Matt Layten - Track and Field Coach - Air Force Academy Athletics

Matt Layten

Title:
Assistant Coach | Middle Distances, Distances
Email:
matthew.layten@usafa.edu
Phone:
719-333-4967

Matt Layten is in his second season as an assistant coach for the Air Force track and field team – and his fourth year with the program overall. Layten, who initially joined the staff as the team’s Director of Operations in September 2017, works with the Falcons’ middle distance and distance runners during both the track and cross country seasons.

During his first year on the coaching staff, Layten saw the women’s cross country team place eighth at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships – the best Division I finish in program history – and account for a pair of All-American runners. The success continued into the shortened 2020 track season, as the Falcons’ middle distance and distance athletes combined for one Academy record, one conference title and two appearances at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Before arriving at Air Force, Layten spent three years as an assistant coach at San José State University, where he worked with the cross country program and the distance runners of the track team. He helped with the resurrection of the Spartans’ track program, assisting the men’s cross country program in becoming a top-15 team in the West Region and helping both the men’s and women’s squads to their highest finishes at the Mountain West Cross Country Championships. Layten helped the Spartans produce their first qualifiers to the NCAA West Preliminary, including Jennifer Beckingham in both the 800-meter and 1500-meter events, and saw Craig Huff finish fifth in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the 2015 U.S. Junior National Championships.

Prior to his stint at San José State, Layten served as the head cross country coach at Hillsdale High School and was an assistant track coach at South San Francisco High School.

He co-founded the Cal Poly Distance Club in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in 2010, and served as its president and assistant coach. The collegiate-aged group of runners recorded two NIRCA regional championships and a top-10 finish at the 2011 NIRCA National Championships.

Layten holds a USATF Level 2 certification in the endurance events and is USTFCCCA-certified in the jumping events, as well as strength and conditioning. A native of San Carlos, Calif., Layten holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from California Polytechnic State University and a master’s degree in kinesiology from San José State University.