Sean Henning took over as Biola's Track & Field and Cross Country head coach in June 2015 after serving on the coaching staff at California Baptist University. In Spring 2025, his title changed to Director of Cross Country and Track & Field.
Through 11 seasons, Henning has led Biola to 12 conference team championships and three NCCAA national team titles while guiding the program through its transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. He has earned 13 Coach of the Year honors, and his student-athletes have produced 64 individual All-America honors and 11 All-America relays, 10 individual national champions and a national champion relay, and 250 individual all-conference performances plus 14 all-conference relays, while consistently ranking among Biola's top teams in the classroom.
Coaching Highlights at Biola
Through the 2025-26 season. Individual honors and relay honors are counted separately.
PacWest / NCAA Division II (2017-present)
- Guided the Eagles to 9 PacWest championship titles: men's cross country (2018, 2019, 2022, 2025), women's cross country (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and women's track & field (2026)
- 9 PacWest Coach of the Year honors: men's cross country (2018, 2019, 2022 co-coach, 2025), women's cross country (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and women's track & field (2026)
- 6 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships team appearances (men 2019, 2024; women 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and 12 NCAA West Region Championships team appearances
- Coached 10 NCAA Division II All-America honors and more than 50 USTFCCCA All-West Region honors (19 in cross country, at least 35 in track & field)
- Coached 183 individual All-PacWest performances (86 cross country, 97 track & field) and 5 All-PacWest relays, including 29 PacWest individual champions
NCCAA (2017-19)
- Guided the Eagles to 3 NCCAA National Championship titles: men's cross country (2017, 2018) and women's cross country (2018)
- Coached 35 individual NCCAA All-America honors and 5 All-America relays, plus 8 individual national champions, including men's cross country champion Gabe Plendcio (2017, 2018)
- 2017 NCCAA Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year
NAIA / Golden State Athletic Conference (2015-17)
- 2015-16 USTFCCCA NAIA Women's Program of the Year
- 2016 USTFCCCA NAIA West Region Women's Coach of the Year
- 2015 & 2016 GSAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year
- Guided the Eagles to 3 Golden State Athletic Conference Championship titles: women's cross country (2015, 2016) and women's track & field (2016)
- Coached 19 individual NAIA All-America honors and 6 All-America relays, plus 3 national champions: Kellian Hunt (cross country, 2015), Lyndee Dawson (indoor 3,000m, 2016) and the women's 4x800m relay (2016)
- Coached 67 individual All-GSAC performances and 9 All-GSAC relays
- Women's cross country placed third at the NAIA Championships in 2015 and 2016
Season-by-Season Results
Conference finish, then NCAA DII West Region (cross country) and national finishes. Track & field national finishes are outdoor unless noted; seasons with no team score at nationals show conference finish only. Bold = championship. Click a finish to see the full results (or the recap, where full results are not available).
In the Classroom
- USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors in nearly every NCAA season since 2019, with team GPAs of 3.75 or higher for women's cross country
- At least 71 USTFCCCA individual All-Academic honors since 2019
- More than 600 Academic All-PacWest honors since 2017-18, including 64 of Biola's league-leading 176 in 2017-18
- NCCAA Scholar Team honors for women's cross country (2018) and women's track & field (2018-19)
- NAIA Scholar Team honors in 2015-16 and 2016-17; the 2015-16 women's cross country team posted the highest GPA (3.64) of Biola's 18 NAIA Scholar Teams that year
Through the Years
2025-26 Henning's 11th season was one of the best in program history. Both cross country teams won PacWest titles for the second time in four years, the men's fourth conference crown and the women's fourth straight, and Henning was named PacWest Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. Bethany Mapes and Melt von Molendorff won the individual conference titles, and Mapes went on to win the NCAA West Region individual championship. The women placed fourth at regionals and earned an at-large berth to Nationals, where they finished 22nd.
In the spring, the women's track & field team won the program's first PacWest championship with 195 points, six event titles, 17 individual All-PacWest performances and two All-PacWest relays, and Henning was named PacWest Women's Track & Field Coach of the Year. The men placed third at the PacWest Championships. At the NCAA Championships, Eboselulu Omofoma earned three First Team All-America honors, highlighted by a third-place finish in the triple jump, and Joshua Widdows placed second in the 400m hurdles as the men tied for 26th, the program's best NCAA track & field team finish.
2024-25 The women's cross country team won its third straight PacWest title, and Henning earned PacWest Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive year. The men placed second at the PacWest Championships. Both teams finished third at the NCAA West Region Championships to earn automatic bids, and the men and women each placed 26th at Nationals, the first time both Biola teams competed at the NCAA Division II Championships in the same season. Mapes, Lynette Ruiz, Jaina Kang and von Molendorff earned All-West Region honors.
