Dave Cianelli, Virginia Tech’s director of track and field and cross country, made Eric Johannigmeier a first-time head coach when he promoted Johannigmeier to the head of the track and field distance running programs and the head men’s and women’s cross country coach on July 26, 2018 – and Johannigmeier has been running with the job ever since.
Johannigmeier has consistently built the Hokies’ distance programs into one of the top groups in the ACC and the country. Indoors in 2022, Johannigmeier guided an athlete to an NCAA title for the first time as a head coach, as Lindsey Butler took the win in the 800m. Butler has been a shining example of Johannigmeier’s coaching, as she not only took the national championship in the 800m but repeated as ACC Champion in the event in 2022, breaking her own school record and setting the Rector Field House record of 2:01.23 in the process. Butler now holds the No. 9 800m indoors in NCAA history.
Also at the ACC Indoor Championships, Johannigmeier led the Hokies to a sweep of the men’s and women’s distance medley relays on the first day of competition. The men took the conference title in thrilling fashion as Antonio Lopez Segura edged past the Notre Dame team for the win on the final lap. The women dominated their race, winning by over three seconds and setting the Rector Field House and ACC Championships record of 10:53.75.
Lopez Segura continued his individual successes under Johannigmeier in 2022, earning the highest finish in the men’s 3000m by a Hokie ever at the NCAA Indoor Championships with his sixth-place result. Under Johannigmeier’s tutelage, the Spaniard lit up Tech’s record books in 2022. Setting two school records (mile, 3:56.79 and 3000m, 7:49.03) and delivering No. 3 times in the 1000m and 5000m indoors, before posting the No. 2 times in the 5000m and 10,000m outdoors. In addition to anchoring the gold-medal-winning DMR at ACC indoors, Lopez Segura also earned silver in the 3k at the same meet and bronze in the 10k at ACC outdoors.
Blacksburg native Ben Fleming had excelled under Johannigmeier and earned his first individual conference title in 2022, continuing the Hokies’ dominance in the 3000m steeplechase. Fleming surged across the line at the ACC Outdoor Championship to win gold with the No. 2 time in Virginia Tech history. All told, Johannigmeier’s athletes set 38 new all-time marks in the Hokies’ record book in 2022.
In 2019-20, Johannigmeier simply built on the success of his debut season as the head of distance runners, as he coached the ACC men’s cross country champion in the fall of 2019 and his women’s distance runners played an integral part in helping the Hokies win the 2020 ACC indoor track and field championship.
Under the tutelage of Johannigmeier, Peter Seufer established himself as maybe the greatest men’s distance runner in program history. In the fall (2019), Seufer won his second consecutive ACC cross country crown, beating a 134-runner field by a whopping 39 seconds. He became the second Tech men’s runner to win back-to-back conference titles, but the first to do so since 1959-60. Behind Seufer and All-ACC runners Diego Zarate and Fitsum Seyoum, the Hokies finished third in the team competition.
Seufer also won the NCAA Southeast Region meet and finished fourth at the NCAA Championships – the top finish ever by a men’s distance runner at the NCAA meet. He became an All-American for the second consecutive season, and he led the Tech men’s team to a 17th-place finish in the team competition, which marked their best finish since coming in fourth in 1987.
Seufer went on to dominate during the indoor track and field season as well, winning gold medals in both the 3,000 and 5,000 at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships. Between cross country and track and field, Seufer won seven ACC gold medals in his career. Also at that same ACC indoor meet, Antonio Lopez Segura and Bashir Mosavel-Lo made the podium, as Lopez Segura took bronze in the 3,000 behind Seufer, and Mosavel-Lo won a silver medal in the 800, all of which helped Tech to a second-place finish in the team race.
On the women’s side, distance runner Sara Freix won the silver medal at the 2019 ACC Cross Country Championship, and she was a key component of the Hokie women’s distance runners who helped Tech to the 2020 ACC indoor track and field championship – its first indoor title since 2008. Freix won her first ACC gold medal when she took first in the 5,000, and Sarah Edwards won the gold medal in the mile for the second consecutive year. Lauren Berman’s bronze medal in that same event added points to the Hokies’ team total.
In 2018-19, Johannigmeier’s first season at the helm wound up being a tremendous success, both in track and field and cross country, as his distance runners helped the Tech men’s track and field teams to two ACC titles. Four of his distance runners – two men and two women – earned All-America honors in track and field in 2019 and one earned the nod in cross country in 2018.
Seufer led the way for the Tech men’s teams, winning his first ACC cross country title and coming in 16th at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors, and he also earned All-America honors in track and field during the outdoor season, finishing 12th in the 5,000-meter race at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America recognition in track and field for the second time in his career.
Johannigmeier has coached several other All-Americans since taking over as the distance coach. Rachel Pocratsky, who dominated in the 800 and 1,500 during her final two seasons, departed Tech as a four-time All-American, a six-time ACC individual gold medalist, and the owner of four individual school records. In 2019, Edwards was a first-team All-American in the mile during the indoor season and earned second-team recognition in the 1,500 during the outdoor season, while Mosavel-Lo earned the same in the 800 during the outdoor season.
