For SNU alum Andrew Leahey, running has always been a part of life. However, it didn’t always involve track and cross-country, or even exercise-specific activities.
“I have sweet memories of going to the farm every day when I was young and taking care of the giant bird flocks while at the same time being chased by them,” Andrew laughs, recalling his family’s emu farm in Ardmore, Oklahoma. “Possibly the true start of my running career!”
After selling the emus, his parents, Thomas and Teresa, built their family home on the same property. There, Andrew grew up alongside his siblings Matthew and Emily. While his childhood set the stage for a life marked by perseverance, discipline, and a love for movement, his adolescence would set him chasing a dream: running competitively.
Andrew’s talent on the track became apparent at Plainview High School, where he earned several State Championships in track and cross-country. His successful high school running career led him to Southern Nazarene University (SNU), where he had the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level while pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Pre-Physical Therapy, which he earned in 2016.
His freshman year was a banner year, with Andrew earning All-American honors in the 1000m open. And he continued collecting accolades in his collegiate career, including Great American Conference (GAC) Champion in track and All-GAC Team Honors in cross-country. Andrew made history as SNU transitioned into NCAA Division II, becoming the first SNU athlete to compete in an NCAA-sanctioned event at the cross-country regional championships. It was here that his collegiate cross-country concluded, ending on a high note.
After graduation, Andrew wasn’t ready to give up running competitively. He went on to compete professionally, qualifying for the 2019 U.S. Half Marathon Championships. In 2022, he clocked an impressive 2:22 (two hours, 22 minutes) marathon time. This was just three minutes shy of the Olympic Trials standard at the time. In 2023, he claimed victory with a first-place finish at the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon.
While Andrew originally planned to attend school for Physical Therapy after graduating with his B.S. in Pre-Physical Therapy, things didn’t fall into place as he had expected.
“I had the hours for physical therapy school,” Andrew explains, “but I was competing against individuals who had worked as techs and had ten times the experience. That meant being stuck on waitlist after waitlist.”
It was during this time of waiting that a different opportunity arose, causing Andrew to change direction.
Andrew’s coaching career began in 2020 as the head cross-country and track coach at Mount St. Mary Catholic High School. “I started teaching young athletes key things about running and the sport that I wish someone would have taught me at that age,” he says.
In 2022, he took his coaching to the collegiate level, transitioning to a volunteer assistant coaching role at the University of Oklahoma, working with the head distance coach. By 2024, he had fully taken his coaching career to the next level, joining Oklahoma City University as an assistant coach, a position he still holds today.
Finding a passion for coaching, Andrew wanted to pursue a degree to support his new career journey. He decided to pursue a Master’s in Exercise Science at SNU in Fall 2023, seeing it as the perfect way to deepen his expertise in a field he already knew well.
“I wanted more job opportunities and to be competitive on a resume,” he explains. “SNU was ideal because the program allowed me to work full-time. With the one-class-a-week format, I could manage my time, get studies and research done after hours, and still keep my career moving forward.”
While the content and structure of the program were important, Andrew says it’s the people leading the program who made it such a positive experience.
“The faculty and staff were one of the God-sends of this program,” he says. “Everyone understood that we were full-time working adults. With good communication, they were always willing to work with me. At no point was I ever unable to turn in an assignment on time, and even if I thought I might be late, my professors were understanding.”
For Andrew, the program wasn’t just about earning a master’s degree. It was about honing skills he could apply immediately to his coaching career.
“I have a lot of new ideas for incorporating my training plans with the materials I learned in this program,” he says. “Fine-tuning my ability to research and continue learning on my own time was a huge skill I took away.”
Andrew also discovered the power and importance of learning alongside others, many with different backgrounds and life experiences. “In my graduating class, we had people like me working full-time and full-time working mothers grinding just as hard. I loved every classmate because they motivated me, and their expertise gave me new knowledge as well.”
Andrew is quick to point out that, while the program is designed with flexibility for working adults, it is still a graduate-level program with the academic rigor remaining intact.
“I think it’s easy to look at this program from the outside and think it will be easy. This is a master’s-level workload and should be taken seriously,” he says. “I was grinding for about two years, and yes, it was hard, but at no point did I feel the work was impossible. Time management and discipline were key.”
Now a second-time SNU graduate and holder of a master’s degree, Andrew continues to coach and compete while exploring new ways to integrate advanced exercise science into athlete development. Whether it’s designing innovative training programs or mentoring the next generation of runners, he credits his SNU education for giving him a stronger foundation.
“I couldn’t have been happier with my decision,” he says. “SNU gave me the flexibility I needed, the support I hoped for, and the knowledge I can carry into everything I do moving forward.”
From chasing emus as a kid to chasing excellence on the track and in the classroom, Andrew Leahey’s story is proof that discipline, passion, and the right educational environment can take you farther than you ever imagined.