University of San Francisco Athletics

St. Norbert College, '10

4th year

Benji Wetli joined the San Francisco track cross country and track and field programs as an assistant coach in the fall of 2014. Wetli serves as the Dons’ distance recruiting coordinator as well as assisting in daily operations and coaching of cross country and distance athletes on the track.

In 2016, Wetli helped guide the USF women's cross country team to its fourth trip to the NCAA Championships in program history. Under Wetli's tutelage, the Dons placed three runners on the All-WCC team, All-West Region squad, and two runners on the All-American team. Weronika Pyzik, Elena Burkard and Charlotte Taylor turned in the highest combined top three performance in USF cross country history at the 2015 NCAA West Regionals. On the men's side, Alex Short turned in another history season for the program, taking home All-WCC honors, All-West Region honors and a trip to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. He was the WCC Championship individual winner and earned an spot on the All-American team. 
 
Wetli, a Decorah, Iowa, native, came to the Hilltop after one season at North Carolina-Greensboro where he coached 10 student-athletes who obtained All-Southern Conference accolades and two women that earned a spot in the 2014 NCAA Preliminary Championship field.
 
Previous to his season with the Spartans, Wetli served for three seasons on the staff at Iowa State. During Wetli’s time in Ames, Iowa, the Cyclones consistently performed as one of the top programs in the nation in both cross country and track and field. Iowa State student-athletes commandeered three individual national championship titles and produced 25 NCAA All-America honorees, 13 Big 12 Conference champions and 98 All-Big 12 Conference award winners during Wetli’s three seasons with the program.
 
The Iowa State women’s cross country team took back-to-back conference titles and earned three consecutive NCAA Midwest Regional Championship titles, and finished in seventh place at the NCAA Championships in 2011. The women’s indoor track and field team placed ninth at the NCAA Championships in 2011 and took 10th in 2012. In 2013, Wetli’s final season with the Cyclones, the squad finished the season in fourth place in the Women’s Program of the Year standings.
 
Wetli, a certified USA Track & Field Level 1 coach, ran collegiately at St. Norbert College (Wisc.), as a cross country and distance athlete. During his time competing for the Green Knights, Wetli was tapped for Academic All-Conference accolades 10 times.
 
Wetli earned his bachelor’s in history from St. Norbert in 2010. He continued his studies while serving on the Iowa State coaching staff, obtaining a master’s in kinesiology in 2013.