PORTLAND, Ore. — What's better than having one Olympian on staff? Two Olympians, of course.
 
The Portland State cross country and track & field programs added their second Olympian earlier this week, as Alan Webb – Olympian in the 1,500 meters at the 2004 Athens Games – joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach. Webb joins fellow Olympian Colleen Quigley, who competed in the steeplechase at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and has served as a volunteer assistant for the Vikings since Jan. 2017.
 
"We're incredibly excited to add Alan to our staff," head coach David Hepburn said. "What he brings is the knowledge that putting in the work daily is what's important. For these athletes, they come in and they hear us talk about, 'yep, respect the grind.' And when you have someone who has competed at that level, and he's like, 'yeah, that is what gets you there. That is what gets you better.' They respect that.
 
"The best thing about having both Colleen and now Alan is that they both have that same message. Stay structured. Stay scheduled. Stay busy. Alan's first thing when talking to the kids was that his best running of his life was when he was in school, when he was busy and structured and had all of these things going on. And Colleen has had that same message for the last two years. So it's been nice to hear them both have a very similar and parallel message in that regard."
 
Webb has been a frequent visitor to the Park Blocks over the years, as he also served as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2013 cross country season, and completed his Bachelor's degree in economics at PSU in 2016.
 
"I am excited about being part of a growing program here at Portland State," Webb said. "I want to help coach Heburn and coach [Josh] Seitz continue to build momentum with the distance program at Portland State. I am a Portland State alum myself so that is an added bonus."
 
Webb has a long history of running at a world-class level to draw from in his second stint as a volunteer assistant.
 
Webb announced himself as a world-class athlete in high school, when he broke Jim Ryun's 36-year old American high school record in the mile at the 2001 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore. Webb finished the mile in 3:53.43 to beat Ryun's old record of 3:55.3 by nearly two full seconds. Additionally, Webb became the first American high schooler ever to crack four minutes in the indoor mile while breaking the national high school record with a time of 3:59.86 at the New Balance Games in 2001. Webb broke the American high school record in the indoor 1,500 meters in the same race, as he came through the 1,500 mark in 3:43.27.
 
Webb ran collegiately for the University of Michigan during the 2001-02 season, winning the Big Ten cross country title while also winning the Big Ten title in the outdoor 1,500 meters. Webb was a two-time All-American while at Michigan, as he placed 11th at the 2001 NCAA Cross Country Championships and fourth in the 1,500 meters at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Webb turned pro after the 2002 collegiate season, signing with Nike where he would stay until his retirement from professional running in 2014. Webb became an Olympian in 2004, when he won the 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento. Webb won the U.S. title in the 1,500 meters again in 2005, and went on to make the finals of the 1,500 meters at the World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki, Finland later that year.
 
2007 marked Webb's best season professionally, as he won his third U.S. title in the 1,500 meters and placed eighth in the finals of the event at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Webb broke the American record in the mile in the leadup to the World Championships at a meet in Brasschaat, Belgium on July 21, 2007. Webb set the record with his finish in 3:46.91, breaking a 25-year-old record that Steve Scott set at 3:47.69 in 1982.
 
Webb also ran a lifetime best of 3:30.54 in the 1,500 meters – the fourth-fastest time ever by an American at the time – at the IAAF Golden League meet in Paris, France on July 6, 2007.
 
Webb began his coaching career in 2003, when he was an assistant cross country coach at South Lakes High School in Reston, Va. Webb next served as a volunteer assistant for the University of Virginia cross country team in the fall of 2011, before serving in the same role for the Vikings in 2013.
 
Webb coached as a cross country assistant for Westview High School in Portland in the fall of 2015, and started as a Nike volunteer/running coach at that same time. Webb was a guest run coach for the Every Athlete *2.0 Product Test Training Program earlier in 2018, as well as a guest coach for Nike's Marathon Kids and the WHQ Sport Center Noon Track Group. Additionally, Webb was a guest coach/speaker for the Nike Run Club in August of 2015, and was a sports marketing volunteer at the Nike Elite Camp in May of 2016.
 
Webb will work his first official meet for the Vikings on Oct. 13, when the Portland State cross country teams compete across three different meets during the day. The Viking women will send its top athletes to the Pre-Nationals meet in Madison, Wis., that day, while the Viking men will send their top runners to the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif. The Vikings will also send runners to the Warner Pacific XC Classic, which takes place at Lents Park in Portland.