TicketsCINCINNATI — The University of Cincinnati Athletics Department announced on Tuesday that Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Susan Seaton has signed a contract extension through the 2029 season. Seaton, now in her 12th year as director and 22nd overall with the Bearcats program, is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished coaches in program history.
Under Seaton's leadership, the Bearcats have earned 64 All-Americans, 95 NCAA Finals qualifiers, 138 individual conference champions, and 10 relay titles. While competing in the American Athletic Conference, her program captured four team titles and recorded 14 top-two conference team finishes.
The 2025-26 season has offered a glimpse of that standard in action. Under Seaton's tutelage, the program has produced three Bearcats to Big 12 outdoor conference titles and two to indoor titles, added a first-team indoor All-American and guided six athletes to the outdoor NCAA Championships — building on the program-record nine All-America honors the Bearcats posted in 2024-25.
Seaton made history in 2017 when she personally coached Annette Echikunwoke to the program's first NCAA individual championship in the indoor weight throw. That relationship continued on the world stage, culminating at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Echikunwoke captured a silver medal in the hammer throw for Team USA, with Seaton in her corner.
A native of Saalfeld, Germany, Seaton holds advanced degrees from the German College of Sports Science and the University of Leipzig and is a certified Master Coach of the Hammer Throw. She has also served on the NCAA Division I Track & Field/Cross Country Committee, including as chair of the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. With her extension secured through 2029, Seaton and the Bearcats are positioned to continue building on one of the most decorated stretches in program history.
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