University of Minnesota Athletics
Women's Cross Country
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- hess0125@umn.edu
- Phone:
- 612-624-2058
Sarah (Hesser) Hopkins serves as the head coach of both the Gopher cross country programs and is an assistant coach for the women's track & field team. The 2026 cross country season will mark her sixth season leading both the men’s and women’s cross country programs, her 14th season as the women's cross country head coach and 22nd season with the program overall.
The 2013-14 season was Hopkins' first season as the head coach of the women's cross country program after serving as a volunteer assistant for eight seasons. She replaced long-time head coach Gary Wilson following his retirement after the conclusion of the 2012-13 track & field season.
In 2025-26 in cross country, Hopkins guided both Gopher teams to seventh-place finishes at the Big Ten Championships, with the women advancing to the NCAA Midwest Regional and finishing fifth while the men placed sixth — the men’s best regional finish since 2021. The women’s team was led by a pair of NCAA Midwest All-Region selections in Isabelle Schmitz and Nadia Phillips, while the men received an All-Big Ten Freshman honor from Aloysius Franzen. On the track, Hopkins continued to develop one of the nation’s strongest distance groups on the women’s side. Indoors, Minnesota finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships, with the distance medley relay of Zoie Dundon, LauBenra Ben, Nadia Phillips and Isabelle Schmitz earning silver. Schmitz also scored individually in the mile, while Dundon went on to earn First Team All-America honors in the 800 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Outdoors, Dundon advanced to her second NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and ultimately earned Second Team All-America honors after running a career-best 9:50.96 in the national semifinal. The Gopher women qualified six student-athletes in seven events for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and finished 20th nationally — their best NCAA team finish in 17 years.
The 2024-25 athletic year was another standout campaign for Sarah Hopkins and the Gopher distance programs. In cross country, Hopkins guided the Minnesota women to a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, led by junior Ali Weimer’s bronze-medal performance in a school-record 19:25.5, while the men finished 11th. The women then punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional, where Weimer placed second and four Gophers earned All-Region honors. Minnesota went on to finish 18th at the NCAA Championships in Madison, Wis., marking the program’s ninth NCAA team appearance in 12 seasons under Hopkins and the third time in five years the Gophers finished inside the national top 20. For her work throughout the season, Hopkins was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the third time in her career. On the track, Hopkins’ women’s distance group helped Minnesota finish eighth at the Big Ten Indoor Championships with 38 points, highlighted by a bronze-medal performance from the distance medley relay of Isabelle Schmitz, Dyandra Gray, Zoie Dundon and Erin Reidy, while Isabelle Schmitz added a seventh-place finish in the 3,000 meters and Reidy scored in the mile. Outdoors, Weimer advanced to her first NCAA Outdoor Championships by placing sixth in the 10,000 meters at the regional, while Reidy, Dundon and Schmitz also posted strong regional performances.
In the 2023 cross country season under Hopkins saw Minnesota finish ninth on both the men's and women's side at the Big Ten Championships. Minnesota's top finishers at the Big Ten Cross Country competitions clocked personal best finishes with Brianne Brewster finishing 28th and Eli Hoeft ending in 47th overall. Minnesota's women's team had the better performance at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Stillwater, Okla., finishing fourth out of 32 teams but missing out on a bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. On the track Hopkins group produced another incredible young talent in Big Ten 3000m steeplechase champion, Zoie Dundon. Dundon's Big Ten championship was followed by a bid to the NCAA Championships where she went on to make the final and finish 12th overall nationally for a Second Team All-America distinction as a redshirt freshman. Dundon went on to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Minnesota's first on the women's side, outdoors, since 2018.
