John Sauerhage, head coach of track and field and cross country, took over the men’s and women’s programs in 1996. Since then, he has led teams to multiple Western Athletic Conference and NCAA championships.
Running has been in head coach John Sauerhage’s blood since before he could drive. He equated his desire to run to the movie character Forrest Gump’s.
“I was addicted, and I liked that,” he said. “I got a blue ribbon when I was 12 years old, and I just loved it and I started running all the time.”
After establishing his dominance during elementary school field days, he enrolled at Bailey Junior High School, simply because it had better sports programs, he said.
He has carried that passion with him to this day, spanning nearly four decades of excellence that have defined him as the longest-tenured coach in UTA history. Since 1996, he has happily embraced track and field and cross-country head coaching duties, rooted in the place that holds many of his fondest memories.
As a runner, Sauerhage claimed second place in the Junior Olympics and was a six-time state championship qualifier at Arlington High School. After graduating, he went to Louisiana State University to begin his collegiate athletic career.
In Louisiana, he placed sixth in the Southeastern Conference in the 1,000-yard run and the indoor mile. He also recorded a personal-best time of 3:45.36 in the 1,500 meters.
He later transferred to UTA and graduated in 1986 with a degree in physical education, but not before setting a 6,000- meter relay school record and earning a Southland Conference title.
Sauerhage went back to school, earning his master’s degree in education in 1988 from Northeast Louisiana University, now the University of Louisiana Monroe. While studying, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach.
1985
6th
2nd
Won Southland Conference indoor mile run
Placed sixth in the Southeastern Conference at Louisiana State University
Claimed second place in the Junior Olympics
Even with the successes of his running career, he said he fell short. He took this notion and honed his skills to share them with the coming generations’ athletes.
“I thought I was going to go to the Olympics,” Sauerhage said. “What I didn’t get accomplished in track was one of the reasons I got into coaching — I still felt like I could help people by being a coach.”
Now, as a head coach at UTA, Sauerhage’s loyalty permeates every aspect of his role, and most times, it doesn’t even feel like a job, he said. Throughout his tenure, he said, he may have considered leaving but only made the move once.
“Back then, I wanted to be the head coach at Oregon or LSU or something,” Sauerhage said. “But I fell in love with being here at home with my family in Arlington and making UTA into a top-notch, mid-major track program.”
Toward the end of his assistant coaching stint at UTA, which he assumed in 1989 for seven years, he joked about leaving Arlington to coach at UT Austin’s program with Bubba Thornton, at the time Texas Christian University’s sprinter coach.
John Sauerhage, head coach of track and field and cross country, owns multiple championship rings from titles he has won with teams throughout his career. Sauerhage has led Maverick teams to 33 conference championships.
Thornton got the job, and Sauerhage followed, serving as UT Austin’s distance coach. While Thornton would stay at UT, becoming the head coach for men’s track and field, Sauerhage was lured back to lead the charge at Maverick Stadium after just one month in Austin.
Monte Stratton, UTA’s track and field head coach at the time, left the university and took Thornton’s former role at TCU, leaving a burning hole in the UTA running programs. Sauerhage said a lightbulb went off when he heard about the freshly opened position.
“They called and I couldn’t say yes fast enough,” he said. “Who knows how it all would have turned out for me if I’d stayed down there, but it was fun coming back and I feel like I made the right move.”
Trophy after trophy after trophy, each shiny accolade accumulated proves he’s capable of doing what he has done for so long. But for him, all the hardware simply tells stories of the talented athletes who have passed through UTA’s Gilstrap Athletic Center.
“I tell the guys, ‘You’re going to go on and get a job and get on with your life, I’m still here,’” he said. “I was here before you got here and I’ll be here after you’re gone, well, hopefully.”
63
33
Over 100
Coached 63 qualifiers for NCAA championships for track and field
Led teams to 33 conference championships
Has over 100 individual league track titles
Many student-athletes who have gone under Sauerhage’s wing have won outstanding awards or competed at some of the highest levels.
One of Sauerhage’s fondest memories was of then-senior Justin Domangue finishing in the top 40 in the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships while becoming the first Maverick to earn cross-country All-American accolades.
The relationship between Toby Eaton, current sophomore cross-country runner, and Sauerhage began before the runner even set foot on UTA grounds. Eaton said Sauerhage came to him for recruiting while he was still at Mansfield Legacy High School.
After Eaton’s freshman year at Tarleton State University, he met with Sauerhage during the 2025 summer to look toward running for UTA, something that was not a surprise to Eaton.
5
1979
X6
Ranked among the top five in UTA history in the 1,500-meter runs in both indoor and outdoor track and field
Won the Class 5A state title in the mile run in 1979 at Arlington High School
Was a six-time state qualifier for Arlington High School
“I was just really looking forward to getting back to work and starting out in a new place,” Eaton said. “I knew Sauerhage was already a great guy and he did a lot for me over the last few years, just keeping in touch. And so we built a good relationship, so coming here just felt like coming back home.”
Eaton said Sauerhage is authentic on and off the track, and carries a strong desire to win, sharing Eaton’s beliefs as a runner. He said the head coach puts time and effort into each runner, ensuring they make the most of their time at UTA.
“There’s not one person on this team that he doesn’t know their name,” Eaton said. “If you’re ever having any problems to the side, he’s not just going to ignore those and tell you to run, he’s going to want to be there for you and want to work them out with you.”
His impact is known by many, even by staff members who have only been with the university for a handful of years. Athletics director Jon Fagg, who has been in his role since 2022, said he has had opportunities to get acquainted with Sauerhage.
4
45
5
Led teams to four “triple crowns” (winning the conference championship for the cross-country, indoor and outdoor track seasons in the same academic year)
Coached 45 student-athletes who earned All-America honors
Coached five athletes who have earned trips to the IAAF World Championships
Fagg said Sauerhage cares deeply about UTA, its track program and the sport itself. Speaking of the many traits that make up the coach’s personality, Fagg joked that Sauerhage sometimes uses being hard of hearing to be funny, even if he did catch what was said.
“Every once in a while, he doesn’t hear things and so we all laugh sometimes about the things he hears and doesn’t hear,” Fagg said. “Every once in a while it seems like he uses it to his advantage to try and get a kick out of everyone.”
The imprint of a coach like Sauerhage rarely comes — a kid who stuck with his passion and has excelled in spreading his wisdom. In traditional coaching fashion, he would rather boast about his athletes and recall their feats in his honor.
“I vicariously live through these guys’ performances,” Sauerhage said. “What I learned as an athlete and where I came up short has made me a better coach.”
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