Oakland University's track and field and cross country program created two new associate head coach positions Tuesday, Aug. 4, promoting veteran assistants Pat Sarver and Tre Brown ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Head coach Paul Rice, who has led the Golden Grizzlies for 28 years, announced the promotions with the support of Athletic Director Steve Waterfield and Dr. Ron Reeves. The associate head coach title is a first for the program.
"It has been a long time coming to now be able to create these two elevated positions in our program," Rice said in the announcement. "They have earned this and worked really hard to get to this point."
Between them, Sarver and Brown have produced more than 30 All-Horizon League performers, multiple school records and multiple NCAA qualifiers.
Sarver: distance and mid-distance
Sarver enters his eighth season at Oakland, where he has coached the distance and mid-distance groups since 2019. His runners have claimed two Horizon League cross country titles and three individual meet championships. He also mentored 2022 Indoor and Outdoor Freshman Runner of the Year Ellie Voetberg.
A Chesterfield, Michigan native, Sarver graduated from Oakland in 2010 after serving as team captain. He was part of the 2005 Mid-Continent Conference cross country championship squad and a member of Oakland's inaugural track and field team in 2006. Before returning to Rochester, he helped revive San Jose State's men's track program for its first conference meet since 1988 and coached four NCAA West Preliminary round qualifiers.
Brown: sprints, hurdles and relays
Brown is entering his fourth season overseeing sprints, hurdles and relays.
He coached Kylei Anderson to a school record in the 100-meter hurdles, a Horizon League pentathlon title and a trip to the NCAA East Preliminaries, the women's program's first such appearance since 2019. He also mentored Ja-Van Poole, who won back-to-back Horizon League 400-meter hurdle titles in 2025 and 2026 and qualified for the NCAA Championships, making him the first Golden Grizzly to reach that stage in the event in seven years.
Brown competed at Oakland from 2014-18, earning multiple Horizon League honors as a sprinter and hurdler before coaching at the collegiate and high school levels.
What's next
The two Horizon League cross country conference titles came under Sarver's watch, and Brown's sprint group has rewritten the school record book. With both now carrying associate head coach titles, Rice said the program "is in good hands moving forward."
No 2026-27 season opener has been announced. Oakland competes in the Horizon League out of Rochester, Michigan.
