Falcons on the rise: An inside look at Friends University track and field with head coach Henry Brun

As a strong competitor in the NAIA, qualifying a slew of athletes to the national championship, Friends University track and field is on the upswing. Led by head coach Henry Brun, the team has developed a formula for success. In only his second full year as director of the program, Coach Brun led his men’s team to second at the 2024 KCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. This combined with an indoor championship win on the men's side has proven the team is ready to make the leap towards becoming an elite team in the NAIA.

“Our men’s team in particular has found their identity of being pretty ruthless competitors when it comes to the conference level. We're really establishing that identity and I think we're going to continue to build on it. We won the indoor conference championships, which was great,” says Coach Brun, “[At the outdoor conference championships] we had a couple of things not go our way. We just weren’t as sharp as we were at the indoor conference championships going into the outdoor conference championships.”

The women’s program at Friends University has also shown plenty of promise, finishing third at the indoor championships and recently fourth at the outdoor conference championships.

“On the women’s side, it’s still growing. We had a huge group of heavy hitters the last couple of years that all graduated out. So we’ve got a really young group there,” says Brun. “We have a class of about 20 women coming in this fall. And so the women’s team will probably have about 50 athletes on it coming August, which is incredible…We’re growing, we’re moving in the right direction.”

The team shows heaps of potential for the future, with many of its best athletes being underclassmen.

“We only have eight seniors on a team that has 87 athletes. So yeah, it’s a young team,” says Brun. “A lot of freshmen, a lot of sophomores, a decent amount of juniors, but very few seniors.”

As the years go on, Coach Brun looks to cultivate a winning team culture with athletes who all share the same goals for the team and for themselves. With an emphasis on having well rounded athletes who are good athletes, good students, and good people, Coach Brun looks to set his athletes up for athletic success and success in life: “Our program is built on the foundation of three things that I talk about with every recruit through the recruiting process and that we reinforce each and every day one way or another -- and those are honesty, integrity, and accountability. Those are the three things that we want within our program day to day with everyone on our team. That is also a two-way street. I'm holding them accountable and they're holding me and my staff accountable to make sure that they reach the goals that they want to on the track and in the classroom.”

The team is tightly knit, often engaging in team bonding exercises to ensure cohesive unity. The team’s commitment to excellence also extends beyond themselves with athletes helping out in community cleanups and volunteering as officials for the local middle school track and field meets.

“We continue to evolve and grow the culture in our team,” says Brun. “A lot of the student-athletes bring these ideas to the table saying, ‘Hey coach I’d love to incorporate this,’ or ‘Hey coach I feel like we need this,’ and I’m all for it. This is their opportunity. This is their community and I’m here to give them all the resources imaginable for them to feel safe here, for them to feel like they can go to war with their teammates to win championships, but then also build quality relationships that last a lifetime.”

A part of the team’s culture also includes involvement with the Christian faith and developing it both as an individual and as a team. “With us being a smaller Christian university, something that is encouraged is figuring out a way to explore, cultivate your faith,” says Brun. “Every day, our team circles up and we do a prayer circle…we go around the circle and we ask for praise reports and prayer requests…you really start learning about each other, what’s going on in their lives and their families at home.”

The Friends Falcons recently capped off their season at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with some very strong performances, highlighted by junior Pablo Sanz-Rillo earning his third All-American honor in the 5000m race walk. The rest of the team performed admirably with six more male and female athletes finishing in the top 20 in their respective events.

Get recruited to Friends University

• Friends University is located in Wichita, Kansas and competes in the NAIA’s KCAC (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference).
• Learn more about Friends University’s academics, tuition, athletic facilities (including a 400m outdoor and 200m indoor track) and more here.
• To get in touch with Friends University, create your free athlete profile or sign into your Streamline Athletes account here and contact Friends once your profile is complete. To contact more schools, upgrade to Streamline Athletes Plus.
• If you meet Friends University’s recruiting standards (see below), all you need is a complete Streamline Athletes profile and you’ll hear from Coach Brun right away.

Friends University Falcons Track & Field and Cross-Country Recruiting Standards

The following standards for Coach Brun’s recruiting are subject to change, but serve as a good indicator of whether or not you’ll be on Friends University’s radar once your Streamline Athletes profile is complete.