Barry Brown has been the head coach of the Young Harris College men’s and women’s cross country teams since their inception in 2006.
Young Harris has had three runners – Mathew Biwott (2015), Nancy Murgor (2015) and Tim Asis (2016) - qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championship. All three runners also claimed won a Peach Belt Conference individual championship for the Mountain Lions. Brown led the Mountain Lions to appearances in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals three consecutive years (2014, 2015, 2016).
Young Harris has had 12 Mountain Lions named the PBC Runner of the Week and has had 12 runners be named to the All-Peach Belt team. Nicole Smith was named the Runner of the Year in the Peach Belt in 2012, while Asis did the same in 2016. YHC also has had eight runners named to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named to the NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region team.
Brown led each of his first four teams to a NJCAA regional championship and twice won the region’s Coach of the Year award.
He wasted little time building the team into one of the top teams in the region, as both Mountain Lions teams claimed second place in the regional championships in that inaugural season in 2006. That same year, Young Harris claimed the women’s individual regional champion and the individual runner-up in the men’s regional meet, and both runners participated in the NJCAA National Championship.
That was just an appetizer for the men’s team, which went on to claim the regional championship and a top-20 national ranking in 2007, netting Brown the region’s Coach of the Year award. The women were the regional runners-up for the second consecutive season.
In 2008, the roles reversed, with the women’s squad claiming the regional crown and a top-20 national ranking, and the men finishing second at the regional championships. Again, Brown was named the region’s Coach of the Year, this time on the women’s side.
In 2009, the women finished second and the men finished third at the regional championships.
A long-time competitive runner himself, Brown has made several appearances in both the Chicago and Boston Marathons. Brown has now turned his attention to coaching as well as directing Warrior Running Camps.
Brown is married to Kathy Insel Brown, and they have children: Jensen, Brayden, Leyton and Breckyn.
