Episode 270: Shayla Houlihan – Professional Coach with Under Armour

Shayla ran for the University of Northern Iowa and then ran Pro from 2010-2012 fro Team USA Arizona, Brooks and in 2010 was ranked the fastest steeplechaser in the US. She ended her Pro career after the 2012 Olympic Trials and started her coaching career.

She  started as a volunteer assistant coach at University of Utah for 1 year after finishing her eligibility for running and working on her masters and then went on to be an assistant coach for Team Run Flagstaff 2010-2012…for the club team (everyday runners) where she coached 170 runners. From there she coached at the University of California, Berkeley as the Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach for distance. In 2017 her women’s team made the NCAA championships as a team for the first time in 6 years.

In the episode Shayla shares with us a little bit about her own running career and then why she choose coaching. We also talk about what her recruiting process was like, what it was like to coach both the Women’s and the Men’s team and why she decided to be. part of this new Pro group in Flagstaff with fellow coach and agent Stephen Haas.

4:00- Talking about her family

10:20- Walking on the team at the University of Northern Iowa

13:25- Her college career and starting the steeplechase

19:30- Running professional and the process of starting coaching

22:45- What she learned from Coach Kepler at the University of Northern Iowa and University of Utah

24:30- Her professional steeplechase career

26:40- How she started coaching

30:30- The difference of coaching a walk on compared to a national caliber recruit

31:45- Cultivating a culture where each athlete feels important

33:30- Transitioning to coaching professional teams

38:00- What it takes to be a director of a collegiate program

40:50- Starting the professional team in Flagstaff

47:30- Coaching a team that competes in a big range of distances

51:25- Coaching with Stephen Haas

52:30- How she recruits professional athletes compared to recruiting collegiate athletes

55:55- Her favorite thing about Flagstaff