In July, Kent State athletics welcomed Laura Rybka to the family, naming her an assistant coach of the track and field program. She coaches distance athletes and the men’s and women’s cross country teams. 

Through her position as the cross country coach, Rybka became the first female coach to lead a men’s athletic team at Kent State. 

Not only is Rybka the first woman to coach a men’s team for Kent, but she is also among a small number of women coaching men’s collegiate athletic teams across the country. According to the 2022-2023 NCAA Athletics Demographics Database, only 6% of NCAA men’s teams are led by women. 

Before coaching, Rybka began her collegiate cross country career at Malone University. She described the sport as something that always felt like a piece of her, so she was excited to continue competing at the collegiate level. 

Unfortunately, Rybka’s time as an athlete was cut short after suffering from six stress fractures during her first two years.

Rybka was then given an opportunity to help her own team out — By the end of her sophomore year of college, Rybka contributed by helping with recruitment for the women’s cross country team at Malone.

After college, Rybka originally planned on working in education while coaching high school cross country. That decision was made before she discovered coaching a collegiate team could be a career.

“I didn’t realize coaching college could be a legit job,” Rybka said. “I love this sport, and I also love seeing people grow through it, accomplishing things they thought they couldn’t. I wanted to be able to do that for people, so once I realized I could create a coaching career, I decided that I wanted to coach at the collegiate level.”

Rybka graduated from Malone University in 2017 and attended graduate school at Akron University where she also served as a volunteer assistant cross country coach for two seasons before taking on a coaching position at Ursuline College in 2019.

In 2020, Rybka joined the staff at Grove City College as the coordinator of distance running and became the cross country head coach in 2022. During its 2023 season, Grove City won the 2023 Women’s Cross Country Presidents’ Athletic Conference title under Rybka’s direction. 

Rybka comes to Kent State with a large sum of experience under her belt, leading athletes to achievements in the sport, but in just her first season as the cross country coach at Kent State, Rybka herself has made history.

While enthusiastic about being the first woman to coach a men’s sport at Kent State, Rybka says getting to this point didn’t come without some rejection.

“When I was applying to coaching positions, I applied to 40 jobs, and I wrote every single one a handwritten letter with my application,” Rybka said. “I ended up only talking to four positions, and I got offered only two, but I was confident in my abilities and stayed persistent, which I feel was an important part of getting to where I am today.”

Cross country is a unique sport in that most colleges have one coach leading both the men’s and women’s teams. The Kent State cross country program is no different, as Rybka is the coach for both teams. She said that she enjoys coaching the two teams, but it can be one of the most difficult parts, joking that it’d be great if she could duplicate herself.

“I love coaching both the men and women because I feel like I can use different strengths for both teams,” Rybka said. “The training is different, the culture is different, talking with each team is different, and so I do have to do extra planning and balancing to make it work, but I like to give attention to each team separately because they are their own teams even though they tend to get grouped together.”

Nick Huger is a junior on the men’s cross country team. He agrees that there can be pros and cons to sharing a coach between the men’s and women’s teams. 

“On the plus side, it brings both teams together in a way that makes us feel like one big family. I honestly don’t think we’d have that same close-knit vibe if we had separate coaches,” Huger said. “The challenge, of course, is that balancing two teams can be tough, but Coach Rybka does an outstanding job keeping everything on track.”

Apart from training differences, Rybka also feels there are times where she has to work to establish more respect with the men’s team.

“My relationship is a little different with both teams,” Rybka said. “Establishing respect is super important on both sides, but it can be easier to maintain respect on the women’s side. Sometimes I have to be firmer with the men.”

From her time with both teams, Rybka feels that she has learned how to adapt for what each team needs from her as a coach. 

“The culture of each team is different, but it’s also important to establish the values that I want my teams to have while adjusting to being the best coach for that team,” Rybka said. 

Sophomore Isaac Perez grew up running cross country, and has only been on teams where one coach was in charge of both the men’s and women’s teams. Still, he understands why Rybka differentiates the two.

“We are separate teams, and the team dynamics have changed since she got here,” Perez said. “The way coach Rybka coaches us and her expectations between the men’s and women’s teams are different because she wants us to be teams that are best prepared for any situation.”

Moreover, one of Rybka’s most important takeaways has been developing the skills to promote personal growth on and off the course. 

“Throughout coaching, I’ve learned it’s about growing the person, not just getting a performance out of them, and I think some of the best coaching moments come when an athlete overcomes something, has a breakthrough, or sees results after lots of hard work,” Rybka said. “Those joyful moments where you get to be on the journey with the athlete are the best parts, and if you don’t love the process of helping people grow, coaching is not going to be a very rewarding career.”

Rybka’s message has definitely impacted Huger’s perspective on the sport. He said he has learned a lot from the experience of having a woman coach. Things like discipline, commitment and mental toughness have been lessons learned from the coach.

When it comes to who is coaching collegiate athletics, Rybka believes there are plenty of other women across the nation qualified for head coaching positions. She wants to use her own experience to help other women accomplish this status in the future. 

“I think that there are a lot of female coaches out there that could take on a head coaching position or lead a team, but they’re somewhat afraid to do it or get discouraged by rejection,” Rybka said. “One of my goals as a coach is to eventually be in a position where I can encourage and mentor female coaches in their career. Regardless of your gender, there’s a lot to offer, and I don’t think that should ever be like a limitation to what you’re capable of doing.”

Before Rybka, Perez had not been coached by a woman in the sport, but he believes that a good coach goes beyond a person’s gender. He says it is more about character and relatability – things that Rybka exemplifies on a daily basis.

The cross country team, and its historical coach, will travel to Norton, Ohio Nov. 15, to take part in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional event.

Rybka is preparing for her first track season with Kent State in the spring.

“I hope to create a distance culture that helps to foster and grow a love of the sport, but also helps people to see what they’re capable of,” Rybka said. “I want it to be one of the best distance programs in the area, and be able to help each athlete I coach grow and set them up to succeed not only in running, but in life.”

Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].