Texas Border Business
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Monday the hiring of Wesley Penberthy, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Georgia Southern, as a new assistant coach with the track & field and cross country programs.
Penberthy will work primarily with the distance runners.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Coach Pen to the Valley,” UTRGV head coach Shareese Hicks said. “He has a wealth of knowledge in the distance events and was very successful in the Sun Belt Conference. I’m looking forward to watching him continue that success for our program.”
In 2020-21 under Penberthy’s leadership, the Georgia Southern cross country team won two meets. During the outdoor track season, Penberthy guided Abbey Arnett to 1,500 and 5,000-meter times that rank among the top 10 in program history, while helping Hannah Wise notch the third-fastest 5,000-meter time in program history. Wise also recorded the second-fastest 3,000-meter time in program history during the indoor season.
During the 2019-20 indoor season, Penberthy’s distance squad consistently broke the 3,000 and 5,000-meter run program records.
During his first season with Georgia Southern in 2018-19, Penberthy coached three student-athletes to All-Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field First Team honors, including Merabu Nagwandala, who took gold in the 5,000-meter run. The outdoor team achieved the highest finish (eighth) and highest point total (47) since joining the Sun Belt. The distance group broke indoor program records in the mile and 3000-meter runs and outdoor program records in the 1,500, 5,000, and 10,000-meter runs
“I’m excited for the opportunity to be in the Valley,” Penberthy said. “I really appreciate Coach Carter, Georgia Southern and the team for the past three wonderful years in Statesboro. I’m really excited about the vision that Coach Hicks has for the UTRGV program and I can’t wait to get started working with the team!”
Penberthy spent the 2017-18 season at Oklahoma, helping the program claim 12 combined indoor and outdoor All-American performances and nine individual conference titles.
In 2016-17, Penberthy served as a volunteer assistant at Florida Southern College, working with the distance units.
Penberthy was the head cross country coach and a distance coach on the track & field team at his alma mater, Evangelical Christian School, from 2013-16. He coached seven individual state champions in the 400, 800, 1,600 (twice), and 3,200-meter (twice) and 5K races. He led the girls cross country team to the state meet for the first time ever, finishing third, and the track & field team was the state runner up in 2014.
Originally from Fort Myers, Florida, Penberthy competed for Gillette College while earning a degree in sport management.
 Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Monday the hiring of Wesley Penberthy){kind=link}