UCLA Athletics

Elizondo Named Track & Field/Cross Country Asst.

UCLA alumnus Devin  Elizondo returns as an assistant track & field and cross country coach. 

August 17, 2017UCLA alumnus Devin Elizondo returns to Westwood as an assistant coach for the track and field and cross country teams. Elizondo had previously served as head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at UC Davis from 2014-17. "I'm so happy to welcome Devin back to Westwood," said UCLA Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Avery Anderson. "Devin is a tremendous coach with a great insight into the distance events. He is a great mentor and tireless worker who is going to help enhance our program to an elite level." Elizondo led UC Davis to success in his first season as head cross country coach, being named the Big West Conference Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year after leading the Aggies to their first conference title since 2011. In 2015, Elizondo guided both the men's and women's teams to third-place finishes at the Big West championships, the highest finish for the men since 2013 and the fifth consecutive top-three finish on the women's side. Overall during his tenure on campus, Elizondo helped coach 20 All-Big West runners (six men, 14 women) and six all-region honorees in cross country. On the track and field side, he coached three Big West distance champions in Sarah Sumpter (10,000m), Katie Fry (steeplechase) and Jonathan Peterson (1500m and 5000m) and helped lead the UC Davis women to two conference championships. Elizondo began his coaching career at the Brentwood School, where he served as head boys' and girls' track and field coach and assistant boys' and girls' cross country coach. With Elizondo on staff, the boys' cross country team qualified for six state championships and achieved five Top 5 finishes. The girls' program advanced to the state meet twice and sent an individual on two other occasions. In 2003, a Brentwood School runner won the individual title. A 1998 UCLA graduate with a degree in history, Elizondo was a member of three Pac-10 track and field championship teams at UCLA and helped lead the cross country team to a pair of third-place conference finishes. He was the cross country team's Most Outstanding Freshman in 1994 and earned all-district honors in 1995. As a senior in 1998, he was third in the 3000m steeplechase at the Pac-10 Championships, setting a personal best of 8:56.75. Elizondo has a long history of youth outreach in Los Angeles, having worked with LA84 Foundation, as well as Runner's Workshop.