Vanguard University

Vanguard Career:

Bryan Wilkins has the longest tenure of any coach on staff, having started in 1988. Inducted into VU's Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2007, Wilkins is an unbelievably committed coach for both the men's and women's cross-country teams as well as the track and field teams. Wilkins became the second coach recognized in this manner and is one of only three VU coaches in the VU Athletic Hall of Fame. Wilkins' athletes have succeeded on and off the course and the track. He has coached 118 NAIA All-Americans and 151 NAIA Scholar-Athletes during his career at Vanguard. He also received the NAIA's prestigious Coach of Character Award in 2010 and was named the West Region Women's Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches association in 2023. Ten different squads coached by Wilkins have been selected for the NAIA Team of Character award, an honor given to teams that demonstrate a high level of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.

Cross-Country:

Under his guidance, three men's teams (1994, 1995, and 2007) and three women's teams (2018, 2019, and 2021) have qualified and competed nationally, finishing as high as twenty-second. Seven of his women's teams have been ranked in the NAIA top 25, and the Lions made National Championship team appearances in 2004, 2005, 2006,  2018, 2019, and 2021. In 2018, the Vanguard Women captured the GSAC Championship – first for both the program and Wilkins, and in 2019 the Vanguard Women repeated as GSAC Champions. Wilkins was named GSAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019.

Track & Field:

Wilkins was named the GSAC Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2009 and the Women's Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2024.  His teams are consistently among the best in the competitive Golden State Athletic Conference, highlighted by the first GSAC team title in program history (male or female) in 2022, as the women brought home the gold.  He was named the GSAC Women's Coach of the Year for that and then guided the squad to a repeat championships in 2023 and 2024, with another Coach of the Year award bestowed upon him in the final GSAC Championships for the program.  Wilkins has had four NAIA Individual National Champions with Kevin Carlson winning the Outdoor High Jump in 1996, Winston Lawson earning the Indoor Heptathlon title in 2018, Amanda Chan capturing the Indoor High Jump in 2019, and Keili Dorn winning the Indoor 5,000m championship in 2022.

Running Career:

Wilkins had a competitive running career that spanned 30 years (including track, cross country, and road-racing) and has logged over 70,000 miles in his lifetime as a distance runner. Wilkins competed for Grand Island Senior High in Nebraska where he was a State meet qualifier in cross country and a 6th place State meet medalist in the 3200 meters in track & field. WIlkins competed collegiately at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri (while earning his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1983). As a post-collegiate athlete, Wilkins competed for three different club teams in Southern California and recorded personal bests of 4:03 (1500), 14:42 (5k), and 24:44 (8k).

Personal:

In addition to coaching, Wilkins worked as a church business administrator for 37 years including a most recent span of 21 years at Rockharbor Church in Costa Mesa (2000-21). He is now enjoying just one job as a full-time coach at Vanguard. After retiring from competitive running, Wilkins has taken up the sport of mountain biking and enjoys hiking with his brothers. Wilkins is single and lives in Orange.