Ryan Milner begins his ninth season as MSUM's head track & field/cross country coach in 2025-26. He was named to the post in June 2017 after serving as associate head coach the previous four seasons. He guides the middle distance and distance groups at MSUM.
In 2024-25, Milner tested a very young group of runners and found some true budding stars. Redshirt freshman Chase Hoechst was named the NSIC's Newcomer of the Year for cross country, making it the second straight season a Dragon has won the award. Veterans Adnew Stueven and James Dorado were All-NSIC honorees for cross country as Stueven earned runner-up marks at the conference meet. Stueven was also a USTFCCCA All-Region runner for the Dragons in the fall.
Throughout the track & field campaign, Milner only continued to push his young core of runners. Nearly every Dragon distance runner set a personal-best in one event in 2024-25, with many etching their names into the top ten all-time. Junior Colin O'Farrell was an All-NSIC performer in the indoor 800m while MSUM again had an all-conference distance medley relay team. The squad of O'Farrell, Salman Mohamed, Rory Richardson and Frosty Wisnewski would place runner-up at the conference meet. During the outdoor season, Hoechst earned all-conference honors in the 10,000m run.
Milner only further cemented MSUM as a distance powerhouse in 2023-24. The Dragons performed strong at the NSIC Cross Country Championships, led by All-NSIC performances from Jared Gregoire and Adnew Stueven. Gregoire was the NSIC's individual runner-up in the race and was named the conference's Newcomer of the Year. In the process, Gregoire became the first student-athlete in NSIC history to win Newcomer of the Year awards for indoor and outdoor track and cross country.
The track & field season only saw continued success for Milner's crew. Braxton Bruer earned First Team All-American distinction in the 800m at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Bruer was the NSIC's champion in the 800m and was named the conference's Track Athlete of the Year. Bruer was a Second Team All-American in the 800m during the outdoor season. Milner also helped guide Adnew Stueven to an NSIC title in the 3000m steeplechase with Stueven making his first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
During the 2022-23 season, MSUM saw numerous school and NSIC records fall thanks to Milner's tutelage. Freshman Jared Gregoire swept the conference Newcomer of the Year awards and was named the NSIC's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Gregoire was a multi-time All-American in his first year on campus, placing third in the 1500m run at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Junior Braxton Bruer was a Second Team All-American in both the indoor and outdoor 800m in 2022-23. Bruer (outdoor 800m) and Gregoire (indoor 800m and outdoor 1500m) set new MSUM school records during the season.
Milner has coached 29 All-NSIC performers in cross country and guided the Dragon men to three straight national championship appearances. In track and field he has coached 39 All-Americans — 19 indoors and 20 outdoors. In his career at MSUM, he has coached 52 NSIC champions, including relays.
Milner helped guide Josh Young (2017) and Nadir Yusuf (2019) to All-America status in cross country as well. In 2016, senior Molly Montonye finished 18th at the women’s national meet and earned All-American honors.
Milner guided the MSUM men to the national cross country championships for the second straight year, as the Dragons posted a 21st-place finish. USTFCCCA All-Region honorees in cross country were Brady Speicher, Josh Young and MaKenzie Smith.
Josh Young was named the NSIC Men's Cross Country Newcomer of the Year while earning first-team all-conference honors. Speicer and Jay Biwer were second-team honorees on the men's side while MaKenzie Smith was first team on the women's side. During the season the MSUM men recorded six of the top 10 fastest 10K times in school history.
The MSUM women were named as an All-Academic team by the USTFCCCA after posting a 3.71 GPA. Cody Christ, Young, Smith and Emily Mammenga were all-academic honorees.
During the 2016 indoor season, Speicher won titles in the 800 and the mile while Young was the champion in the 1,000. Kenny Andri (400) and Alissa Mears (800) were All-NSIC honorees. The men's distance runners scored 50.2 of 79.2 team points at the NSIC indoor meet.
Speicher, also an all-region nominee, set a school indoor record in the mile (4:05.18) and was an All-American in the event after finishing sixth at the national meet. Molly Montonye was second-team All-American in the mile as well.
During the outdoor season, Speicher was second-team All-American in the 1,500; he set a school record of 3:44.63 during the season. Speicher was NSIC outdoor champion in the 1,500, while Young was champion in the 800 and Cody Christ in the 10,000 meters. Young (1,500) and Christ (5,000) were also All-NSIC. The men's distance corps scored 51 of 84 team points at the conference outdoor meet.
Christ, Speicher and Young were all-region honorees. Christ, Young and Montonye were USTFCCCA All-Academic Honorees.
The 2014-2015 season was highlighted by the MSUM men's cross country team's first trip to the national meet since 1992. Five Dragons earned All-NSIC honors with the men placing third and women fifth at the conference meet. Junior Molly Montonye was the NSIC runner-up and also posted a top 10 finish at the Central Region meet.
