Vin LanannaClaim this profile

Coed Cross Country/Track & FieldVin Lananna

Director Of Track & Field & Cross Country/associate Athletics Director For Administration

University of Virginia

4.8

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Would Recommend

Overall

5.0

Caring

4.0

Motivational

5.0

Knowledgeable

5.0

Honest

5.0

Tags

DirectHonestKnowledgeableDirectFitness Is ImportantKnows The Game

Vin obviously has a very impressive resume with all of his NCAA titles, Olympic coaching credits, authority in USATF, etc. Overall, I had a positive experience with him and graduated on great terms. I had massive breakthroughs in my performances, he awarded me a scholarship after I asked for one (I was a walk on originally). He also provided me a great recommendation after I graduated that helped me land my current job. I spent much of my last year on the team injured, and he still checked in on me a lot during the time. However - he is not above criticism. Vin definitely has his favorites on the team - he often makes up his mind quickly and it can be difficult to change his opinion on things. Many of my teammates who were either injured or not performing to expectations were consistently ignored by Vin. Many felt very isolated and dejected - that he didn’t care about them. Although, Another athlete on the team did have a very serious mental health crisis, and Vin did everything he could to support them - personally calling and talking to them, giving them a ride to class, making sure othered were checking on them, just really going out of his way to make sure this person was OK. It should also be noted that Vin often tends to favor the men over the women. There are of course exceptions to this, but generally speaking I would say he devotes more time to the men, is more impressed when the men do well, and is more understanding when the men don’t do well. He also is definitely biased towards distance events as a director, which is unsurprising. In terms of actual coaching techniques, I really enjoyed his training plans and his specific workouts. He is very hands on and direct for training. He’s there watching and commenting for every rep of every workout. His race prep planning is detailed and very tactically strong. Overall, I individually had a good experience and know many who had the same, but this was not necessarily a universal experience. It should be noted though that most of those who were not favored by Vin were not his recruited athletes, but leftovers from Dunn, Megan, Watson, or Morgan. If he recruited you you’re probably fine.