William & Mary Athletics

Hanna Peterson joined the William & Mary Cross Country/Track & Field program as the director of operations in August of 2021.
 
Peterson assists with all administrative and recruiting aspects of W&M's nationally recognized program. Along with those duties, she has assisted in coaching both cross country teams.
 
A number of Tribe standouts have benefited from Peterson’s tutelage. Arianna DeBoer finished sixth in the 5,000m at the USATF U20 Championships in 2022. DeBoer also captured a pair of CAA titles in 2023, winning the 3,000m at the indoor championships and the 10,000m outdoors. Sofia Istnick, who was the CAA Rookie of the Year in 2022, became the first runner to earn all-region honors in cross country, placing 19th at the Southeast Region Championships. She was the runner up in the 5,000m at the CAA Outdoor Championships in 2023. Catherine Garrison represented Team USA at the 2023 U20 Pan American Athletics Championships in 2023 and earned the silver in the 3,000m steeplechase. She was the 2023 CAA Rookie of the Year on the track and competed in the 2023 NCAA East Prelims in the 3,000m steeplechase.

Peterson spent two seasons (2018-20) as an assistant track & field and cross-country coach at her alma mater, the University of Arizona. Two of her athletes – Carlos Villareal (indoor mile) and Bailey Roth (3,000m steeplechase) – earned All-America honors in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Villareal was the 2018 NCAA West Region Cross Country Runner-up and won the 1,500m at the 2019 Pan American Games.
 
Peterson spent one season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Air Force cross-country team in 2017-18. The Falcons men's team placed 15th and Mickey Davey earned All-America honors at the 2017 NCAA Men's Cross-Country Championships. Individually, two track athletes were named All-Americans in Michael Rhodes (indoor 800m) and Jaci Smith (outdoor 10,000m) during her lone season at USAF.
 
She started her collegiate coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach with the UCLA Track & Field and Cross-Country program in 2016-17.
 
Before coaching at the collegiate level, Peterson was a member of the cross-country and track teams at the University of Arizona. She was a key team component that claimed the first Pac-12 Cross Country Championship in program history. Peterson also helped Arizona to the West Region Championship and a runner-up finish at the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championships -- the best finish in program history.
 
During her time as a student-athlete at Arizona, Peterson served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to help build a better student-athlete experience. She graduated from Arizona in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in general studies with a media arts emphasis.