Ashley Bastron - Head Coach (2nd season) - Women's Track and Field Coaches

Ashley Bastron

Title:
Head Coach (2nd season)
Email:
ashley.botham@pfw.edu
Phone:
(616) 308-3831

The 2019-20 campaign is the third for Ashley Bastron as the head track and field and cross country coach at Purdue Fort Wayne.

Bastron has led the return of men's track and field to Purdue Fort Wayne which will compete in 2019-20. Under Bastron’s tenure the women’s track and field team have broken seven indoor and eight outdoor track and field records, most of which have been broken multiple times. The top 10 lists in those events and others have been rewritten as well.

The cross country records on the women’s side have been broken by stand out athlete, Emma Rafuse and several male athletes have lowered the marks in the 8K and 10K top 10 lists. Bastron coached Emma Rafuse to a Summit League Cross Country championship in 2018. Rafuse set a new league championship record in the process. She advanced to Nationals where she took 58th, which is the highest finish ever by a Mastodon at the National Championship meet. On the track and field side, Rafuse qualified in the 10K and 5K at the NCAA East Preliminary. Rafuse earned four Academic All-Summit League honors for her work in the classroom and in competition.

Bastron’s athletes excel in the class room as well. Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams have earned recognition for being the top academic team in the department since Bastron’s arrival in January 2018. The cross country and track and field teams have also earned the USTFCCAA All-Academic award multiple times.

Bastron joined the Mastodons in December 2017 after serving as IUPUI's top assistant since July 2015. She was the primary coach for the middle distance events with school record performances in the 400, 800, 1500, 4x400 and Distance Medley Relay.

Prior to IUPUI, Bastron was a volunteer assistant coach at Florida State University. She directed the Seminoles' B team and helped FSU to a 12th-place national finish in cross country in 2014. FSU earned a runner-up finish at both the ACC Cross Country Championships and South Region before just missing a top-10 national finish. FSU capped the season with a sixth-place finish nationally on the outdoor track.

Bastron served as a graduate assistant at Belmont University during the 2013-14 season, after completing her running career for the Bruins in 2013. She was a Second Team Ohio Valley Conference performer in both cross country and track in 2012-13 in her lone competitive season at Belmont. She began her career at Grand Valley State, earning All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) honors and was a two-time NCAA qualifier.

Bastron owns USATF Level I certification and Level II certification for endurance. She’s also graduated from the WeCOACH Coaches Academy and WeCoach Academy 2.0. Bastron is a mentor for the USTFCCCA Female Coaches Mentorship Program. She is also serving a two year term on the WeCOACH Coaches Council.

She graduated from GVSU in 2012 with a degree in Exercise Science before completing her postgraduate work in Sports Administration from Belmont in 2014.

Ashley Bastron resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana with her husband Phil Bastron and their sweet vizsla pup, named Desi. They can be found running the trails all over Fort Wayne or at their favorite local restaurants.