Jay Koloseus joined the Drake track & field and cross country staff in August, 2017 as the program’s assistant men’s distance coach and recruiting coordinator.
In fall 2019, after the men’s cross-country team finished as the runner-up in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship Koloseus was named interim head cross country coach for both the men’s and women's teams. In his new role, Koloseus guided Maximillian Fridrich to a MVC 5k win during the 2020 indoor season also Freshman Isaac Basten won the 3K event with Millie Brettl and Olivia Rogers scoring at the meet. That season also saw Adam Fogg break the school record in the Mile with a time of 4:00. After this success, Koloseus became the head coach as the interim tag was removed.
With many new recruits added to Koloseus’ distance squad, 2021 was an impressive year for the Bulldogs. That indoor season saw Adam Fogg again break the school record in the Mile, this time being the first-ever Drake athlete to break the 4-minute barrier, as well as qualifying and finishing 4th at the NCAA indoor championship in a time of 3:57. Fogg was also the MVC indoor 3k champion, as was Isaac Basten in the 5200m while Notre Dame transfer Ryan Schweizer finished on the podium in the mile event. Freshman Brooke Mullins, Ashlee Siegle and senior Elizabeth Aho also scored indoors, one week prior to the women finishing 3rd in the conference cross country championships, run in the spring as the fall was canceled, the highest finish in over 20 years. Elizabeth Aho capped off her Drake career by winning the MVC 5K outdoor title to become Koloseus’ first female MVC champion. The outdoor season brought more school records with Brooke Mullins in the 3k steeplechase and Adam Fogg in the 1500 meters at the Drake Relays. Fogg then went on to win the 1500, 5000, and 10000 events at the outdoor MVC meet and was named MVC Athlete of the Year. He along with Isaac Basten qualified for the NCAA outdoor national championships where they were both named All Americans.
The Fall of 2021 proved to be a historical one for Koloseus’ crew again. The women’s cross country team was fifth at the MVC championships and even while holding out scoring athletes finished 19th in the NCAA Midwest Championship the highest finish since 2013. The men’s cross country team dominated the MVC Championship finishing 1-2-3-6-8 in the competition winning by the second lowest score since the 1950’s. Taking home Drake’s first Championship since 1999. With a very young squad the men attempted to qualify as a team to the NCAA National Championship but came up short while still recording the highest ever Drake finish at the NCAA Midwest Championship with a seventh place showing. Adam Fogg and Isaac Basten both qualified for the NCAA Nationals individually finishing 4th and 19th in that meet. Only weeks after that, Isaac Basten would run his first sub 4-minute mile at the ISU Holiday Invitational running 3:38.88.
Previously at Louisburg College in Louisburg, N.C., Koloseus was the head track & field and cross country coach since 2013. There, he started the cross country programs and was the 2014 Region X NJCAA cross country men’s team champion and the men’s and women’s Coach of the Year.
In 2015, he started the track and field programs at Louisburg and quickly started winning titles. The program’s first two seasons, 2015 and 2016, both the men’s and women’s team won regional championships and Koloseus was again named Region Coach of the Year, bringing his total Coach of the Year awards to six.
In 2015, the programs recorded a top-20 finish at the National Championships in their first year of existence with no scholarship student-athletes.
Prior to constructing the program’s and Louisburg, Koloseus was a graduate assistant coach at Auburn where he helped oversee the Tigers’ cross country teams and distance runners. As a student-athlete, Koloseus was a member of two BIG EAST champion cross country teams at Syracuse and was an All-BIG EAST team selection.