During the 2022-23 athletic year Hopkins’ Gophers finished eighth at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on the women’s side while the men finished 10th. Freshman Ali Weimer was named the Big Ten’s unanimous Freshman of the Year, the first for the program since 2000. The women’s team went on to finish fifth at the NCAA Midwest Regional with Weimer and Emma Atkinson earning All-Region honors. On the track Hopkins led the women’s distance crew to 10 Big Ten points along with one NCAA West Regional qualifier. Taylor Kreitinger had a breakout season, finishing fifth at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in the steeplechase and earned a spot at regionals in the process while Erin Reidy’s fourth-place Big Ten finish indoors in the 800m was the highlight of the crew indoors before redshirting the outdoor season.
Along with success at the NCAA Championships, Minnesota’s women have earned eight top-three NCAA Midwest Regional finishes since 2013, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in Hopkins’ first two seasons. In addition, Minnesota’s cross country programs have earned eight top-five Big Ten team finishes in 13 seasons with Hopkins at the helm of the program (13 seasons with women, five with men). Hopkins was also named the Big Ten’s Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2021 after claiming her first women’s conference title as the head coach of the program. That 2021 Gophers’ team went on to win the NCAA Midwest Regional for the first time since 2009 and finished inside the top seven of the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the second straight season (5th in 2020, 7th in 2021).
Thirteen Gophers have earned 21 All-Big Ten honors (Laura Docherty-2013; Molly Kayfes-2013; Maggie Bollig-2013; Liz Berkholtz-2015; Kaila Urick-2015; Madeline Strandemo-2016, 2017; Megan Hasz-2016, 2017, 2018, 2021; Bethany Hasz-2017, 2018, 2020, 2021; Anastasia Korzenowski-2019; Abby Kohut-Jackson-2020, 2021; Alec Basten-2021, Ali Weimer-2024, Aloysius Franzen-2025) in Hopkins' time as head coach.
From 2005 to 2015, Minnesota qualified for every NCAA cross country championship as a team -- one of only five programs in the nation to accomplish this feat (Minnesota, Georgetown, Stanford, Michigan and Michigan State). Minnesota placed in the top 12 in the NCAA five of those 11 years. Since Hopkins joined the staff in 2005, the Gophers have won the first three Big Ten Championships in program history (2007, 2008, 2021) and picked up three consecutive Midwest Region titles (2007, 2008, 2009) and another in 2021.
Individual female athletes have also seen great success since Hopkins joined the coaching staff. Hopkins was responsible for Minnesota’s first Big Ten Cross Country Women’s Athlete of the Year since 1987 with Bethany Hasz earning the distinction in 2020 and 2021. During those two seasons Hopkins also was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year and saw Bethany Hasz and twin Megan Hasz earn National Athlete of the Week honors. During her tenure, Hopkins has worked with eight different Gophers who collectively earned 12 NCAA All-American honors in cross country. In 2009, Megan Duwell finished a program-best seventh in the NCAA and then Bethany Hasz tied that program-best finish in 2021. At the Big Ten level, Hopkins has coached 12 women to a total of 18 first team All-Big Ten honors and 14 athletes to second team All-Big Ten honors. An impressive 40 different Gopher runners have earned a total of 73 All-Midwest Region awards under Hopkins' guidance, including four in 2024 and two in 2025.
Since taking over the men’s program in 2021, Hopkins has coached one All-Big Ten first team member in Alec Basten as well as two All-Midwest Region honorees in Basten and Matthew Wilkinson. In Hopkins’ first season as the head of the men’s program the Gophers reached the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time in six years and finished 21st overall led by Basten’s 29:54.20 to finish 69th overall.
On the track, Hopkins has been on the coaching staff for all of Minnesota's Big Ten Conference team titles, including the first-ever indoor and outdoor B1G sweep for the Gophers in 2018. Hopkins’ 2018 Gophers contributed significant points as Madeline Strandemo earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors indoors in the mile and outdoors in the 3,000m steeplechase. Indoors, Hopkins' distance Gophers scored 21 B1G points, securing points in the mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, and distance medley relay. Outdoors, Minnesota recorded 20 points in the distance events and clinched the B1G team title behind five points from Bethany Hasz and Megan Hasz in the 5,000m.
