Shannon Flynn became the Carroll College Fighting Saints Cross Country and Track and Field Distance Coach in the summer of 2019. The 2024-2025 season will mark her 18th year of coaching overall and sixth season at Carroll.
2025-26: Even in the newly-expanded Frontier Conference, Flynn's Fighting Saints were continually at the head of the pack. The Carroll Men saw their streak of four-straight Frontier titles come to a close with a runner-up finish, while the Carroll Women earned their fourth Frontier Championship in the last five seasons. Four Women earned All-Conference honors (Ryah O'Dell, Annie Emmerich, Madalen Shipman, Jayna Boonstra), as did the Men (Oliver Morris, Brycen Gardner, Zack Gacnik, Jack Jensen). Both teams qualified for the NAIA Championship, with the Women earning an auto-bid and the Men entering as an at large team. The Men earned their fourth-highest placement in school history, finishing 16th, while the Women finished 20th- giving the Saints their best combined team finish since 2015. Flynn was once again honored with a Coach of the Year award, being named the 2025 Frontier Women's Coach of the Year.
2024-2025: Flynn's Saints had another strong season in 2024. The Carroll Men captured their fourth-consecutive Frontier Conference Championship, while the Women placed second at the conference meet. The Men, led by Frontier Conference individual Champion Zack Gacnik finished with a No. 25 rating in the NAIA Coaches' Poll, with the Women receiving votes. Gacnik took All-American honors at the NAIA National Championship, and the Men finished 12th place in the team event, the program's best finish since 2015. Flynn was named Frontier Conference Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
2023-2024: For the third consecutive season, Flynn was named both Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach of the year following another sweep of the Frontier Conference Championships in Great Falls, Mont. The Men finished No. 18, and the Women No. 17 in the final NAIA Cross Country Coaches' Polls. The men placed 20th at the NAIA National Championship - the highest finish since 2015, and the Women placed 25th.
2022-2023: Continuing a string of success, both the Carroll Men's and Women's Cross Country teams won the Frontier Conference Championship, with Flynn earning Coach of the Year honors on both sides, with eight runners named All-Conference. The Women finished the season ranked No. 19 in the NAIA National Coaches' Poll, and the Men finished at No. 23. At the National Championship, the Women placed 22nd and the Men 25th .
2021-2022: In her third season, both the men's and women's cross country teams won the Frontier Conference Championship. Flynn was named Frontier Conference Coach of the Year for each team. The men placed 26th at the NAIA National Meet while the women's team placed 16th. Reghan Worley was an All-American placing 33rd overall at cross country nationals and then placing 11th in the 5000m at nationals during the outdoor season.
2020-2021: In her second season with the Saints, the men's cross country team placed 24th at the NAIA National Meet while the women's team won the Frontier Conference title and placed 19th at the NAIA National Meet. Reghan Worley was an All-American placing 11th overall at nationals, and Flynn was named the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year for the women's team. During indoor track, Worley was again an All-American, and the women's distance medley relay also achieved All-American status. For the outdoor season, the women's 4x800m relay placed 6th at NAIA Nationals.
2019-2020: In her debut season as the Saints' head cross country coach, Flynn was named the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year for her women's team. She coached All-American freshman Reghan Worley while the women's team placed 19th at the NAIA National Meet. During indoor track, Samantha Mundel became an All-American as did the women's distance medley relay.
Background: A native of Townsend, Flynn graduated from Carroll in 2011 with a degree in biology for secondary education with a chemistry minor. She began her athletic career at Carroll on the hardwood, playing basketball and volleyball for three years. Her fourth year, she focused solely on basketball before moving over to cross country and track in her fifth year. The choice to run paid dividends. Flynn qualified for nationals in cross country and indoor and outdoor track, becoming an All-American in the 800-meter run during the indoor season.Â
In 2023, Flynn was inducted into the Carroll Athletics Hall of Fame for her outstanding achievements across multiple sports as a student-athlete.
Prior to Carroll, Flynn assisted distance runners at the University of Montana and worked as a research assistant in the Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism lab at UM. Before that, she coached and taught middle school in Missoula and coached and taught high school athletes in Bozeman. The build-up to becoming a college coach has been a rewarding journey for Flynn, working with athletes at various points in their athletic careers. Flynn holds a graduate degree in exercise science at the University of Montana.
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