Coach Berens is entering his 4
th season as the head coach of cross country and assistant coach of track and field working specifically with the distance runners.
The 2025-2026 season saw great progress and success for the NWU distance runners. In cross country, the men’s XC team finished 8
th and women 14
th at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship. Conner Ross earned his 1
st career Midwest All-Region honor on the cross country course.
On the track, coach Berens guided the distance squad to five All-Conference performances including the conference title in the 4x8 outdoors. The distance group accounted for 9 marks that landed on the NWU all-time top 10 charts. Noah Thomas broke both the 5,000 (indoors) and 10,000 freshman records while McKenna Smith broke the 800 (outdoors) freshman record.
At the national and regional level, Reed Emsick qualified for the NCAA National Championship both indoors and outdoors in the 800. At both the indoor and outdoor national meet, Emsick became a second team NCAA All-American both times. Both marks in the 800 also earned him All-Region honors.
In his time at Nebraska Wesleyan, coach Berens has coached:
- 6 all-conference performers, including a conference champion
- 3 Midwest All-Region honorees
- 1 school record
- 10 all-time top 10 performances
- 2 NCAA National Championship qualifying performances
- 2 NCAA Second Team All-Americans
Before Nebraska Wesleyan he served as the Director of Operations for Track & Field and Cross Country at the University of Utah. He also worked a brief stint at Summit Academy High School as the Head Track Coach and Assistant Cross Country Coach.
Coach Berens is an alum of Nebraska Wesleyan University and holds a bachelor's degree in sports management. As an athlete, Berens qualified for the National Cross Country Championships in 2017 and was repeatedly selected for the All-IIAC teams in both track and field and cross country.
Following graduation, Berens worked as a graduate assistant for the cross country and track and field programs at Wichita State University while pursuing his master's degree there.
Chad and his wife Hanna ('19) reside in Lincoln.
