Gabriel Rivera, an accomplished Division I Cross Country and Track & Field Coach with 16 years of collegiate coaching experience, is entering his first season as the head coach for Men’s Track & Field at Benedictine University in 2021.
Rivera comes to Benedictine after serving as the Director of Cross Country and Track & Field at Long Beach City College (Long Beach, CA). Rivera began at LBCC in the fall of 2017, under his guidance the men’s and women’s program grew both competitively and in roster size over the course of 4 years. While at LBCC, Rivera the national qualifying standards set by athletes in the 4x100m relay, triple jump, 400m, 3000m steeple chase, and javelin. While at LBCC, the team GPA standards set by the cross country and track & field programs set new highs.
Prior to Long Beach City College. Rivera coached at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 2008 – 2017. While at the NCAA Division I level, Rivera completed his career at UIC while assistaning with a conference runner-up trophy at the 2010 Horizon League Championsips, coached 70 top three place finishers at the conference championships, 18 school records, and qualified eight athletes to the NCAA Division I Preliminary Round of the National Championships.
Prior to UIC, Rivera also coached Eastern New Mexico University, NCAA Division II, from 2006-2008 as a graduate assistant with provisional and automatic national qualifying standards set in the Triple Jump and 4 x 100-meter relay. From 2005-2006, Rivera was a sprint coach at College of DuPage. In 2006 COD won the NJCAA III level, National Championships, while Rivera coached six NJCAA III All-Americans.
Along with coaching, Rivera has participated in program fundraising and revenue-generating streams.
Rivera received his bachelor of arts in Criminal Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2004 and a Master of Science in Physical Education in 2009 from Eastern New Mexico University. Rivera has been a member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association since 2010 and has a sprints/hurdles/relays specialist certification, jumps specialist certification and strength & conditioning certification.
Â
