Samantha Nadel - Cross Country Coach - University of North Carolina Athletics

Samantha Nadel

Title:
Assistant Coach (Distance)
Email:
samnadel@unc.edu
Phone:
919-962-5411

Six-time All-American Samantha Nadel is in her second year as an assistant distance coach for the North Carolina track & field and cross country programs.

In her first cross country and indoor seasons with Carolina, Nadel assisted with the development of both distance programs and took on a larger role with recruiting towards mid-season. In cross country, Nadel and Dylan Sorensen coached Paige Hofstad to All-Region and All-ACC finishes. Hofstad nearly also earned All-America honors, finishing just seven seconds outside of the top-40 despite being knocked down mid-race. Indoors, Hofstad also broke into the top-five all-time program records in the 5,000 meters while Erin Edmundson advanced to the women’s mile final at the ACC Indoor Championships. Nadel’s first year with Carolina was cut short following the cancelation of the 2020 outdoor season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to Carolina, Nadel spent the a year training with the Boston Athletic Association in Boston, Mass., as a professional runner while also teaching at the Children’s Center of Weston. At the Children’s Center, she organized after-school activities and oversaw the development of first- and second-grade students, and on the track Nadel continued her athletic career.

Nadel represented the BAA at the 2018 USATF Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla., before making three appearances during the 2019 indoor season. She finished first in the mile at Boston University’s Multi-Team Meet, fourth in the 3,000 meters at the John Thomas Terrier Classic and sixth in the two-mile at the 2019 USATF Indoor Championships in New York.

Prior to her east-coast return, Nadel spent two years at the University of Oregon, where she earned All-America honors three times. She finished 21st at the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships for All-America status and went on to place fourth in the 3,000 meters at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships and eighth in the 5,000 meters at 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Nadel went on that summer to finish 14th in the 5,000 at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships before rounding out her collegiate career with honorable mention All-America honors in the event at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Nadel attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. for her undergraduate career. Over the course of her four years with the Hoyas, Nadel racked up three All-America finishes, two cross country All-Region finishes, three Big East titles, eight All-Big East honors and one ECAC title.

Nadel earned All-Big East recognition in each of her three cross country seasons from 2012-14, twice finishing All-Region in 2013 and 2014 and once finishing All-America with a 37th-place finish at the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Nadel also found success during her indoor seasons at Georgetown. She claimed Big East titles in both the DMR and 3,000 meters during her 2015 indoor campaign before earning All-America honors in those events at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships. Nadel finished first-team All-America with the seventh-place DMR and second-team All-America with an 11th-place finish in the 3,000. In 2016, Nadel defended her Big East DMR title and again earned All-Big East honors after finishing fourth in the 3,000.

Outdoors, Nadel won the women’s 5,000 meters at the 2014 ECAC Outdoor Championships after earning All-Big East accolades in that same event in 2013.

Nadel, a native of Glen Head, N.Y., received her M.A. in nonprofit management from Oregon in 2018 after graduating from Georgetown with a B.A. in psychology in 2016.