Even though he retired from his position of head coach of the cross country and track programs in the summer of 2019, Brent Fougner has remained as an assistant coach under Hilary Stellingwerff. The fall of 2020 will be his second season working under his former assistant.
Fougner is a legend in the cross country and track world. He spent 31 years at the helm for the Vikes. During those years, he was a nine-time U SPORTS Coach of the Year. Fougner started as an assistant coach with the program in 1987, took over the men's program in 1988 and took over the women's program additional in 1998.
Fougner has led the Vikes to nine CIS Cross-Country championships and has produced 37 medalists at the CIS Track & Field championships.
Fougner has been named CIS Cross-Country Coach of the Year nine times - four consecutive years with the men (1994, '95, '96, '97 and 2015) and four with the women (1998, '99, '00, '01), to coincide with his nine CIS banners. The men's four consecutive CIS titles, from 1994-97, share the CIS record for consecutive titles. In 1996, the men set a CIS record for largest margin of victory (72 points), while the women set the same record in 2001 with an 83 point victory margin.
Fougner’s success with the Vikes has launched a prolific coaching career with the National team. In 2008, Fougner was an assistant coach at the Beijing Olympic Games, working with Canada's middle distance competitors. Fougner was head coach of the Canadian national team at the 2002 World Cross Country Championships, and has also coached numerous junior and student events, including the 1989 and '95 World Student Games.
Prior to coaching, Fougner was an accomplished member of the Canadian National Team. He won gold in the triple jump at the 1981 CIS Championships.
More recently, Fougner's cross country teams have enjoyed success as both the men and women claimed back to back Canada West championships in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The Vikes men went on to defend that conference banner winning the title again in 2013 and 2014. In the 2012-13 season, the men's track team captured three golds, two silvers and four bronzes for a fourth place finish in the Canada West division. The women's team placed sxith in the Canada West division with two golds, two silvers and two bronzes. In the CIS rankings, the men's track team ranked ninth out of 21 schools, while the women placed sixth.
The men followed up their back-to-back Canada West titles with a third in 2013, Fougner was also named men's cross-country coach of the year following the CIS Championships. In 2015, the Vikes men's cross-country team won their fourth-straight Canada West banner and fifth overall CIS title after racing to gold in Guelph, Ontario. This also erased a nine-year championship run for the Gryphons.
Fougner's wife, Trish, was already a member of the UVic Sports Hall of Fame when the 1987 women's cross country team got inducted in 2018. This year, Trish got inducted as an individual into the Hall of Fame for her remarkable athletic career with the Vikes that saw her rack up 13 Canada West championships, set eight conference records and earned six national titles in track, relay and cross country events.
MAJOR AWARDS:
CIS WOMEN’S XC CHAMPIONSHIPS (4): 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001
CIS MEN’S XC CHAMPIONSHIPS (4): 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997Â
CIS MEN’S XC COACH OF THE YEAR (7): 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 2012 • 2013Â
• 2015
CIS WOMEN’S XC COACH OF THE YEAR (4): 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001
CANADA WEST MEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR (6): 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997Â
• 2014Â
• 2015
CANADA WEST WOMEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR (7):  1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2011 • 2012 • 2017
Â
Articles
2019 August:
Fougner announces retirement after 31 remarkable years with Vikes
2017 November:
Vikes claim conference title, finish fourth in the nation
2015 November:Â
Vikes win fifth CIS banner for men’s cross-country, Fougner named Coach of the Year
2014, November:Â
Hegland, Cassidy, Pomfret and Fougner receive Canada West awards in Newfoundland
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BRENT FOUGNER'S RECORD AT U SPORTS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
|
|
Cross-Country
|
Track & Field
|
|
Year
|
Men
|
Women
|
Men
|
Women
|
|
1988
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
1989
|
N/A
|
5th
|
11th
|
12th
|
|
1990
|
4th
|
3rd
|
13th
|
10th
|
|
1991
|
5th
|
2nd
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
|
1992
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
|
1993
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
|
1994
|
1st
|
1st
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
|
1995
|
1st
|
-
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
|
1996
|
1st
|
-
|
11th
|
-
|
|
1997
|
1st
|
4th
|
-
|
13th
|
|
1998
|
3rd
|
1st
|
-
|
7th
|
|
1999
|
6th
|
1st
|
10th
|
7th
|
|
2000
|
4th
|
1st
|
15th
|
18th
|
|
2001
|
5th
|
1st
|
15th
|
19th
|
|
2002
|
8th
|
3rd
|
15th
|
19th
|
|
2003
|
6th
|
4th
|
12th
|
15th
|
|
2004
|
6th
|
5th
|
16th
|
16th
|
|
2005
|
3rd
|
3rd
|
17th
|
14th
|
|
2006
|
3rd
|
10th
|
11th
|
20th
|
|
2007
|
7th
|
6th
|
9th
|
12th
|
|
2008
|
6th
|
6th
|
9th
|
17th
|
|
2009
|
11th
|
4th
|
14th
|
14th
|
| 2010 |
4th |
4th |
15th |
18th |
| 2011 |
3rd |
2nd |
10th   |
11th |
| 2012Â Â Â |
4th |
4th |
9th |
7th |
| 2013 |
6th |
8th |
9th |
7tth |
| 2014 |
2nd |
6th |
5th |
6th |
| 2015 |
1st |
7th |
4th |
7th |
| 2016 |
6th |
9th |
13th |
17th |
| 2017 |
7th |
4th |
9th |
15th |
Last updated, April 2020.
