Rebecca Richtman

Rebecca Richtman is in her second season as an assistant coach with the Purdue track & field and cross country program in 2024-25 and works with the Boilermaker distance and cross country runners.   Richtman came to Purdue as an assistant in the spring of 2024 and will now oversee the Boilermakers’ distance and cross country runners.   “I am excited to have Rebecca stay on our staff and take on an elevated role with our distance and cross country student-athletes this season,” Purdue head coach Tony Miller said. “She made a big impact on our team in her short time here last spring, and I know our team will continue to grow under her guidance.”   Previously, Richtman was at Montana Tech, where she helped guide her athletes to five All-America honors and 13 all-conference accolades in 2022-23. As a student-athlete at Montana Tech, Richtman won four NAIA national titles and earned 10 All-America honors. She was recognized as the 2022 USTFCCCA Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and swept the 2022 NAIA Most Valuable Performer award, indoors and outdoors.   “I am very excited to continue working with the Purdue track & field and cross country team,” Richtman said. “Thank you to Coach Miller for this opportunity and his confidence in me to lead our distance runners. I have quickly learned that Purdue is a special place, and our potential on and off the track is limitless. I can’t wait to get to work with everyone this season, and to continue the momentum we had outdoors last year.”   Outdoors with the Boilermakers in 2024, Richtman helped lead the Boilermaker distance runners to historic success. Emma Squires and Caleb Williams each qualified for the NCAA First Round in the 3,000m steeplechase for the first times in their careers. Squires was Purdue’s first distance runner to qualify for NCAAs, indoors or outdoors, since 2018. Five top-10 times in school history were achieved outdoors with Richtman’s guidance, including two in the women’s steeplechase, the first since 2018, and one in the women’s 10,000m, Purdue’s second record-book mark in the event since 2017.   As an assistant track & field and cross country coach at Montana Tech from 2022-24, Richtman used a scientifically-based training program to lead her athletes while optimizing fitness and performance. Her first year yielded 13 all-conference honors, nine nationals qualifiers and five All-Americans. Richtman also served as the cross country program’s director of operations during her time at Montana Tech.   A 2022 graduate of Montana Tech, Richtman earned a bachelors of science degree in interdisciplinary studies. Her NAIA national titles came in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2021, the indoor mile and 3,000m in 2022 and the outdoor 10,000m in 2022. Along with being recognized as the USTFCCCA Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2022, she is a two-time USTFCCCA West Track Athlete of the Year honoree.