Harnden announces Auburn Track and Field staff hires

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David Gray/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn track and field has added four staff members: Ryan Foster, Kara Foster, Rich Fisher and Jenna Gearing, head coach Ken Harnden announced Monday.
 
Associate head track and field coach Ryan Foster will coach middle distance while associate head cross country coach Kara Foster will coach distance and cross country. Entering his second year at Auburn, Fisher oversees the jumps and multi events, while Gearing will be an assistant cross country coach and serve as director of operations.

Ryan Foster, Associate Head Track and Field Coach


 A native of Tasmania, Australia, and former Penn State middle-distance standout, Foster spent the previous five years at his alma mater, including the last four as associate head coach. 
 
Over the course of his coaching career, Foster has coached 41 All-American performances, 37 conference champions, and nine Freshmen of the Year and has been awarded three USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year honors and one Conference Coach of the Year (PSAC) honor for his efforts. Foster, who had 30 All-America performers at Penn State over the last five years, has also coached a remarkable 10 performances that stand in the top 10 in NCAA history during his career.
 
"I am honored to join Auburn University as a member of Coach Harnden's inaugural staff. I am deeply grateful for the trust that Coach Harnden and Joy Vrbka have placed in me with this opportunity,” Foster said. “Coach Harnden and I have known each other for many years, and I have tremendous confidence in the vision he has established for Auburn. His commitment to selfless leadership, an unwavering work ethic, and putting people before performance resonates with me. I am excited to enhance a championship program while developing outstanding young people both on and off the field. War Eagle!"
 
Foster guided Penn State’s middle-distance and distance athletes to numerous All-America honors during the 2025-26 season, highlighted by Hayley Kitching’s runner-up finish in the women’s 800-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Kitching earned First Team All-America honors after running 1:57.65, the second-fastest time in NCAA history.
 
Under Foster’s guidance, Allon Clay and Niko Schultz earned First Team All-America honors in the men’s 800 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, while Clay, Handal Roban and Yukichi Ishii all collected First Team All-America accolades in the men’s 800-meter run at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
Penn State had a First Team All-American in the men's indoor 800m in four consecutive seasons (Roban - 2023, Roban - 2024, Desmeules - 2025, Roban - 2026, Clay - 2026, and Ishii - 2026) and is the only Division I school to accomplish that feat over that span. 
 
"I've known Ryan for many years, and one thing that's always stood out is his character, hard work and incredible recruiting prowess,” Harnden said. “He's a proven championship coach, but what makes him special is the way he leads people—with humility, integrity and an incredible work ethic. Our goal is to surround our student-athletes with the very best people, and Ryan embodies everything we want this program to be."


Prior to his time at Penn State, Foster spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Tennessee (2018-2021), two years at Edinboro University (2016-18) as head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach, and three years at Penn State (2012-15).
 
Foster’s first two cross country seasons at Tennessee saw the Vols and Lady Vols record their best postseason performances in more than a decade. In 2018, the men’s team tabbed their best SEC (4th) and NCAA Regional (3rd) finishes since 2010 and 2002. In 2019, the Lady Vols posted their best conference (4th) and regional (3rd) outings since 2009.
 
At Edinboro, Foster guided the women’s cross country team to a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title in 2017. He took the Edinboro women to a 19th-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships in 2017 and was named the PSAC and USTFCCCA Atlantic Region women’s cross country coach of the year.
 
On the track, Foster made PSAC history with his student-athletes winning all men’s middle and long distance races at the 2018 conference championships. He was later named the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Men’s Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year.
 
As a runner at Penn State, he earned three All-America finishes, including a pair of NCAA bronze-medal efforts as well as four Big Ten titles.  Foster set Australian national indoor records in the 800 meters and 1,000 meters and also competed in the IAAF World Indoor Championships, placing 19th in the 1,500 meters.

Kara Foster, Associate Head Cross Country Coach


Kara Foster joins Auburn after spending the previous five years at her alma mater of Penn State, the last four season as the program’s assistant distance coach where she led the women’s cross country program to three NCAA Championship appearances. Foster previously served as the team’s Director of Operations from 2021-23 and was a volunteer assistant from 2012-2015.
 
The Penn State women’s cross country team delivered one of its strongest seasons in 2025–26, finishing 10th at the NCAA Championships and a second place showing at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships, the program’s best conference finish since 2016. The Nittany Lions recorded their highest number of All-Big Ten First Team selections since 2015 and their most overall All-Big Ten honors since 2016.
 
“I am grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Harnden and the rest of the coaching staff at Auburn,” Foster said. “I appreciate the trust and support that I have already felt from Auburn Athletics, particularly Coach Harnden and Joy Vrbka. I am incredibly honored to be joining such a historic program and I have absolute faith in Coach Harnden's vision for the future. I am thrilled to begin the new task of coaching the incredible student-athletes at Auburn University.”
 
