Joel Pearson joined Little Rock’s Team has the distance coach in December of 2021. He will be focused on the distance runners with the Trojans.
 
Pearson heads to Little Rock after spending 18 months at Pratt Community College.
He concluded his first season as head cross country coach at Pratt in 2020-21, assisting in the development and coaching of Cross Country and Half-Marathon All-American Zach McPhee. He was promoted to head track and field coach over the summer.
 
Before arriving in Pratt, Pearson had spent the previous two years as the Head Cross Country, Track & Field Coach at Mountlake Terrace High School (Wash.) where the Hawks saw two All-Americans, one State Champion, four school record holders, 25 state qualifiers, a fourth-place finish at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships, and a national runner-up in Josh Beam (Steeplechase).
 
Prior to guiding Mountlake Terrace High, Pearson was the Head Cross Country, Assistant Track & Field Coach at Meridian Community College where he coached eight school record holders, 10 All-Americans, Men's National 4x8 Champions (NJCAA Championship Meet Record) and was a vital part of MCC placing fourth at the NJCAA Indoor National Championships.
 
Before coaching Meridian Community College, Pearson worked as the Director of Track & Field, Cross Country at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his athletes re-wrote the record books with 212 school records, 42 national qualifiers, 34 All-American Honors, a 4 x 800 Drake Relays champion, set an NAIA National Record in the DMR and saw national champions in Phoenix Miller, Supervoid Mack III, Jamal Namous, Jonathan Kiptum, Darryl Simpson, Camille Shiflett and Daniel Garcia, the most decorated athlete in CSU athletic history. Garcia won multiple national championships, helped set a national record, and was a three-time Regional Athlete of the Year and two-time National Athlete of the Year.
 
He was the head cross country coach at Kennesaw State before that as the Owls achieved a National Qualifier (10K - Natan Reuter), conference record holder (5K - Reuter), two conference champions (5K - Reuter, 800m - Andzelika Bobrova), and 12 school records.
 
Prior to Kennesaw State, Pearson worked as the Head Cross Country and Assistant Track & Field coach at North Carolina A&T State University, in Greensboro, N.C., where his athletes re-wrote the record book with 8 school records and recorded 40 all-time top 10 marks. He also coached the second best combined cross country team in A&T’s history.
 
Before representing the Aggies, Pearson was the Director of Track and Field Operations at the University of Iowa. While in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes saw BIG 10 Champions in Erik Sowinski (800), Troy Doris (TJ) and a NCAA National Cross Country Qualifier in Jeff Thode.
 
In 2007, at age 21, he became one of the youngest collegiate head coaches in history, leading the Whatcom Community College cross country and track and field programs. While with WCC, he coached 33 school record holders, four collegiate cross country All-Americans, two regional champions, eight all-region honorees, one cross country champion, and was twice named regional coach of the year.
 
As a private coach and founder of Harrier Track Club, an Olympic development program, Pearson has helped many runners meet their potential, ranging from a first-time race participants to Olympic Trials qualifiers. The club has seen many athletes qualify for prestigious events under Pearson’s tutelage. Among those are Canadian Olympic Trials qualifier (1500, 3k St), U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier (800, 10k), Canadian Track and Field National qualifier (1,500m/5k), World Junior qualifier (Mtn), and three USA Junior National qualifiers (3k, 5k, 10k). He also coached 24 National Junior Olympic qualifiers in cross country and two state high school 1600 meter champions. Among the record holders he has coached, includes an American Junior record in the 50k and an El Salvador National Junior record in the 800 meters.
 
His hard work and success over the years was rewarded by being selected to attend the USATF Emerging Elite Coaches Camp held at the Olympic Training Center in July 2013. Also, in 2012, he was selected as 1 of 2 representatives of USA Track & Field at the North American, Central American, Caribbean, Track & Field Athletics Congress in Nassau, Bahamas. There he studied under world-renowned coaches in track & field. An avid runner since age nine, Pearson is a nationally-certified running coach and instructor through USA Track & Field holding Level 3 certifications in Endurance & Youth and Level 2 certifications in Endurance, Sprints/Hurdles, Jumps, C.E. and Youth. He also is a USATF Level 1 Instructor and holds an Endurance Specialist Certification from the USATFCCA.
 
A native of Ferndale, Washington, Pearson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with double majors in history and coaching from Evergreen State in Olympia, Washington and he has his master’s degree in sports science from Cardinal Stritch University.
 
He is the son of former American 50-mile record holder and national champion Jim Pearson.