Fairley Set to Take Reins of Taylor Cross Country Programs

UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Kyle Gould, announced on Wednesday that Mark Fairley had been hired as the new head coach of the TU men's and women's cross country programs.

"After a thorough and competitive search process, we are excited to announced Mark Fairley as our next cross country coach," said Gould. "His experience as a successful athlete, along with his time working with the prestigious distance program at Liberty University, has prepared him well to lead our programs into the future. We are excited to welcome Mark and his wife, Adelyn, to campus and look forward to him getting started."

Fairley comes to Taylor from NCAA Division I Liberty University, where he served in various roles within the Flames' cross country and track programs for the past eight years. Most recently, Failey helped the LU women's cross country team claim the Conference USA Championship on November 1, while the men's team scored a runner-up finish.

"I am humbled and excited to join the coaching staff at Taylor University," said Fairley. "I want to thank Kyle Gould and his staff for the opportunity. I will strive to be faithful with the mission, vision and culture of the program and university. Coaches and athletes come and go but the mission of what we are doing will stay the same."

In his role as an assistant coach for the men's and women's cross country and track teams at Liberty, Fairley worked specifically with the distance athletes and steeplechasers, while also assisting with the recruiting for the distance programs. In addition to those duties, Fairley also served as LU's meet director and track and field facilities manager.

In Fairley's eight years on staff, Liberty never finished below second place as a team at a league meet, piling up a combined 27 team championships in 40 appearances at Conference USA and Atlantic Sun Championship meets in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.

The Liberty women's cross country team's Conference USA title was its fourth league championship in the last five showings, while the LU women's track program swept the Conference USA and A-Sun Indoor and Outdoor Championships in each of Fairley's final three seasons with the Flames and the men's squad swept the league titles in six of his last seven seasons with the program.

Prior to working up the ranks on staff at Liberty, Fairley was a decorated student-athlete at NCAA Division III Central College, where he won the men's steeplechase national title in 2018 and finished runner-up in 2017. Fairley notched a third All-American honor by placing 26th at the 2017 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships.

As a seven-time Iowa Conference event champion, Failey broke CC's steeplechase record with a time of 8:57.39 and posted personal-best marks of 4:16.42 in the mile, 8:23.87 in the 3,000-meters and 14:42.67 in the 5,000-meters.

Fairley was named the USTFCCCA Central Region Men's Cross Country and Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year as a senior in 2018 and also secured CoSIDA Academic All-American and USTFCCCA Scholar-Athlete recognition that year.

Fairley continued his athletic training from 2019 through 2022 as a triathlete for Liberty's Triathlon Club, earning his professional triathlon racing license after winning the Claremont EDR Race in 2019 and taking sixth place in the draft legal race at the 2022 Collegiate Triathlon National Championships.

Fairley holds a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Central, a master's degree in sport management from Liberty and has progressed toward a second master's degree in Biblical studies.

Fairley is married to his wife, Adelyn, who was also a standout collegiate distance athlete at Liberty with 20 all-conference honors, nine individual league titles and the A-Sun's 5,000-meter record time of 15:54.