Grant Cartwright, director of track and field and cross country, at the Track & Tennis Center January 20, 2024. Cartwright was a BU assistant coach for five years before becoming program director last summer.

Athletics

“A Dream Come True”: Grant Cartwright’s First Year as Director of Track & Field and Cross Country

Former four-time All-American thrower draws plaudits from his athletes

Grant Cartwright was skinny for his age. When he looked into taking up track and field—continuing a family tradition—he was immediately thrown into the 400-meter and the high jump. Then, a camp director suggested Cartwright try throwing.

His dad’s reaction was trying not to laugh.

“He didn’t want to discourage me,” Cartwright says. “It’s probably good that he didn’t, because obviously, the rest is history.”

Cartwright went on to be a four-time All-American thrower at the University of Michigan before becoming an assistant coach at Boston University. Then last summer, he was named BU’s director of track and field and cross country. He says his new post tops all of his athletic accomplishments.

“It was a dream come true,” Cartwright says. “When I got the position here, that was probably the most—I’m trying to even find the word to describe it. I was just blown away.”

This weekend, his teams will compete in the 2025 Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championship at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis, Md. Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams have high expectations following strong indoor seasons.

Graduate student thrower Juliana Nakouzi (CAS’24, SHA’25) has had Cartwright as her throws coach since she arrived at BU. She says his promotion to director is simply a “continuation of the greatness” he has given to the throws group. “I was a big proponent of him getting the role because I knew he was the best person for the job,” she says. “I’ve seen how he’s impacted us directly, and I was really excited for him to be able to bring that to the whole team.”

Cartwright says there were no massive overhauls needed when he took over as director, but he wanted to implement three things. First, he wanted to establish a foundation, where athletes have ownership over their own goals. “When teams are getting excited about those goals together,” he notes, “it really makes it a lot easier for them to overcome those boundaries.” Next, he set expectations for the athletes both on the track and in the classroom, and last, he wanted to make practice a place where his athletes could have fun and enjoy themselves.

“We wanted the whole team to feel like practice was an escape from everything else,” Cartwright says. “Practice is where you go to let go of all your problems, just work hard and focus on you as an athlete.”

His journey to program director began in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. He played football and baseball, but began to tire of the latter. The men in his family had participated in track and field at some point, and he’d seen photos of his father pole vaulting.

While visiting family in New England, his dad signed him up for a track and field camp in Connecticut. On the last day, the director suggested throws. The young Cartwright was immediately enamored. He likens the euphoria of a good throw to what he felt following a good football tackle. 

Still, when it came to applying to college, he planned to pursue football, despite achieving a 15-foot personal record in the Ohio State Championship following high school sophomore year and placing 10 spots higher than expected. His high school track coaches kept asking, “When are you going to give up this football thing? It’s time to focus more on track.” 

“That was one of the first moments I was like, this is really fun to do when it’s going well,” Cartwright says. 

He went on to place first in the state championship meet his junior year, setting him on course to compete at the University of Michigan, where he amassed numerous accolades, including NCAA weight throw runner-up, Big Ten Indoor Champion in the weight throw, Big Ten Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, and Big 10 Sportsmanship Award winner.

But his biggest achievement at Michigan, he says, was being named team captain three years in a row, an accomplishment he credits to his work ethic. “That was probably the greatest privilege that I was ever given,” Cartwright says. 

Jerry Clayton, his coach at Michigan, had a profound impact on his life. When Cartwright felt he had done something wrong or failed during competition, Clayton always shared the blame.

“That just instilled a level of confidence in me that this guy is not giving up on me, and he hasn’t given up on me yet,” he says. “He was the one that really set the roadway and foundation for me getting into this career.”

After graduating from Michigan, Cartwright stayed on for a year as assistant coach before joining the BU staff. Five years later, as program director, he says he’s realized that he’s the best coach when he’s simply himself. “I just remind myself that you’re not trying to mimic a coach, you’re not trying to mimic anybody. You just go out there and be yourself. That’s when I feel like I’m at my best.”

While he admits he may be biased, Cartwright says this year’s team is one of the best he has ever been part of. His athletes have rewritten the school record book across the board. 

On the men’s side, school records have been broken in the distance medley relay, Karsen Vesty (ENG’27), Shamiso Sikaneta (CAS’27), Thomas Cowan (CAS’28), and Parker Schneider (COM’26), the one-mile, Foster Malleck (Questrom’24, MET’25), and the 3000-meter, Malleck. 

For the women’s team, school records were broken in the mile, Vera Sjöberg (CAS’26), 3000-meter, Sjöberg, weight throw, Ellie Roan (CAS’27), and pole vault, Alli Lofquist (Sargent’25).

Malleck is now the 24th fastest collegian all time in the mile and Sjöberg ranks 22nd all time. 

With the Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championships this weekend, the men’s team is aiming for second place, while the women have their sights set on the top of the field.

“We have so much momentum going into the meet, and we just need to execute what we’ve been executing the whole season,” thrower Nakouzi says. “Coach Grant does a really, really good job of getting people on board for [his vision], and I think the whole team is on board going into leagues.”

In addition to the responsibilities of directing the program, Cartwright recently completed work on his MBA at the Questrom School of Business. So with only coaching to focus on now, he says his goal is simple. 

“I just want every single student-athlete that comes to BU to feel like they were given the opportunity to grow towards their potential, towards the person that they want to be for the rest of their life,” he says. “If we do that every day, and that’s the legacy we end up leaving, we can’t go wrong.”

The Patriot League Women’s and Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championships are Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2, at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis, Md. Live stats and results will be available here all day, and BU fans can find more information on goterriers.com and follow along on Twitter at @TerrierTFXC and @BUGameDay.