Johannigmeier stepped into the head job in 2018 after spending the previous four years on the Tech staff as an assistant coach. Prior to that, he served as a volunteer assistant for the Hokies from 2011-13.
“I’m super excited for the opportunity,” Johannigmeier said at the time of his hiring. “For me, I just really am glad to be working at Virginia Tech with these athletes. This group of athletes are great to work with – they’re outstanding students, outstanding athletes, outstanding people. I really enjoy working with them, and there is no other place I’d rather work at than Virginia Tech. With the resources we have and the school, it’s just a great place to be.”
As an assistant, Johannigmeier has worked extensively with Tech’s runners in preparation for the Hokies’ events, while also overseeing Tech’s recruiting efforts and handling the day-to-day administrative duties within the men's and women's distance programs. He played an instrumental role in guiding the men's cross country program to NCAA Championships appearances in 2015 and 2017 and the women's team to a berth in 2014, which was just the second appearance in program history. The Tech men's team finished 20th nationally at the NCAA meet in 2017 – its best finish since 1987.
Johannigmeier has worked individually with some of the best runners in Tech history. In addition to Seufer, Edwards, Pocratsky and Mosavel-Lo, he worked with the 2018 the men's distance medley relay team that won the national championship at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships – a quartet that included Vincent Ciattei, Patrick Joseph and Neil Gourley. Ciattei won two individual NCAA silver medals in 2018 (one during the indoor season, one in the outdoor season).
In addition, Johannigmeier played a primary role in the development of Tommy Curtin and Hanna Green during his time as an assistant. Curtin was a six-time All-American and a six-time ACC champion, while Green also won six ACC titles and earned All-America honors on six occasions, and she won individual NCAA silver medals three times. Both are currently running professionally, along with Drew Piazza, a two-time All-American who won the silver medal in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2017.
While a volunteer assistant at Tech, Johannigmeier was a part of three ACC Championships, two in track and one in cross country. He also helped the Hokie men to a fifth-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Prior to his time with the Hokies, Johannigmeier was an undergraduate assistant for the University of Illinois track and field program. During his year there, the outdoor track and field team finished 11th at the NCAA Championships and the cross country team finished fifth at the Midwest Regional.
Before serving as an undergraduate assistant at the University of Illinois, Johannigmeier participated in both cross country and track and field for the Fighting Illini.
Johannigmeier holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. In addition to coaching, Johannigmeier has worked as a civil engineer.
Johannigmeier has consistently built the Hokies’ distance programs into one of the top groups in the ACC and the country. Indoors in 2022, Johannigmeier guided an athlete to an NCAA title for the first time as a head coach, as Lindsey Butler took the win in the 800m. Butler has been a shining example of Johannigmeier’s coaching, as she not only took the national championship in the 800m but repeated as ACC Champion in the event in 2022, breaking her own school record and setting the Rector Field House record of 2:01.23 in the process. Butler now holds the No. 9 800m indoors in NCAA history.
Also at the ACC Indoor Championships, Johannigmeier led the Hokies to a sweep of the men’s and women’s distance medley relays on the first day of competition. The men took the conference title in thrilling fashion as Antonio Lopez Segura edged past the Notre Dame team for the win on the final lap. The women dominated their race, winning by over three seconds and setting the Rector Field House and ACC Championships record of 10:53.75.
Lopez Segura continued his individual successes under Johannigmeier in 2022, earning the highest finish in the men’s 3000m by a Hokie ever at the NCAA Indoor Championships with his sixth-place result. Under Johannigmeier’s tutelage, the Spaniard lit up Tech’s record books in 2022. Setting two school records (mile, 3:56.79 and 3000m, 7:49.03) and delivering No. 3 times in the 1000m and 5000m indoors, before posting the No. 2 times in the 5000m and 10,000m outdoors. In addition to anchoring the gold-medal-winning DMR at ACC indoors, Lopez Segura also earned silver in the 3k at the same meet and bronze in the 10k at ACC outdoors.
Blacksburg native Ben Fleming had excelled under Johannigmeier and earned his first individual conference title in 2022, continuing the Hokies’ dominance in the 3000m steeplechase. Fleming surged across the line at the ACC Outdoor Championship to win gold with the No. 2 time in Virginia Tech history. All told, Johannigmeier’s athletes set 38 new all-time marks in the Hokies’ record book in 2022.
In 2019-20, Johannigmeier simply built on the success of his debut season as the head of distance runners, as he coached the ACC men’s cross country champion in the fall of 2019 and his women’s distance runners played an integral part in helping the Hokies win the 2020 ACC indoor track and field championship.
