LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Little Rock Cross County and Track and Field programs are proud to announce the hiring of Jordyn Naylon as the new head coach for Cross Country and assistant coach for the Track & Field teams. Naylon comes to the Capitol City from New York, where she has spent the entirety of her career both as a student-athlete and coach.
The 2025-26 season will be her fourth as a head coach after she spent the past three years at NCAA Division III Plattsburgh State in Plattsburgh, NY. Under her leadership, her teams improved in conference and regional rankings, which was a draw for J.P. Behnke, Director of Cross Country / Track & Field.
"I am excited to welcome Jordyn to the Little Rock family. She brings a lot of passion and knowledge in the distance events and will be a great asset for our student-athletes." – J.P. Behnke, Director of Cross Country / Track & Field
Naylon made an immediate impact at Plattsburgh State, leading the Cardinals to a pair of sixth-place finishes in her first year while competing in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships. She also served as an assistant coach at SUNY Courtland for six years, coaching two regional champions and two All-Americans.
"I'm very excited to be joining the athletics staff at Little Rock as the head cross country coach. The sense of community from the university, its staff and the city has been fantastic, and I have felt at home almost immediately. To be joining a staff that's passionate about the success and personal development of their student-athletes and program is an amazing opportunity that I very much appreciate. I'm looking forward to working with our Director of Athletics, Frank Cuervo, as well as my fellow coaching staff to continue our growth and success as a program and working with the current student-athletes to guide them to be the best versions of themselves on and off the track." – Jordyn Naylon
As a student-athlete at Courtland, Naylon earned All-America honors in the mile at the 2012 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships and earned two All-Region honors in cross country. She also qualified for nationals five times between cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field and was named to the SUNYAC All-Decade Team (2010-19) for women's track and field.
Naylon earned her bachelor's degree in Exercise Science in 2013 and a master's in Exercise Science in 2018, both from Cortland.Â
