Cole Seward took over as assistant coach in October 2021 and has worked primarily with the sprints, hurdles, jumps, and combined events. He was promoted to Associate Head Coach of Women’s XC/Track & Field in August of 2024.
Seward has coached four individual league champions in Marie Terry in the 400H and Modupe Awosanya as a 2-time Indoor LJ Champ and 1-time Outdoor LJ Champ. In addition, he also coached Awosanya to the program’s first-ever NCAA East Preliminary qualifier in the long jump.
The NCAA East and West Preliminary meets serve as the opening sites for the national championships. Awosanya would also go on to win the 2023 Alfreda Goff Horizon League Track and Field Outdoor Athlete of the Year as well as the 2023 Horizon League Field Freshman of the Year for both indoor and outdoor seasons. During Seward’s tenure, the track and field record books have been almost completely rewritten in the sprints, hurdle, jumps, throws, and combined events. The only records still standing are the indoor/outdoor 400m and indoor 4x400m.
In the summer of 2024, Seward was selected as a 2024 USATF Olympic Trials Mentorship Grant recipient. With the grant, he had the opportunity to coach alongside three elite level coaches who trained athletes that competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Seward is also a USATF Level 1 Certified Coach and has obtained Level 2 certifications in sprints/hurdles/relays, jumps, and throws.
Seward was a standout performer on the track at nearby Wabash College where he was an 11-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) performer and four-time conference champion. During his career, he helped contribute to five NCAC team titles and was an All-Region performer in his first season competing in multis his senior year.
Before coaching at IU Indianapolis, Seward coached at Westfield High School where he oversaw athletes competing in sprints, hurdles, and jumps during the 2021 season. He coached two IHSAA State qualifiers in 2021 and also coached a state qualifier during a previous stint at Cloverdale High School.
Seward earned his B.A. in Mathematics from Wabash in 2017 and his M.S. in Sports Management from Indiana State in 2020. After his graduation from Wabash, he served as a math teacher from 2017 to 2021, most recently at Carmel High School.
Seward and his wife, Samantha, reside in Indianapolis.