Foster helped the women’s cross country team to a 15th-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the group’s best finish since 2012. The women’s team also boasted three top 100 runners, its most since 2012, while Florence Caron finished 19th overall to become Penn State’s first cross country All-American since 2016. Brian DiCola turned out the highest finish by a Penn State men’s runner at the NCAA Cross Country Championships since 2013. His appearance in the national meet was the first for a Penn State men’s runner since 2017.
 
"Kara has earned tremendous respect throughout our sport because of the way she invests in people and the standard she brings to everything she does,” Harnden said. “She did an outstanding job turning around the Penn State cross country program and I'm grateful that she's joining our staff. I know our student-athletes will benefit from her experience, leadership and genuine care for others.”


During the 2023-24 campaign, Foster was instrumental in the success of Penn State’s distance program. In the fall, Foster helped guide the women’s cross country team to an appearance in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, its first berth in the championship meet since 2019.
 
At Tennessee, Foster joined her husband, Ryan, as the duo coached the Volunteers’ distance athletes for three years, seeing marked improvement in the program year in and year out, including a fourth-place finish for the men’s cross country team at 2018 SEC’s, the Fosters’ first season with the program.
 
During her time as an assistant coach for Edinboro, she mentored the Fighting Scots to a Cross Country PSAC Championship and coached multiple individual athletes to PSAC-winning performances.
 
A native of Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, Foster (maiden name Millhouse) was a three-time Big Ten Champion distance runner as a student-athlete at Penn State and still holds the program’s 10K record.

Rich Fisher, Assistant Coach, Jumps and Multi Events


Fisher arrived on The Plains a year ago after stops at Michigan State, Northwestern State and Purdue. This past season, Fisher coached All-SEC performer Alyssa Quinones-Mixon to a pair of silver medals indoors and outdoors, while the Tiger horizontal showed marked improvement highlighted by freshman Daramola Ibukun who broke the school freshmen long jump records during the indoor and outdoor seasons.
 
"I'm very excited for the opportunity Coach Harnden has given me to continue coaching at Auburn,” Fisher said. “He is a fantastic coach with a clear vision, and I have tremendous confidence in the direction we're headed. Auburn has a very bright future under his leadership."
 
At Michigan State, Fisher guided the Spartan jumps corps during the 2023–25 seasons. He coached athletes to compete at the highest levels, including mentoring decathlete Heath Baldwin to a 10th-place finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics and a victory at the 2024 USA Olympic Trials in the men’s decathlon. Under Fisher’s guidance, his athletes became two-time Olympic Trials qualifiers, earned First Team All-American honors in the heptathlon, Second Team All-American honors in the decathlon, and set five school records, including the Big Ten decathlon record. He also coached athletes to a Big Ten outdoor championship, NCAA Outdoor Championship qualification in the decathlon, and an NCAA Indoor Championship runner-up finish in the men’s heptathlon.
 
"Retaining Richard was a priority for me because of the impact he's already had on our program. He's an outstanding coach, an exceptional teacher and someone who genuinely cares about the success of our student-athletes on and off the track,” Harnden said. “The progress our jumps and multi events group made this past season is a reflection of the work he puts in every day, and I'm excited to continue building alongside him."
 
Before Michigan State, Fisher spent two years at Northwestern State University in Louisiana, where he helped lead the Demon women to their first Southland Conference Championship in program history. During his time, he coached three individual conference champions, seven NCAA East Regional qualifiers, and two USA U20 Outdoor Championships qualifiers.

Jenna Gearing, Assistant Cross Country Coach, Director of Operations


A native of Nacoochee, Georgia, Gearing spent the previous four seasons at Penn State as the program’s director of operations while also assisting with the distance program. 
 
The Nittany Lion women’s cross country team went its third consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, finishing tenth as team, improving five spots from the previous season. The squad also finished second at the Big Ten Championships in 2025, the program’s best result since 2016.
 
“I couldn’t be more excited to join the Auburn track & field and cross country program,” Gearing said. “I have tremendous confidence in Coach Harnden as he begins this new chapter as head coach and am grateful to be part of what’s ahead for Auburn. I’m especially excited to continue working alongside the Fosters, whose coaching, vision and commitment to student-athletes I’ve come to know and admire!”
 
During the 2024–25 season, Penn State’s cross country and track & field programs combined for 13 All-America performances. The women’s cross country team posted its best NCAA finish in over a decade, placing 15th at the 2024 NCAA Championships, while the men recorded their highest individual finisher since 2013.
 
"Jenna is an outstanding coach and outstanding person who cares deeply about student-athletes and is committed to helping them grow,” Harnden said. “She will also be vitally important to our success as she pulls double duty as our director of operations. We're excited to welcome Jenna to Auburn because she shares our vision of putting people first while pursuing excellence every single day."
 
In 2023, the Nittany Lion women’s cross country program qualified for the NCAA Championships as a team for the first time since 2019. At the regional level, the men’s and women’s squads combined for six All-Region honors.
 
Gearing competed at Clemson during her undergrad years and finished her collegiate career as a graduate student at Kentucky where she earned First Team All-America honors on the Wildcats’ 2022 DMR team.