Kayla Ferron joined the Rider Cross Country and Track & Field staff prior to Fall 2025. She previously spent four years as an assistant coach for the Cal cross country and track & field teams under head coach Bobby Lockhart. Her tenure stretched from the 2021 cross country season to the 2025 track & field season.
The 2025 track & field season saw Ferron and Lockhart coach Garrett MacQuiddy to program records in the 1500m and indoor mile, Honorable Mention All-America status and an outdoor ACC silver medal. He also posted program top-10 marks in the indoor 800m and distance medley relay, joined by Iyan Godwin, Justin Pretre and Isaiah Shaw (the first two each setting two additional program top 10s). On the women’s side, Amelia Wardle-Stacey (10,000m), Sophie Tau (indoor 5000m) and Addie Johnson (indoor 3000m) each recorded program top 10s of their own.
In the 2024 cross country season, Ferron and Lockhart saw senior Carrick Denker earn All-Region honors after being Cal’s top finisher in every race that season. Denker and MacQuiddy placed first and second, respectively, at the USF Invitational, marking the first win by a Cal man since 2018 and the first 1-2 finish since 2016. Both Cal's men's and women's teams recorded improvements in the NCAA West Regionals final standings, with the men finishing 11th and the women 13th.
In the 2024 track & field season, freshman Justin Pretre was Cal’s breakout star, scoring in the 1500m to help the Bears’ men to a third-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships before winning the U20 Canadian Championship and qualifying for the World U20 Championships in the same event. Two additional runners – Georgia McCorkle (3000m steeplechase) and Caden Carney (outdoor 3000m) – posted program top-10 times during the year, while Garrett MacQuiddy ran two more sub-four-minute miles in the indoor season.
The 2023 Cal cross country men’s team posted their best finish since 2011 at the Pac-12 Championships, taking fifth place overall as a team. Garrett MacQuiddy and Carrick Denker paced the men's squad in the race, notching personal best times to take 13th and 14th place, respectively, and earn All-Pac-12 Second Team recognition; MacQuiddy's 13th was also the best finish by a Bear since 2017. On the women's side, the team saw a two-place improvement from their last outing at the Pac-12 Championships, taking eighth place overall - the team's best finish since 2020. Both the men's and women's squads wrapped up the postseason at the NCAA West Regionals with nine-place improvements from last year's competition, respectively taking 12th and 14th place overall.
In the 2023 track & field season, Ferron helped Lockhart coach several athletes to great success. Garrett MacQuiddy posted the first sub-four-minute mile by a Golden Bear since 2017 for the third-best time in program history; he later followed that up with an appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning USTFCCCA Honorable Mention in the 1500m. Claire Yerby also posted another standout year, setting no fewer than three program top-10 marks and a new Big Meet 1500m record. Two additional freshmen stood out for the Bears; Georgia McCorkle posted the ninth-fastest steeplechase in program history, while Caden Carney earned fifth-place finish in the 1500m at the USATF U20 Championships.
Cal cross country competed in five meets in 2022, with the men's team securing a second-place finish at the USF Invite and a ninth-place finish at Pac-12s, while the women notched 10th place overall at the conference championships. Lockhart led the young roster in a campaign that saw every student-athlete on the women's squad break a personal record and eight men's team members notch personal bests. On the men's side, Garrett MacQuiddy ran the quickest 8,000-meter loop in 24:22.6 at the UCR Invite, good for 31st place, while Claire Yerby's 20:58 (33rd place) at the Bronco Invite was the women's fastest time in the 6,000-meter race.Â
In the 2022Â track & field season, Ferron helped coach the distance athletes on their way to accumulating three outdoor program Top 10 marks, courtesy of sophomore Garrett MacQuiddy and senior Erin Archibeck, as well as four indoor Top 10 marks (MacQuiddy, Archibeck and senior Ben Micallef, the latter of which set a new Maltese 800m record).Â
In the 2021 cross country season, Ferron joined Lockhart in his third year as head coach of the distance squad. The Cal men's team won the Sac State Invite and took second-place overall at the USF Invitational in 2021. Erin Archibeck on the women's side and Garrett MacQuiddy and Carrick Denker on the men's side all took top-40 finishes at the Pac-12 Championships. In the classroom, the cross country team performed exceptionally with 7 men and 11 women being placed on the Pac-12 Fall Academic Honor Roll.
Ferron spent the previous two seasons as the volunteer assistant for cross country and distance at Grand Canyon University under head coach Sara Slattery. She helped the GCU men to a third-place finish at the 2020-21 WAC Championships, the program's best finish at the meet, while the women came in fourth.
During her time at GCU, Ferron helped train the WAC Freshman of the Year, Joseph Skoog, who was the Lopes' top finisher at the conference meet with a sixth-place finish and earned All-WAC first team honors.
A native of Torrance, California, Ferron attended Redondo Union High School and ran track/cross country before competing collegiately at the University of Arizona. Ferron made two NCAA Cross Country West Regional appearances with the Wildcats and holds the No. 5 spot in the school record book in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:29. She also earned several accolades in the classroom at UA, including two Academic All-Pac-12 honors.
Ferron graduated from the University of Arizona in May 2018 with a degree in Elementary Education.
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