Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Cross Country & Track
- Title:
- Assistant Coach - Distance
- Email:
- justin.j.duncan@okstate.edu
- Phone:
- (405) 744-8765
Justin Duncan joined the Oklahoma State Cross Country and Track & Field coaching staff to serve as the program’s assistant coach for distance events. Duncan joined the program in January of 2019 on an interim basis, and has been integral in working with the Cowboy and Cowgirl distance squads. Since his arrival, he has been an instrumental member of a dynamic distance coaching staff.
Most recently, Duncan coached the Cowboy cross country team to its third straight Big 12 title in dominating fashion, winning by 26 points and placing nine runners in the top 15. At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the Cowboys finished level on points with national champions NAU, requiring the NCAAs first-ever tiebreaker to determine the national champion. Duncan coached five runners (Alex Maier, Isai Rodriguez, Fouad Messaoudi, Victor Shitsama and Rory Leonard) to All-America honors on the grass.
Duncan’s distance crew carried the momentum to the indoor season, with his Distance Medley Relay squad of Messaoudi, DJ McArthur, Hafez Mahadi and Ryan Schoppe breaking the school, collegiate and indoor world record with their time of 9:16.40 at the Arkansas Qualifier. From there, he coached five Big 12 as they swept through the distance individual titles with Juan Diego Castro (1,000 Meters), Messaoudi (Mile), Maier (3,000 & 5,000 Meters) as well as the DMR to conference championships. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Duncan coached the DMR sqaud of Messaoudi, Schoppe, Castro and Charlie Bartholomew to the program’s first individual indoor NCAA title on the men’s side since 1986. The following night, Messaoudi collected his second NCAA title of the weekend in the 3,000 Meters with his time of 7:48.10. He was the only male athlete at the 2023 NCAA Championships to win multiple titles. The Cowboys finished tied for sixth overall, which was the second-highest finish in program history.
Under Duncan’s tutelage, Messaoudi was named to the Bowerman Watch List as one of the premier athletes in the NCAA.
Following their historic performance indoors, Duncan coached two more Big 12 champions outdoors as Messaoudi (1,500 Meters) and Shitsama (Steeplechase) collected a pair of dominant victories, with each setting facility records in the process. Seven of Duncan’s athletes (Mehdi Yanouri - 800 Meters; Messaoudi, Chris Middleton-Pearson and Alex Stitt - 1,500 Meters; Shitsama - Steeplechase; Rodriguez and Maier - 10,000 Meters) qualified for the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. From there, Yanouri, Shitsama and Rodriguez all earned first team All-America honors in their respective events, with Yanouri breaking the school record in the 800 Meters for the fifth time that season in the final.
During the 2021 cross country season, Duncan coached the men’s cross country team to its second consecutive Big 12 title as it defeated Iowa State once again to retain the conference crown on its home course in Stillwater. From there, the Cowboys earned their second straight podium finish at the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships with three Cowboys earning All-America honors (Isai Rodriguez, Shea Foster and Victor Shitsama).
He also helped coach the men’s Distance Medley Relay to a fifth-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships as they became the fifth-fastest DMR team in NCAA history at the Arkansas Qualifier with a time of 9:22.70.
During the 2022 outdoor season, Duncan guided Alex Maier to a runner-up finish in the 10,000 Meters as he finished less than a second away from a national title. He also helped Cowboy legend Ryan Smeeton to his second straight top-4 finish in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase as he shattered the school record while qualifying for the World Championships in the process.
His work with Oklahoma State’s men’s distance unit in particular has immediately made a positive impact on the program. In his first full year undisrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Duncan and the Cowboys got back to their historic winning ways and claimed the 2020 Big 12 Cross Country Championship in tie-breaker fashion over Iowa State.
Thanks in part to Duncan’s work, the Big 12 Champions went on to finish third as a team at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championship hosted on their home course in Stillwater; four Cowboys earned themselves All-American honors in the process.
During the following indoor season, Duncan oversaw a number of his distance Cowboys – Juan Diego Castro, Alex Stitt and Ryan Schoppe – who, along with sprinter Justin long, combined to claim the men’s DMR title at the indoor track and field conference championship. It was the Cowboys’ first Big 12 title in the event since 2017. Moving into the outdoor season, Duncan coached a total of five men’s distance racers through a successful regular season and into the 2021 NCAA West Preliminary Championships, including a pair of freshmen in Schoppe and Jonas Price.
Isai Rodriguez and Victor Shitsama raced their way to the NCAA Championship to compete in the 10,000 meters, as did Ryan Smeeton in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.Rodriguez raced a meet-record pace in the 10K, took the eighth-place finish and earned First Team All-American honors.
Smeeton’s third-place finish in the steeplechase marked the best finish by any OSU athlete at the NCAA Championship that year.
With Duncan’s help, Sinclaire Johnson was named a semifinalist for The Bowerman after winning the NCAA championship in the 1,500 meters, Ryan Smeeton earned NCAA runner-up honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Hassan Abdi earned All-America honors. Johnson, Jenny Martinez and Molly Sughroue became the first trio of teammates to make the women’s 1,500-meter final at the NCAA Championship since 2011.
A native of Caledon, Ontario, Canada, Duncan previously served as a graduate assistant at the University of Toronto, where he worked with the track & field program’s middle distance runners.
He earned his Master’s degree in exercise physiology in 2015 and continued to work with the program in a similar role until arriving in Stillwater in January of 2019.
An outstanding runner in his own right, Duncan was a nine-time All-C-USA selection in his career at Tulsa.
He advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships of the 1,500 meters twice, including a trip to the semifinals in 2009.
He finished his career with the school record in the 4x1,600-meter relay and also was in the top four of seven other categories, including the second-best mark in the indoor 800 and the outdoor 1,500.
Duncan graduated from Tulsa in May of 2011 with a degree in exercise sport science. He and his wife, Kristen, have one son – Cullen.
