Wesley Penberthy joined the Georgia Southern Track and Field program prior to the 2018-19 academic year. He works primarily with the program's distance and cross country runners.
In 2020, the Eagle cross country team won two meets and finished 10th at the Sun Belt Championships. During the outdoor track season, Abbey Arnett posted top-10 Georgia Southern times in the 1500 and 5000, and Hannah Wise notched the third-fastest time at Georgia Southern in the 5000. Wise also recorded the second-fastest time at Georgia Southern in th 3000 in the indoor season.
The 2019 cross country season saw the Eagles place 10th at the Sun Belt Championships with an average time of 19:53 in the 5K. During the 2019-20 indoor season, his distance squad consistently broke the 3000m and 5000m school indoor records and moved into the top-5 on the school's all-time list.
In his first season with the Eagles in 2018-19, Penberthy led the cross country team to a ninth place finish at the Sun Belt Championships, and three student-athletes made the All-Sun Belt outdoor team in Merabu Nagwandala (5000m champion), Ellunde Montgomery (800m runner-up) and Sholanda Snell (800m third place). The outdoor team achieved the highest finish (eighth) and highest point total (47) since joining the SBC. The distance group broke indoor school records in the mile run and 3000m and outdoor school records in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m.
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. The Sooner Cross Country teams placed 13th on the women's side and 14th on the men's at a strong NCAA Midwest Regional. Prior to his move to Norman, Penberthy served as a volunteer assistant at Florida Southern College, working one season with the Mocs men's and women's distance teams.
Penberthy was the head coach of cross country at Evangelical Christian School from 2013-16 and also served as the distance coach for the track team. He coached seven individual state champions in the 400, 800, 1600 (twice), 3200 (twice), and 5k. He led the girls cross country team to the state meet for the first time ever, including a 3rd place finish, and the track team was the state runners up in 2014.
Penberthy grew up in Fort Myers, Florida, and attended high school at Evangelical Christian School. He competed for the Gillette College Pronghorns and obtained his degree in sport management.