On the track, Omofoma placed third in the 400m hurdles at the NCAA Championships to earn First Team All-America honors, and the women scored at Nationals (T-35th) for the first time in the NCAA era. Mapes (5,000m), Ruiz (10,000m), von Molendorff (10,000m) and Jack Ferrence (decathlon) won PacWest titles.
2023-24 Biola Cross Country saw continued success under Henning's leadership. The women's squad won its second-straight conference title and went on for its best finish at NCAA West Regionals with a second place showing. All seven Eagles landed in the top 22 at the conference meet with six earning All-PacWest honors. The team was led by All-American Susi Bruennig, as they finished 17th as a team at Nationals. On the men's side, BU took second at the PacWest Championships and Jerry Baltzer was the leader in the clubhouse, finishing first as the PacWest Individual Champion. The team went on to Regionals and grabbed seventh place, just missing out on advancing to Nationals. On the track in 2024, the men tied for third at the PacWest Championships, the program's best PacWest finish to that point, and Stefan Jungmichel earned All-West Region honors in the decathlon.
2022-23 In his eighth season at Biola, Henning and the Eagles were the top dogs in the conference. The men's and women's cross country squads took home the team crowns at the PacWest Championships to go along with individual championships from Lynette Ruiz and Benjamin White. Success across the board led to Men's and Women's PacWest Coach of the Year awards for Henning in 2022. Both teams would go on to place in the top six teams at regionals, before the women advanced to NCAA DII Nationals for the first time in program history. On the track in 2023, the women placed second at the PacWest Championships, and Jungmichel (fourth in the decathlon, First Team) and Maggie Williams (800m, Second Team) earned NCAA Division II All-America honors.
2021-22 The 2021-22 season saw the resumption of both the cross country and track and field teams with a full season schedule. Men's cross country started strong with a win over the field of 21 teams at the Biola Invitational. Ronald Kigen and Brady DeHaven led the way, as the Eagles nabbed third at the PacWest Championships and seventh at Regionals. On the women's side, freshman Lynette Ruiz paced the squad with consistently top-tiered times and a second place individual finish at the PacWest Championships. BU took second place in conference by one point and ultimately headed to the NCAA West Region Championships and finished fifth in a field of 24 teams.
BU women's track and field saw multiple program records in 2022. Jada Pierce bolstered the hammer throw crown with a best mark of 49.31, which helped her win the event at the conference championships. Lynette Ruiz added to her rookie season with a program record in the 10,000 run, finishing first at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic with a time of 35:18.47. The NCAA provisional mark helped her to a Nationals appearance where she placed 13th.
2020-21 Athletics returned in the spring of the 2020-21 season, leaving cross country with a canceled campaign. Track and field took to the competition with a unique season, competing solely in central and southern California. Both teams fought for a fifth place finish at the PacWest Championships in Fresno, California. Rebeka Preston and Emily Alvarez each highlighted the women's group with an appearance at Nationals. Preston earned a spot in the heptathlon and grabbed 10th with 4688 points and Alvarez nabbed 9th place in the 400 hurdles finals.
2019-20 Biola men's cross country continued its run of success in 2019, as the Henning-led Eagles notched the PacWest crown in consecutive seasons. Gabe Plendcio led the way for the whole conference, winning the individual championship once again. The men went on to take sixth at regionals and 25th at nationals in their first appearance at either stage. On the women's side, BU tied for second in team points at the PacWest Championships and placed third on the tiebreaker, then nabbed 14th in the first NCAA DII West Region Championships. On the track, both teams saw their season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018-19 Both Cross Country programs won the National Christian College Athletic Association national championship and men's cross country took home Biola's first-ever PacWest Conference Championship in ANY SPORT. Gabe Plendcio led the effort during cross country season, winning the individual title for both the NCCAA and PacWest Conference. The women's side finished third at PacWest in a competitive race that saw Point Loma and Azusa Pacific tie for the title. The two sides combined for 13 NCCAA All-American honors and 10 All-PacWest honors.
Track & Field season saw Nathaniel Belden and Ryan Thompson break school records and Mackenna Mason win both the 5k and 10k titles at the NCCAA National Championships. Sarah Prystupa won the pole vault and Hannah Hubbard won the triple jump to bring the Eagles four titles in the spring. The highlight of the PacWest Championship meet was Ryan Thompson, who won the 10k title by :00.08 seconds. This season the track & field teams took home eight all-conference honors and 12 NCCAA All-American honors. The teams continued to achieve in the classroom as well, earning NCCAA Scholar Team status and having 71 Academic All-PacWest honors.
In the middle of the 2018-19 school year alumna Kellian Hunt was inducted into Biola Athletics' Hall of Fame. Henning delivered Hunt's introduction at the ceremony.
