Brandon Hazouri was named the Western Illinois cross country coach and assistant track and field coach in October of 2019 and has already amassed great success.
The 2021 season saw the second-year coach guide the Leathernecks to Summit League Championship titles in the men's 800-meter run and the men's distance medley relay before crowning the indoor season with a trip to the NCAA Track & Field Championships. Ackeen Colley and Richard Brown were named the Summit's Most Outstanding Championship Performer and Newcomer of the Championship, respectively. The two were members of the Leathernecks' first men's DMR championship team (10:02.56) and the 4x400 relay that set a school record (3:13.9).
Colley broke the Summit League's 800-meter championship record en route to a first-place finish, and the time (1:48.61) allowed him to qualify for the NCAA meet. He went on to place sixth overall and earn First Team All-American recognition.
Hazouri has coached several Leathernecks to WIU all-time marks including: Colley (800 / school record / indoor and outdoor); Colley (1,500 / second all-time outdoor); Brown (800 / second all-time indoor and outdoor); and the men's 4x400 (school record / indoor).
On the cross country side of things, Western's women recorded the third-best GPA in the country during the 2019 season. Hazouri coached Nicole Beebe to a 16th place finish at the 2019 Summit League Championships, and a year later, Habibu Moise claimed 17th.
Hazouri came to Western from his alma mater, Samford, where he served over a season as an assistant cross country and track coach. As a student-athlete, he was named an All-American in the 800-meter run and was a four-time NCAA regional qualifier. He was a seven-time Southern Conference champion and competed at the United States Track and Field national championships in 2015.
After college, he spent a stint running professionally for the Atlanta Track Club.
Hazouri currently holds Samford school records in the indoor and outdoor 800-meter run (1:47.28), the 1500-meter run (3:42.17), the mile (4:00.50), and the distance medley relay. PRs also include a time of 2:22.9 in the 1,000-meter. He was also a member of the second fastest indoor 4x800m in world history.
As a coach with the Bulldogs, he mentored Karisa Nelson to run the ninth 1500-meter time in NCAA Women's Track and Field history (4:06.14). Hazouri also helped lead the Samford women to Southern Conference championships in indoor and outdoor track.
The Birmingham, Ala., native completed his undergraduate degree in health sciences from Samford in 2017.
