RICHMOND, Va. – VCU Track & Field Head Coach Jon Riley has announced the hiring of Austin Savage as Director of Cross Country and Assistant Track & Field Coach.
 
Savage arrives at VCU after most recently serving as a volunteer assistant coach at William & Mary for four years. Prior to working with the Tribe, he spent time as an assistant at Gonzaga and worked as an intern coaching assistant for the District Track Club in Arlington, Va. Savage 
was a four-year member of the track & field team at George Mason, where he was a team co-captain from 2015 to 2017.
 
"I'm very excited about the arrival of Coach Savage to this program. I believe he has the right skill set to lead both men's and women's cross country and track groups to a place we haven't seen around here in quite some time. The passion and dedication that he has for our sport will radiate through this young group and put them in a position to excel," Riley said.
 
At William & Mary, Savage developed student-athletes competing in cross country, middle distance and distance events in track & field. He also assisted with the oversight and management of track & field and cross country program-related events, travel logistics and recruiting. 
 
During his tenure, the Tribe won the 2018, 2019 and 2021 CAA Cross Country team titles while two athletes earned NCAA All-American Honorable Mentions at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He coached seven CAA Outdoor Track & Field individual champions and oversaw seven indoor school records and 16 indoor IC4A individual event champions from 2018 to 2022. 
 
During Savage's time at Gonzaga, he created and implemented training plans for the Zags' middle-distance track & field athletes while assisting in training the cross country and track & field distance athletes. He also assisted in travel logistics, recruiting and social media for the cross country and track teams. 30 athletes broke into Gonzaga all-time lists during Savage's year in Spokane and seven athletes qualified to the NCAA West Preliminary.
 
In 2016, Savage served as an intern coaching assistant for professional track & field team District Track Club where he organized and led practices, identified potential recruits and assisted in planning meet schedules and travel arrangements. 
 
As a student-athlete, Savage was a member of multiple Atlantic 10 title-winning teams and earned several A-10 all-conference honors. A native of New Kent, Va., Savage graduated from George Mason in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in English and minor in Sport Coaching. 
 
"I am very excited about the opportunity to lead the cross country team, middle distance and distance student-athletes here at VCU. It is an honor to work with such a phenomenal staff and committed student-athletes. I look forward to upholding the tradition of excellence that Coach Riley, Coach Tussing and Coach Sage have built and continuing to push this program to even greater heights," Savage said.