Purdue Northwest Athletics has officially announced Zachary Hoover as the next Head Coach of the Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field programs. Hoover brings a dynamic mix of coaching experience, competitive success, and a vision for excellence as he takes the helm of both programs.

"Zachary Hoover is a rising star in the collegiate coaching profession," said Purdue Northwest Director of Athletics Rick Costello. "I am thrilled to welcome Coach Hoover to the PNW family and look forward to seeing him elevate the Cross Country and Track & Field programs. His leadership, energy, and championship mindset will have an immediate impact on our student-athletes."

Hoover joins Purdue Northwest after serving most recently as the Head Cross Country and Track & Field Coach at Dominican University, where he took over in the winter of 2024. Before his time at Dominican, Hoover was a graduate assistant coach at Lewis University from 2022–2023. During his tenure, Hoover played an integral role in the historic success of the women's program, guiding them to their first-ever GLVC Triple Crown, winning championships in Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track during the 2022–2023 seasons. The women's team also earned a 15th-place national finish and repeated as GLVC champions in cross country in 2023. He also helped Lewis' men's cross country team earn a 29th-place finish at the NCAA DII Championships in 2022, improving to 21st nationally in 2023 while also capturing the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) title.

"I am honored and excited to join the Purdue Northwest family," said Hoover. "I'm grateful to Rick Costello and the entire athletics department for this opportunity. My goal is to build a culture that emphasizes hard work, accountability, and championship-level performance, both on and off the course and track."

As an athlete, Hoover competed collegiately at the University of St. Francis (Ill.), where he made an immediate impact by earning Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Freshman of the Year honors. He helped lead the team to a third-place finish at the NAIA National Championship in his sophomore year and capped off a stellar collegiate career with a First Team All-American honor in the 10k, placing fourth nationally. He earned a total of nine All-Conference honors in cross country and track, including a CCAC title in the 5k. Hoover completed his collegiate career as a graduate student-athlete at Lewis University, where he recorded a top-10 all-time 10k mark in school history with a time of 30:24.

Hoover has also showed his skills on the biggest stage competing in the Chicago Marathon where he took 81st overall in 2022. A year later, he competed in the Boston Marathon in 2023 where he finished 95th.

Hoover is also a graduate of Crown Point High School where he was captain of the cross country and track & field teams.

He also holds a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from Lewis University and brings a strong academic and developmental foundation to his coaching philosophy.

About Purdue Northwest Athletics
PNW Athletics consists of 500 student athletes with 23 sports and is a current member of NCAA Division II and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). 

Intercollegiate athletic teams are fielded in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, esports, men's and women's golf, men's and women's ice hockey, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track & field, softball, STUNT, women's flag football and women's volleyball.

Over 500 student-athletes train and compete in the Fitness and Recreation Center on the Hammond campus. PNW has secured 14 championships since moving to NCAA Division II in 2016-17.

Academically, PNW student-athletes have achieved 19 consecutive semesters with a combined GPA of 3.0 or above as of Spring 2025.

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