Jim Hunt (coach)

Jim Hunt was the renowned former head cross-country and track and field coach at Cal Poly Humboldt, where he coached Lumberjack teams from 1965 until 1986. His cross-country team won the 1980 NCAA Division II National Championships and his teams regularly finished in the top ten at NCAA Nationals, producing 64 All-Americans and eleven National Champions. He coached numerous Cal Poly Humboldt distance greats including Gary Tuttle, Bill Scobey, Danny Grimes, Chuck Smead and 1988 US Olympic marathon trials winner Mark Conover, his most accomplished protégé. Hunt was hired as the head track & field and cross country coach at University of California, Davis from 1986 to 1993. He guided the UC Davis women's cross country program to a runner-up finish at the 1991 NCAA Division II cross country championships with four All-Americans, among three other top-10 team finishes. The men's cross country program finished fourth that same season with two All-Americans. Hunt became well respected nationally as a coach and innovator of new training methods. He continues coaching to this day, and has produced a video "Training the Neurological Aspects of Distance Running" used by coaches across the United States. In 2018, Hunt published "The Rhythm of Running".