2017-18 His third season was transition time for Biola as the Eagles were NCAA Division II members and a part of the PacWest Conference for the first time. Since Biola was not yet eligible for NCAA postseason competition it also held dual-membership in the National Christian College Athletic Association. Henning led the men's cross country team to a NCCAA National Championship in the fall, making it Biola's first national team championship in any sport in more than 30 years. Gabe Plendcio won an individual national title in that race, while Biola's women's team placed second overall. In total, Henning coached eight student-athletes to All-American honors in that meet. He was named the NCCAA Men's Coach of the Year.
Both cross country teams also competed at the PacWest Championship for the first time that year (2017) and both sides finished third. A total of six student-athletes earned All-PacWest honors during that race, making them the first Biola student-athletes in any sport to claim that honor.
The track season saw Biola finish sixth (men's) and seventh (women's) at the PacWest Championships and saw some individual runners compete at the NCCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Crystal Jardines (10k) and Stephanie Croy (3k steeple) won NCCAA National Championships and the Eagles claimed 13 NCCAA All-American honors. Henning's programs were a major reason Biola led the PacWest in Academic All-PacWest honors for 2017-18, accounting for 64 of Biola's 176 awards.
2016-17 Henning's second season of cross country was just as much of a success as the first as he again led the women's team to a Golden State Athletic Conference title and earned the women's cross country conference coach of the year honors again. That same team finished third at the NAIA National Championship meet and had two runners (Emily Ransom and Lyndee Dawson) earn NAIA All-American status. The men's team had another strong year, tying Westmont for second in team points at the conference meet (third on the tiebreaker) and sending a full team to the national championship meet once again. Combined, the two teams had nine all-conference runners, two All-American runners and an astounding eight NAIA/GSAC Scholar-Athletes.
During his second track & field season he led the Eagles to a pair of podium finishes at the GSAC Track & Field Championships. The women's side placed second and the men finished third. He coached his student-athletes to five GSAC Championship winning performances, including an impressive run of the women's 3,000m steeplechase where Biola Eagles took spots 1-3. The women's team scored top-30 finishes at both the NAIA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
2015-16 Henning made an immediate impact in his first season at Biola. He helped Kellian Hunt reach her full potential and win the NAIA Cross Country National Championship title, while guiding three others to All-American status. Also, his women's team claimed the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship with Hunt and Kevin Horchler both winning individual GSAC Championships. Henning was named the GSAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. During track & field season, he coached 22 NAIA All-Americans and 12 GSAC champions.
In both Cross Country and Track, the Eagles had 30+ All-GSAC student-athletes, while breaking eight school records and winning two conference championships. The men's Cross Country team finished 25th at nationals while the women's team finished third. The women's indoor and outdoor track teams posted 10th and sixth place finishes at nationals respectively. Coach Henning put together the 2015-2016 Women's NAIA Program of the Year and was named the 2016 USTFCCCA NAIA West Region Women's Coach of the Year.
Before Biola
During his time at CBU, Henning served a majority of his tenure as the lead assistant coach, with a brief stint as the Interim Head Coach in 2011-12. The Biola position was his first full-time head coaching position at the collegiate level.
Henning was on the coaching staff as the CBU men's cross country team won back-to-back-to-back-to-back PacWest Championships in cross country during its first four years in the conference. The women's contingent also won two titles and had two other top-3 finishes in that span. The 2013 and 2014 men's teams qualified for the NCAA National Meet in its first two eligible seasons, placing 22nd and 24th in the nation and having one runner earn All-American status.
Leading up to being postseason eligible in the NCAA, the CBU Track & Field program had 23 student-athletes earn NCCAA All-American honors and six individuals won NCCAA National Championships. In the team’s first two seasons of NCAA postseason eligibility, four Lancers qualified for the NCAA National Meet and Henning helped coach Veronica Hall to the school’s first-ever NCAA All-American finish (7th in the 1,500).
Prior to his time with the Lancers, Henning spent just under two years as the head coach of Western Christian High School’s track & field and cross country programs. During his time at Western Christian, Henning led his team to back-to-back Christian League Championships and undefeated seasons in 2009 and 2010. After winning the league championship in cross country in 2009, Western Christian finished fifth in the CIF Southern Section finals and eighth in the California State Cross Country Championships. Henning led his team to a league championship in track and field in 2010, coaching nine league champions and had 13 athletes qualify for the CIF Southern Section Championships.
Running Career
Henning is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University, where he ran cross country and made two NAIA National Track & Field Championships appearances running the marathon.
Personal
He attended Azusa Pacific for his undergraduate studies and earned his master's degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2013. He also has USA Track & Field Level I and Level II Certification in endurance events and USATF Level II in combined events.
Henning and his wife, Megan, were married in 2010 and have three children together, Caleb Michael Henning, Kate Grace Henning and Cody Joshua Henning.