The distance corps also shined during the indoor and outdoor track seasons, highlighted by Montonye earning All-American honors in the mile indoors and in the 1,500-meter run outdoors. Cody Christ also qualified for the national meet outdoors at the 10,000m distance. He ran a school record time of 30:05.37 at the prestigious Mt SAC Relays and earned second team All-American honors at the NCAA DII national meet. Christ also won his first individual NSIC title running a meet record 14:40.42 for 5,000m.
Also having strong seasons for the Dragon women were Alissa Mears and MaKenzie Smith. At the Outdoor Championship Mears won her first NSIC 800m title with a time of 2:10.89. She ran NCAA qualifying times at that distance during the indoor and outdoor seasons, and along with Emily Mammenga, Iveta Harner, and Molly Montonye was a member of the MSUM school recorded setting Distance Medley Relay. Smith Followed up her first All-Conference cross country season with school records during the track season. She broke the indoor 5,000m record, and the record for 10,000m outdoors.
Along with Christ a number of Dragon men had outstanding 2015 seasons. The team of Jason Dowell, Kenny Andri, John Peterson, and Brady Speicher won the NSIC Distance Medley Relay title. During the outdoor season, Speicher earned his first individual All-NSIC honor with a runner-up finish at 1500m. Also earning All-NSIC honors was Spencer Ruebke in the Steeplechase. Ruebke ran an NCAA qualifying time at that distance as well as at 1500m. In total the Dragon distance runners scored 43 of 84 team points at the NSIC Championships helping the men's team to a 3rd place finish overall.
In 2013-2014 Milner’s student-athletes showed continued improvement. Under Milner’s tutelage, Molly Montonye had a tremendous sophomore campaign for the Dragons. She earned All-American honors, finishing fourth in the 1500m at the NCAA DII Track and Field Outdoor National Championships. She also earned All-NSIC honors in the indoor mile, outdoor 1500m, and at the NSIC Cross Country Championships. Freshman Makenzie Smith had a strong showing during her first season as a Dragon emerging as one of top female 3000m Steeplechase runners in NSIC. She ran a NCAA DII National Championship qualifying time for that distance and earned USTFCCCA Academic All-American honors along with Montonye.
Stepping in to fill the void left by Clayton Foster’s graduation, junior Jason Dowell had a breakout season. Dowell earned All-NSIC honors for the first time during the cross country season then capped his junior season by running personal bests for 5000m and 1500m at the NSIC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Dowell’s 5000m performance was among the 10 fastest in Dragon Track and Field history as was his 1500m which was also a NCAA DII National Championship qualifying time.
In 2012-2013, Minnesota State University Moorhead continued its development in distance running under Milner. The MSUM men finished second in the NSIC Indoor Championships, led in part by senior Clayton Foster, who won both the 800m and Mile. Under Milner’s guidance Foster won 5 NSIC Championships and ran at 3 NCAA DII National Championships.
Also during the indoor season Milner was part of a coaching staff that saw the Dragon men ranked sixth in the national computer rankings, highest in school history. The men’s team remained one of the premier programs in the conference by finishing 3rd at the outdoor championships, where Foster defended his 1500m title and freshman Cody Christ claimed a runner up finish at 10,000m. A young core talented female distance runners also begin to emerge on the track for the Dragons during the 2013 season. Freshman, Alissa Mears placed 3rd in the 800m at the NSIC Outdoor Championships, Emily Mammenga scored points as part of the Distance Medley Relay and in the 1,000m, Molly Montonye earned All-NSIC honors during the cross country season as well as placed in the Mile, 1500m, and 800m at the NSIC Track and Field Championships.
In 2011-12, the Dragon distance program experienced a resurgence under Milner's guidance led by Anna VanWechel earning All-American honors twice. She placed 3rd in the mile at the NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships and 3rd in the 1500m at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships. Throughout the season eight MSUM school records were also broken and along with VanWechel, Clayton Foster, Spencer Ruebke, and Dani Thompson also ran NCAA DII National Championship qualifying times. Foster’s qualifying time was at the 800m distance and was a MSUM school record, Ruebke and Thompson’s time came in the 3000m Steeplechase. Foster also had an exceptional cross country season that culminated with him earning All-NSIC First Team honors at the Fall Championship.
In addition, Milner has coached Dragon student athletes to 30 NCAA DII National Championship qualifying times and 74 MSUM top 10 all-time performances. His athletes have been named to NSIC All-Academic teams 87 times and 12 athletes have been named Academic All-American by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA).
Before joining the MSUM coaching staff, Milner had served as an assistant cross country and track and field coach for four schools; Valley City State University, Chadron State College, Soka University, and Dana College. During this time he coached 19 National Championship qualifying performances, 26 school record performances, 23 All-Conference performances, 32 All-Academic Team members, and All-Americans at the NCAA DII and NAIA levels.
A native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Milner competed in cross country and the distance events for Dana College. He ran on cross country teams that were nationally ranked three times and was a four time NAIA Track and Field National Championship qualifier.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Dana College and later earned a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Sports Management from Chadron State College. He is a USTFCCCA certified Endurance Specialist and holds a USA Track and Field Level 1 coaching certification.
He and his wife, Sarah, have one daughter, Addison.
