Adam Tribble
Guest Speaker
A “Double Dawg” graduate from the University of Georgia and an Athens native, Adam Tribble was added as the program’s head cross country coach and assistant coach for distance in June 2024.
Tribble comes back to Georgia after being the head track and field and cross country coach at California Baptist University since August 2018. Prior to his time at CBU, Tribble had spent the seven years at the University of Alabama as the assistant coach.
Tribble earned six Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year awards at CBU after leading the women to three straight league crowns in 2018-20 and the men to four straight WAC titles from 2020-2023. Both teams have earned votes in the NCAA Division I rankings under Tribble, as well.
In seven seasons, the Lancers have produced 19 individual conference champions (11 track, eight cross country) and 109 all-conference finishers (60 cross country, 49 track) in cross country and track combined. CBU's women cross country recorded the first perfect 15-point score in WAC history at the 2019 conference meet, while the men won the conference with a perfect score in 2021.
In the 2024 outdoor season, Tribble coached multiple national qualifiers for the second consecutive season, with both Valentin Soca and Greta Karinauskaite earning their way to Eugene, Ore. Both Soca and Karinauskaite earned All-American status, marking the first time in program history that multiple athletes have earned All-American status on the national stage. Under Tribble's tutelage, the Lancers collected five All-WAC nominees as well in 2024, including two individual champions and four First Team selections.
In the 2023 cross country season, Tribble was named the WAC Men's Coach of the Year for the third time and for the sixth time overall. Tribble oversaw 15 All-WAC selections, swept the individual champions at the WAC Championship Race, had five All-Regional finishers and the first All-American in program history in Karinauskaite. Karinauskaite and Arturs Medveds were named the WAC Runners of the Year under Tribble after their gold medal finishes at the WAC Championships.
The Lancers earned their best USTFCCCA rankings during the 2023 season with the men ranked as high as fourth and the women at 12th. Both teams reached Nationals for the first time in program history under Tribble with the women coming in 17th and the men in 16th.
In the 2023 outdoor season, Tribble oversaw 14 All-WAC finishers, three individual champions, six regional qualifiers and two national qualifiers. The NCAA qualifiers were the first in program history and Karinauskaiute became the first Lancer in program history to become an All-American and brought home the silver medal in the 3000M steeplechase.
In the 2022 cross country season, Tribble oversaw four team victories, including a perfect sweep at the WAC Championships. The Lancers also competed in their first-ever D1 West Regional (both men and women) and DI National Championships (women's team only) as they made the full transition to a full-fledged D1 program. Fourteen Lancers were named to the All-WAC team and the Lancers claimed another individual champion in Said Mechaal.
The Lancers also produced five WAC Cross Country Runners of the Year and individual champions and five Freshmen of the Year the last four seasons. CBU had its best season yet in 2020 when the Lancers swept both team and individual titles and produced 14 all-conference finishers at the WAC Cross Country Championships and then added on three championship runs and 17 more all-conference performances at the WAC track meet.
Tribble oversaw the Tide's cross country and distance runners, making him a great fit for the Lancers' distance-only program. He also spent time as an assistant at Oregon State, Arkansas and Georgia, where he graduated in 2002.
Alabama had enjoyed some of its best seasons in recent years with Tribble on staff. The Tide's men's cross country and track teams enjoyed their best year in quite a while in 2017-18.
In the elite Southeastern Conference, Alabama's men placed second at the cross country conference championship meet for its top finish since 2010. The team went on to take third in the South Region and produce the individual regional champion before it placed 14th in all of Division I with three All-American runners. It was the program's first top-25 finish in the nation since 2010.
Momentum carried over to the track and field seasons with the men winning their first indoor SEC title since 1972 and then taking ninth at NCAAs. The Tide came back strong for the outdoor season, taking fourth in the SEC and qualifying 11 individuals for the NCAA Championships.
On the women's side, Alabama cross country stretched its run of top-seven finishes in the SEC to five years with a seventh-place finish in 2017. The team took third and fourth in the SEC in 2014 and 2015, respectively, which were the program's best performances since 1998. The team went on to take ninth at the 2017 South Regional after going in with six-straight top-six regional finishes, which included three-straight third-place marks from 2013-15.
Prior to Alabama, Tribble coached the Arkansas women to three straight SEC cross country championships and two runner-up finishes in five seasons. The Razorbacks were inside the top 20 at the NCAA Championships all five years and placed as high as fifth in 2006.
Tribble, a graduate of Athens Christian, ran cross country and distance races for Georgia Southern for a year before the men’s team was dropped at the institution. Tribble then returned to his hometown to run for the Bulldogs through 2002, earning two-time captain honors and All-Region accolades in cross.
Tribble graduated from Georgia in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. He also earned a master's degree from UGA in movement studies.
Tribble continued to train and compete following the completion of his collegiate career. He finished 46th at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon.
In May 2012, Tribble married Meredith Crane, who was a volunteer coach with Alabama's distance runners and a former cross country and distance coach at the University of Mississippi. The couple have two children, a son, Ben, and a daughter, Georgia.Skip Ad