Sarah Haveman was promoted to Director of Women's Track & Field and Cross Country in the spring of 2016 after serving as the Flyers’ head women’s cross country coach for three seasons.
Haveman has raised the standard for the Flyers. She has helped guide a number of individuals to record-breaking achievements.
The Flyers set 34 PRs in six races in 2016 and finished ranked 13th in Great Lakes Region women's cross country final poll. Dayton took second place at three meets, including a runner-up finish out of the 14 other schools at the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championships; UD was picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll. Chloe Flora was named A-10 Rookie of the Year — the first to earn that honor in Dayton women's cross country history. Sophomore Taylor Vernot and Flora finished in the Top 15 to earn all-conference honors. Vernot also earned A-10 All-Academic honors. UD also took third place at Notre Dame's National Catholic Invitational, just behind nationally-ranked Notre Dame and Marquette.
During the 2016 track and field season, Dayton had a historic year with 99 personal bests during the indoor season and another 82 during the outdoor campaign. UD had 13 new Top 5 all-time marks indoor and 13 more outdoors. The Flyers finished sixth at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships and fourth at the outdoor championships. New school records were set in the 60m hurdles indoor and 100m hurdles outdoor by Jordan Hoffman and the heptathlon by Sarah Sepanski. The 4x100m relay team consisting of Sepanski, Hoffman, Paige Yaeger, and Jenea Adams also set a new Dayton best.
Jenni Rossi earned A-10 Most Outstanding Field Performer after sweeping the shot put, hammer, and discus during the indoor and outdoor seasons. Taylor Vernot picked up A-10 Rookie Performer of the Year honors after winning the 5000m outdoors.
This came after a cross country season in the fall of 2015 that had a pair of All-Conference performers in Emily Leonard and Taylor Vernot (first freshman in school history). The team also was named one of the USTFCCCA Scholar Teams of the Year yet again. Nine different times from the 2015 season were good enough for the Top 25 all-time lists at Dayton, including a school record in the 6K by Leonard.
In 2015, Haveman coached numerous student athletes to record breaking achievements, including multiple school records (VanHook, 600m; 4x800m Relay; Cargill, 3000m Steeplechase),14 Top 5 performances, and Nicole Cargill qualifying for the NCAA First Round meet. Outside of competition, the Flyers had multiple academic awards as a team and individually. The team was named a USTFCCCA Division 1 Scholar team while carrying the highest GPA in the Atlantic 10 Conference and Lizzie Gleason was an Academic All-District and Academic All-Conference selection and Nicole Cargill was named to the USTFCCCA All Academic Women's Track and Field Team.
In 2013, Nicole Cargill set records in both the 1000M event and the steeplechase, while Olivia Albers advanced to the USA Junior Nationals event after her first season at UD, where she finished fifth. Haveman continues to push the distance student-athletes academically and athletically.
Haveman came to Dayton from Purdue University, where she was an assistant in track and cross country since the winter of 2011. She had full responsibility for the distance group and her runners showed great improvement over her five competitive seasons (2011 indoor, outdoor and cross country, and 2012 indoor and outdoor) with them. Four runners moved into the Purdue top five all-time in the events, with two of them qualifying for the NCAA First Round meet in Jacksonville, Fla.
A fine collegiate runner in her own right, Haveman competed for the Purdue in cross country and track and field from 2006-10. As a senior, she qualified for the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She made huge strides throughout the year, taking third place at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Indiana University, placing fifth at the NCAA Championship East Preliminary Rounds and breaking the Purdue record to qualify for finals at the NCAA National Championship meet.
A six-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a member of the USTFCCCA national all-academic team, Haveman received her bachelor's degree in elementary education from Purdue in 2010. She was named Purdue’s Distinguished Scholar-Athlete and the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner as a senior. She is USTFCCCA certified in Strength and Conditioning.
Haveman resides in Miamisburg, Ohio with her husband Brandon and daughter Charlotte.
