Patrick Fitzgerald enters his second season as the University of Northwestern Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track and Field Head Coach in 2025. He is the eighth head coach of the Cross Country teams in school history and the 10th head coach of the Track and Field teams.
In his first Cross Country season, Coach Fitzgerald led the Men's team to a 3rd place finish in the UMAC Championships and 10th in the NCCAA Championships. On the Women's side, he led the team to a 4th-place finish with 6 of 8 runners PR'ing in the race, along with an 8th-place finish at the NCCAA Championships.
On the track, the Lady Eagles finished 2nd in the indoor UMAC Championship Meet with 6 new Northwestern records being broken along the way. They finished 4th in the outdoor UMAC final meet. He also coached an NCCAA National Champion in the 400-meter hurdles.
Coach Fitzgerald comes to Northwestern having racked up nearly a decade's worth of experience at St. Cloud Cathedral High School in central Minnesota. During his time with the Crusaders, Fitzgerald served as the middle and long distance track coach and spent multiple seasons as the Head Coach of the Boys Cross Country team. While coaching track and cross country in St. Cloud, Fitzgerald was also working as a Physical Education teacher at St. Cloud Math and Science Academy and serving as a caregiver in the area.