Since Hopkins joined the coaching staff for the 2006 track & field season, Minnesota has collected more than 70 All-Big Ten awards in the distance events and had 55 NCAA Championship qualifiers in events 800m and longer, including 12-time NCAA qualifier Heather Dorniden making eight appearances in the 800m and four in the distance medley relay. Bethany Hasz qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5,000m after she and Megan Hasz made their NCAA Outdoor Championship debuts on the track in 2019. The Gophers earned All-Big Ten honors in the DMR for five-straight seasons from 2007 to 2011 as well.
Minnesota has seen marked improvement in the 10,000m under Hopkins with Gophers collecting eight All-Big Ten awards in the event since 2009, with Bethany Hasz’s Big Ten 10K title being the third in the event under Hopkins. Megan Duwell won the Big Ten 10,000m title twice (2009, 2010) and Amy Laskowske finish runner-up both years. Laskowske was an All-American at 10,000m in 2009. One of the highlights of Hopkins's coaching career on the track was a first, second, fourth finish for the Gophers Duwell, Laskowske, and Mallory Van Ness in the 10,000m at the 2010 Big Ten Championships. In 2012, Laura Docherty earned a fourth-place finish and improved to a runner-up showing at the 2013 Big Ten outdoor meet, and Liz Berkholtz earned four-straight top-eight Big Ten finishes in the 10,000m from 2013-2016. Bailey Ness placed seventh in 2017 as well. More recently, Ali Weimer established herself among Minnesota's elite distance runners, placing fourth at the 2025 Big Ten Championships before finishing 15th at the NCAA Championships in a school-record 32:42.31. In 2026, Weimer improved to runner-up at the Big Ten Championships in 33:07.71, earning her second career Big Ten medal and giving Hopkins another All-Big Ten performer in the event.
The Gophers have also experienced success at 5,000m indoor and outdoor during Hopkins’ tenure. Bethany Hasz (15:25.33) and Megan Hasz (15:39.03) clocked two of the fastest indoor 5,000m times in NCAA history in December 2019. B. Hasz earned a trio of NCAA All-America honors in the event, highlighted by her indoor NCAA runner-up finish in the event in 2021. In addition, Duwell earned Indoor All-American honors in 2010, placing fifth with a then-program record time of 15:59.23. Docherty (2013) and Molly Kayfes (2014) earned back-to-back Big Ten indoor runner-up finishes in the 5,000m as well.
Minnesota’s women’s steeplechase and mile crews have noticeably improved as well in recent years under Hopkins. Abby Kohut-Jackson broke onto the scene in 2021 with a Second Team All-America finish in the steeplechase and was also named the USTFCCCA Midwest Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year that same season. She won the Big Ten title in 2021 and claimed multiple Big Ten medals indoors in the mile and the DMR. In 2024, Hopkins coached Zoie Dundon to Minnesota’s fourth women’s Big Ten 3,000m steeplechase championship. Dundon went on to earn Second Team All-America honors with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. After an NCAA West Regional appearance in 2025, Dundon placed third at the 2026 Big Ten Championships for her third consecutive conference podium finish and advanced to her second NCAA Outdoor Championships, where she earned Second Team All-America honors and became a two-time NCAA All-American in the steeplechase.
Hopkins, a former Golden Gopher student-athlete on both the cross country and track & field teams, graduated Suma Cum Laude in May 2006, with a major in child psychology. She continued her education at Minnesota earning a master's degree in applied kinesiology: sport management.
The Minneapolis native was a three-time letterwinner in cross country and served as team captain as a junior and senior. She was honored as the Minnesota recipient of the 2005 Big Ten Conference Sportsmanship Award. Hopkins was also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and was awarded the Gophers' Coaches Award in her junior season. Hopkins lettered once as a member of the track & field team and was a captain her senior season.
Hopkins owns a Level 1 Track & Field/Cross Country Coaching Certificate and is the 2012-2014 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Representative to the Executive Cross Country Committee.
Hopkins and her husband Chris have two children, Jack and Isabelle.
