Kara Foster joined the Auburn track and field staff in 2026 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.
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.
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.