Krista Littleton will take the reigns of the women's cross country and track and field programs. A 2002 graduate of North Central College, Littleton began her coaching career at Virginia Wesleyan as an assistant men's and women's cross country and track and field coach in 2004. She was promoted to associate head coach of the programs in 2009 and promoted again to head coach in 2011 taking over the women's programs.
During her time with the Marlins, Littleton coached 114 all-conference performances, 15 conference champions, eight national championship qualifying performances and four all-American honors. Two of her athletes received ODAC Athlete of the Year honors and her track and field squads ranked in the top ten of the region on a regular basis.
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In her first season as head coach, Littleton helped senior runner Kat Stai to an all-conference performance as she finished fourth place at the A-R-C XC Championships in 2019. Stai followed up that performance with a 16th place finish the regional race to earn All-Region honors. During the 2020 season, Little coached junior runner Kandice Kittinger to another all-conference performance as she took 10th in the women's race at the 2020 A-R-C Championships. The success continued in 2022 for Littleton's athletes as Hannah Pecharich and Jaydyn Palmer registered the program's first all-conference honors since 2018, claiming top-three finishes in the pole vault and the shot put. Pecharich repeated as an all-conference performer in 2023, finishing third for the program's third medal in two years. 2023-24 featured more record-breaking performances for the women, setting numerous top-10 school marks throughout the season. Lily Mayo highlighted the 2024-25 cross country and track & field seasons, posting the second-best finish at the 2024 A-R-C Cross Country Championships while representing the Kohawks at the 2025 NCAA Midwest Qualifier in the 3000m Steeplechase.Â
