Betsy came into coaching after running collegiately at the University of Oregon. She had a successful high school career as an elite distance runner at Yankton High School in South Dakota. She was on four state championship winning cross country teams with an individual championship her junior year. Her team qualified for Nike Team Nationals (now NXN) three times with a third place team finish her sophomore year and with an individual win her junior year and runner up her senior year. Betsy qualified for and raced in two Foot Locker National Championships (now Champs Sports) finishing 10th and 12th. At Oregon, Betsy was a member of the 2007 NCAA DI XC runner-up team, a point scorer at the PAC-10 track championships in the 10k, and a two-time qualifier for the NCAA DI West Regional Track Meet in the 5k.
She continued running post-collegiately in a semi-recreational manner with a shift towards trail running where she ran as an elite at the US Trail Half Marathon championship. She had a brief stint as an Altra brand ambassador, and during that time she raced the 50k and placed third at the Red Hot 55k in Moab.
Betsy received her Master's degree in education and is passionate about both teaching and coaching. Her favorite part of coaching cross country is watching her athletes create lasting friendships and choose to make running a part of their lifestyle. Her biggest hope for her athletes is that they continue to feel passionately about running after high school, whether that be competitively or recreationally.
Assistant Coach: Brad Rutledge; Idaho State University, Westminster College
As a successful collegiate and high school distance runner, Brad is supporting our team as an Olympus High Cross Country Assistant Coach. Growing up in Colorado, Brad specialized in the 1600 and 800 meter distances, going nearly undefeated his high school senior year in track and field.
In college, Brad was a student-athlete at Idaho State University (ISU) in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field. He was a consistent top-three finisher for ISU’s nationally ranked XC team, which ranked as high as #12 in the nation (NCAA Division I). Brad learned to leverage grit, determination and the team aspect of cross country that led to defeating larger schools like UCLA, Michigan, Texas, Virginia and even BYU on its home course. He received a Bachelor's degree from ISU and an MBA from Westminster College. Brad is a founding board member for Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, formerly served on the board of the Utah High School Cycling League, and currently runs a marketing firm specializing in supporting high-tech business and grass-roots movements.
While at Olympus High, he hopes to help inspire a lifetime of running. Brad plans to share his experiences and strategies to help Olympus runners build mental toughness, develop smart racing strategies to help the team succeed, and help the athletes grow.