Illinois Wesleyan

Greg Huffaker became the head cross country coach for men and women and assistant track coach at Illinois Wesleyan University in April 2005.

In 2015, Erin McCarey became the second individual woman to earn All-American status in women's cross country, finishing 21st at the NCAA Division III national championships.
 
In 2013, Carmin Beck was the third individual woman to qualify for the NCAA Division III championships, finishing 116th against a field of 280 runners. Other Titan woman to compete as individuals in the national meet were Kerri Devitt in 2009 and Melinda Sprague in 2005.
 
Huffaker’s entire 2012 women’s team qualified for the first time for the NCAA Division III championships, where the Titans finished 24th and won the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship for the first time in school history. Rachel Williams was the winner of the CCIW championship race and placed 45th at the NCAA Division III championships.
 
In 2011, Huffaker coached the Titans to a fourth-place finish in the CCIW and 15th at the NCAA Midwest Regional for the men and a second-place finish in the CCIW and an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional for the women’s team.
 
In 2010, Huffaker led IWU to a fourth-place finish at the men’s CCIW Championship and a 12th-place showing at the Regional. For the women, Huffaker coached the Titans to a second place team showing at the CCIW Championships and ninth place Regional spot for the women.
 
In 2009, the Titan women’s team ranked No. 8 in the final Midwest Regional rankings and in 2008, the Illinois Wesleyan women's team was No. 35 in the Oct. 15 national Division III rankings done by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, marking the first time an IWU squad has ever achieved that national recognition.
 
Also in 2009, Kerry Devitt became the first IWU woman to win the CCIW championships and she went on to finish ninth in the NCAA Division III regional and 74th in the NCAA Division III national meet. Devitt was the second women ever to qualify for the national meet.
 
In 2005, Huffaker’s first season, he coached Melinda Sprague to NCAA Division III All-America status in as she finished 33rd as the first IWU woman ever to qualify for the national meet.
 
Huffaker is a 1999 graduate of North Central and came to IWU from Elmhurst, where he was head men's cross country coach and head men's track and field coach from 2002 to 2005.
 
At Elmhurst, Huffaker guided the men's cross country team to a second place finish in the 2004 CCIW meet and to third place finishes in 2002 and 2003. In 2004 Elmhurst finished sixth in the Midwest Regional meet, the school's best finish ever at the time, and Mark Heintz became the school's first cross country All-American with his 19th place finish in the NCAA Division III championships.
 
Prior to coaching at Elmhurst, Huffaker was a cross country and track assistant coach at North Central. He also coordinated student-athlete recruitment with the office of admissions and oversaw all aspects of the incoming student-athletes' transition into college. He was also assistant director of the North Central summer cross country camp.
 
In 2000, Huffaker was the head men's cross country coach and assistant men's track and field coach at the University of Dubuque, where he prepared the cross country operating budget and assisted in the administration of the NCAA Division III outdoor championships.
 
Huffaker, who has a Level I coaching and Level II endurance and jumps certifications from USA Track and Field, earned a bachelor's degree in biology from North Central, where he was a four-year varsity letterman in both cross country and track and a member of national champion cross country teams in 1997 and 1998. In 1998, he was the CCIW champion in the steeplechase and served as a captain of the Cardinal cross country team.
 
Huffaker also serves as an assistant coach for the Illinois Wesleyan track teams, helping the IWU women’s team capture the NCAA Division III outdoor championships in 2008 and 2010.
 
Huffaker and his wife, Beth, are the parents of Luke, Kylie, Allie and Ben.