Tom Lyons enters his 21st year as head coach of the SF State men’s cross country program in 2024. During his tenure at SF State he has also been the Head Coach for the women’s cross country team, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country and served as the Interim Head Coach for the women’s track and field team.
Over the past 21 years, Lyons has coached 20 NCAA Division II All-Americans, including 12 in 2019, as well as Josh Babiak (cross country) and Anna Bretan, Tiana Wills, Janesha Anthony, Maya Cabiness, Ashley Black and Hilary King in track. In 2005, Babiak finished 38th at the national meet, crossing the finish line in 32:59.80. Bretan finished third in the 5,000 meters at the 2008 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, breaking her own school record with a time of 16:56.62. Wills took second in the National’s in the high jump in outdoors in 2013 and was named an All-American in the indoors in 2014. Anthony, Cabiness, Black and King were part of a stellar relay team that finished eighth in the 4x100 relay in the 2014 Nationals.
Under Lyons’ direction, Gator cross country teams have produced 26 All-West Region honorees, 30 All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) competitors, one CCAA Freshman of the Year, one CCAA Newcomer of the Year and two Academic All-Americans. in 2015, the Gator men's cross country team took fifth at the NCAA Division II West Regionals after taking third at the CCAA Championships.
In the classroom, under Lyons the men’s and women’s cross country programs have garnered 10 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team awards, with over 30 athletes earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual awards.
In 2014, the Gators built a strong core in both the men’s and women’s team. The women took fifth at the CCAA Championships with two runners, Paxton Cota and freshman Cori Harral earning All-CCAA honors. On the men’s side, the Gators took third as a team, and had three runners earn All-CCAA honors. Leading the charge was red-shirt freshman Drew Feldman who was named the CCAA Male Newcomer of the Year. Feldman later earned All-Region honors as he finished 16th overall guiding the Gators to an eighth place finish at the West Region Championships.
As the interim head coach of the women’s track and field team in 2014, Lyons led the Gators to a fifth place finish with three athletes earning All-CCAA honors. Cabiness was named the CCAA Female Track Athlete of the Year. During the Indoor season, Lyons saw senior Tiana Wills earn All-American honors by placing third in the high jump. Lyons would accompany Wills at the USTF Indoor National Championships where she placed second in the high jump with a school record mark of 1.88 meters. Wills would finish her career at SF State being named the USTFCCCA West Region Field Athlete of the Year for the Indoor Season.
The 2012, the Gators soared to new heights. The men, led by three-time All-CCAA honoree Bruk Assefa, finished fifth at the CCAA Championships. Two weeks later, the deep Gator squad placed fourth at the NCAA West Region Championships earning the programs first ever birth at the NCAA Division II Championships. Assefa was placed ninth at the West Region Championships to earn All-Region honors. He once again led the Gators at the NCAA Division II Championships, taking 45th overall, as the Gators finished 22nd out of 32 teams.
In 2011, Lyons oversaw a breakthrough campaign for the SF State men’s squad, which captured four-consecutive meet titles during the regular season, followed by a second-place finish at the CCAA Championships. Individually, the Gator men boasted two all-conference performers in Assefa and Ernesto Rodriguez, while Zuleima Jimenez and Paxton Cota accomplished the feat on the women’s side. In addition, Jimenez was named the league’s Female Newcomer of the Year and later collected all-region honors after placing 17th at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships.
In addition, Lyons’ teams have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic distinction on six occasions with a team grade point average among the highest in the nation for cross country programs. Individually, six Gator runners, including Zuleima Jimenez, Paxton Cota, Kendall Dye, Brian Trejo, Alicia Trujillo and Ryan Woods received All-Academic recognition from the USTFCCCA following the 2011 campaign.
In the spring of 2009, Lyons helped stage the inaugural San Francisco State Track & Field Distance Carnival. Athletes from around the country enjoyed a fantastic day of distance racing as Lyons’ vision of hosting a top-level race under ideal weather conditions at the Gators’ top-flight track facility came to fruition. Then in 2010, the SF State Distance Carnival witnessed a 50 percent increase in the number of entrants, as over 60 teams were represented a meet which is now established as a great spring season opener for distance runners.
Lyons has served as meet director for a number of other events as well. In his first season, the Gators played host to the 2005 CCAA Championships at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park, while the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships were held at the site in 2009. In addition, Lyons oversees the annual SF State Invitational during the fall, which is typically held at the Speedway Meadow course, too.
Prior to his arrival at San Francisco State, Lyons served as boys' and girls' cross country head coach at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif., from 1994-2004. While at Redwood, he also was the boys' and girls' track and field head coach from 1994-99 and assistant track and field coach from 2000-01. In 1999, Lyons was received Redwood’s Coach of the Year Award.
Overall, Lyons’ Redwood cross country program had 54 first-team all-league runners and sent 56 athletes to the state championship meet. In 1997, the Redwood boys' teams began a run of six consecutive state meet appearances. The 1998 and 2000 teams were CIF North Coast Section Division III champions, placing third and fifth, respectively, at the state meet.
As the head track and field coach, Lyons guided the Redwood boys' and girls' squads to four league championships and 33 individual/relay titles. Redwood had seven state qualifiers on those teams, while the 1999 boys’ squad won the North Coast Section Redwood Empire meet.
In 2004, the North Coast Section recognized Lyons as an Honor Coach for the sport of cross country. In 2005, he received the prestigious CIF Model Coach Award for his positive contribution to high school cross country in the state of California. In 2006, Lyons was inducted into the Marin Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame based on his coaching career at Redwood.
Lyons graduated in 1987 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut, where he was a cross country and track & field letterman as well as a Big East Conference scholar-athlete. He currently competes in bike races with the Marin-based ThirstyBear cycling squad, one of the nation’s top Master’s race teams, winning the overall team title in 2015. Lyons also runs for the Tamalpa Runners in races from 1 mile to 100 miles. In 2002, he placed 12th at his favorite race, the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, in 19 hours, 18 minutes. Lyons resides in Fairfax with his wife, Chris, and two children, Dean (18), and Otis (15). Dean is a freshman at UC Santa Cruz, while Otis is a sophomore at Drake High School.