Under the tutelage of Johannigmeier, Peter Seufer established himself as maybe the greatest men’s distance runner in program history. In the fall (2019), Seufer won his second consecutive ACC cross country crown, beating a 134-runner field by a whopping 39 seconds. He became the second Tech men’s runner to win back-to-back conference titles, but the first to do so since 1959-60. Behind Seufer and All-ACC runners Diego Zarate and Fitsum Seyoum, the Hokies finished third in the team competition.
Seufer also won the NCAA Southeast Region meet and finished fourth at the NCAA Championships – the top finish ever by a men’s distance runner at the NCAA meet. He became an All-American for the second consecutive season, and he led the Tech men’s team to a 17th-place finish in the team competition, which marked their best finish since coming in fourth in 1987.
Seufer went on to dominate during the indoor track and field season as well, winning gold medals in both the 3,000 and 5,000 at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships. Between cross country and track and field, Seufer won seven ACC gold medals in his career. Also at that same ACC indoor meet, Antonio Lopez Segura and Bashir Mosavel-Lo made the podium, as Lopez Segura took bronze in the 3,000 behind Seufer, and Mosavel-Lo won a silver medal in the 800, all of which helped Tech to a second-place finish in the team race.
On the women’s side, distance runner Sara Freix won the silver medal at the 2019 ACC Cross Country Championship, and she was a key component of the Hokie women’s distance runners who helped Tech to the 2020 ACC indoor track and field championship – its first indoor title since 2008. Freix won her first ACC gold medal when she took first in the 5,000, and Sarah Edwards won the gold medal in the mile for the second consecutive year. Lauren Berman’s bronze medal in that same event added points to the Hokies’ team total.
In 2018-19, Johannigmeier’s first season at the helm wound up being a tremendous success, both in track and field and cross country, as his distance runners helped the Tech men’s track and field teams to two ACC titles. Four of his distance runners – two men and two women – earned All-America honors in track and field in 2019 and one earned the nod in cross country in 2018.
Seufer led the way for the Tech men’s teams, winning his first ACC cross country title and coming in 16th at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors, and he also earned All-America honors in track and field during the outdoor season, finishing 12th in the 5,000-meter race at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America recognition in track and field for the second time in his career.
Johannigmeier has coached several other All-Americans since taking over as the distance coach. Rachel Pocratsky, who dominated in the 800 and 1,500 during her final two seasons, departed Tech as a four-time All-American, a six-time ACC individual gold medalist, and the owner of four individual school records. In 2019, Edwards was a first-team All-American in the mile during the indoor season and earned second-team recognition in the 1,500 during the outdoor season, while Mosavel-Lo earned the same in the 800 during the outdoor season.
Johannigmeier stepped into the head job in 2018 after spending the previous four years on the Tech staff as an assistant coach. Prior to that, he served as a volunteer assistant for the Hokies from 2011-13.
“I’m super excited for the opportunity,” Johannigmeier said at the time of his hiring. “For me, I just really am glad to be working at Virginia Tech with these athletes. This group of athletes are great to work with – they’re outstanding students, outstanding athletes, outstanding people. I really enjoy working with them, and there is no other place I’d rather work at than Virginia Tech. With the resources we have and the school, it’s just a great place to be.”
As an assistant, Johannigmeier has worked extensively with Tech’s runners in preparation for the Hokies’ events, while also overseeing Tech’s recruiting efforts and handling the day-to-day administrative duties within the men's and women's distance programs. He played an instrumental role in guiding the men's cross country program to NCAA Championships appearances in 2015 and 2017 and the women's team to a berth in 2014, which was just the second appearance in program history. The Tech men's team finished 20th nationally at the NCAA meet in 2017 – its best finish since 1987.
Johannigmeier has worked individually with some of the best runners in Tech history. In addition to Seufer, Edwards, Pocratsky and Mosavel-Lo, he worked with the 2018 the men's distance medley relay team that won the national championship at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships – a quartet that included Vincent Ciattei, Patrick Joseph and Neil Gourley. Ciattei won two individual NCAA silver medals in 2018 (one during the indoor season, one in the outdoor season).
In addition, Johannigmeier played a primary role in the development of Tommy Curtin and Hanna Green during his time as an assistant. Curtin was a six-time All-American and a six-time ACC champion, while Green also won six ACC titles and earned All-America honors on six occasions, and she won individual NCAA silver medals three times. Both are currently running professionally, along with Drew Piazza, a two-time All-American who won the silver medal in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2017.
While a volunteer assistant at Tech, Johannigmeier was a part of three ACC Championships, two in track and one in cross country. He also helped the Hokie men to a fifth-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Prior to his time with the Hokies, Johannigmeier was an undergraduate assistant for the University of Illinois track and field program. During his year there, the outdoor track and field team finished 11th at the NCAA Championships and the cross country team finished fifth at the Midwest Regional.
Before serving as an undergraduate assistant at the University of Illinois, Johannigmeier participated in both cross country and track and field for the Fighting Illini.
Johannigmeier holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. In addition to coaching, Johannigmeier has worked as a civil engineer.