Rebekah Ricksecker - Cross Country Coach - James Madison University Athletics

Rebekah Ricksecker

Title:
Head Cross Country Coach
Email:
ricksere@jmu.edu
Phone:
540-568-3354
Physical Address:
Convocation Center 1045 (895 University Blvd.) / MSC 4705

Rebekah Ricksecker enters her fourth season in Harrisonburg after being named head cross country coach and assistant track & field coach on Sept. 12, 2022.

In 2024-25, the Dukes saw Sofia Terenziani close out her strong career with a personal-best time of 4:27.62 in the 1,500 meters for fifth at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championship. Terenziani produced the No. 8 mile time in program history (4:52.64) in the prelims at the ECAC Indoor Championships, ultimately taking sixth in the final (4:56.92). Also at ECACs, the distance medley crew of Alayna Gifford, Esther Saint-Germain, Merrick Mock and Kylie Brooks earned gold in 11:51.97, while Kristin Giordano, Grace Tate, Izzy Greene and Terenziani finished fifth in the 4x800-meter relay.

JMU finished seventh at the Sun Belt Cross Country Championships, with Katherine Lawson placing second with a personal-best 5K time of 17:10.5 for First Team All-Conference honors. Six Dukes produced PRs at the league title race, with six finishing in the top 50.

The 2023-24 track season saw Miranda Stanhope and Katherine Lawson lead the charge for the Dukes’ distance runners. At the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships, Stanhope finished second in the 3,000 meters (9:30.99) and fourth in the 5,000 meters (16:42.89) to earn Second Team All-Conference Honors. Meanwhile, Lawson cracked the top five in program history in the 5,000-meter (4th – 16:41.29) and 3,000-meter races (5th – 9:35.78) during the indoor season.

Stanhope set the school record in the 10,000 meters at Penn Relays, crossing the finish line in 33:43.48, while Lawson moved to No. 3 in JMU history in 34:00.84. At the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships, Stanhope captured the 10,000-meter crown and finished runner-up in the 5,000-meter competition for First Team All-Conference status.

Ricksecker's first full cross country season saw the Dukes finish second at the Sun Belt Championship meet, the team's best finish as members of the conference. Senior Miranda Stanhope (7th) and sophomore Katherine Lawson (11th) both earned All-Conference honors.

In 2022-23, Coach Ricksecker saw her distance runners produce five top-10 program marks during the outdoor season. At the Sun Belt Championships, junior Miranda Stanhope finished third in the 10,000-meter competition (34:53.27) and sixth in the 5,000-meter race (16:56.52) to tally nine points for the Dukes. Elsewhere on the track, Maddy Hesler finished fifth in the steeplechase at the league title meet with a time of 10:57.57, the eighth-best performance in program history. Laura Webb Moved to fifth in program history in the 5,000-meter event after crossing the finish line in 16:42.92 at the Penn Relays.

During the indoor season, Stanhope set the school record in the 3,000-meter (9:23.40) and 5,000-meter (16:14.31) races. The junior also notched a first-place finish in the 3,000-meter competition at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships in 9:35.15 for First Team All-Conference Honors.

In her first season at JMU, Ricksecker led the cross country team to an eighth-place finish at the ECAC Championships (10/14) and a third-place finish at the program's first-ever appearance at the Sun Belt Cross Country Championships (10/28). At the SBC title race, three Dukes earned all-conference honors: Miranda Stanhope (Second Team), Gabriella Garcia (Third Team), and Sofia Terenziani (Third Team). Additionally, Stanhope set school records in the 5K (17:05.9) and 6K (20:12.4) during her junior campaign.

Ricksecker has over a decade of collegiate coaching experience, with eight years spent as a member of Liberty's track & field and cross country staff (2011-2019). From 2019-2022, Coach Ricksecker worked as the head cross country coach, head strength and conditioning coach, and adjunct professor at Sweet Briar College.

As the head cross country coach at Sweet Briar, Ricksecker saw her team make large improvements. During the 2021 season, the average time improvement for varsity runners was 2:19 in the 6K. Coach Ricksecker also served as the school's head strength and conditioning coach for the swimming, equestrian, soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey programs.

During her time at Liberty, Ricksecker helped the distance teams reach new heights. While serving as the interim head men's and women's cross country coach in 2018, both teams finished second at the ASUN Conference Championships, with Azaria Kirwa winning the individual men's title. The men's team went on to finish sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional, its highest regional finish in 10 years. Kirwa earned an individual bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships where he placed 81^st out of 255.

Ricksecker's recruiting efforts helped build the strongest women's distance squad in program history, as the team finished 26^th in the country at the national title race in Spring 2021. It was the first cross country team in LU history to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

As an assistant cross country and track & field coach from 2012-2019, Coach Ricksecker contributed to 10 Big South Conference championships on the women's side. Additionally, her squads captured team titles at the 2018 and 2019 ECAC Indoor Track Championships. Ricksecker worked primarily with the women's program and implemented training for the men's program in the Fall of 2016 and 2018. During these eight years, Coach Ricksecker worked with four NCAA National Qualifiers, including three All-Americans.

Prior to earning a full-time position at LU, Ricksecker served as a volunteer coach for the Flames.

In addition to her strength and conditioning certification, Coach Ricksecker has also received certifications from the USTFCCCA in injury prevention and management and sports psychology.

Ricksecker was a standout student-athlete at Liberty where she claimed five Big South individual titles. On the track, she qualified for the NCAA East Regional Round in the 1500m race three times and boasts the sixth-fastest 1500m time in program history at 4:24.78. In her senior cross country season, Ricksecker finished 11^th at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, earning her all-region honors. Ricksecker was voted track and cross country team captain from 2008-2010.

Coach Ricksecker received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Randolph College in June 2021. At Liberty, she earned a master's degree in English in December 2011 and a bachelor's degree in education in December 2009.