Cross Country
- Title:
- Head Cross Country Coach
- Phone:
- 325-7042
Season at MSU : 15th
Twitter : @HoustonFranks1
2016 USTFCCCA South Region Coach of the Year
Houston Franks enters his eighth year as head cross country coach after being elevated to the position in 2011. The Tupelo native has been at Mississippi State since 2004 when he returned as an assistant coach for track and field – his current position.
An accomplished distance runner for the Maroon and White from 1994-98, Franks has been a fundamental part of the recent success of the MSU cross country and distance programs.
MSU Cross Country Head Coach
In 2016, MSU recorded its most successful season in school history, finishing fourth at the SEC Championships – the third consecutive year inside the Top 5. From there, MSU claimed its first-ever NCAA regional crown before finishing 15th at the NCAA Championships, a program best.
Franks was also instrumental in Rhianwedd Price-Weimer earning All-American honors again after finishing 32nd at the NCAAs.
The 2016 success came after the team posted a 17th-place finish at the NCAAs and a program-best second-place run at the SECs in 2015 behind the efforts of Marta Freitas, who finished ninth overall to earn All-SEC accolades. After winning her national title, Freitas went on represent Portugal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2017, under Franks’ tutelage, Freitas qualified for the World Championships and was also a 2018 European Championships finalist.
During the 2014 campaign, Franks coached Price-Weimer to All-American accolades after she finished 24th at the NCAA Championships. Price was the first athlete under Franks to receive All-American honors and the second female in school history. The women’s team finished sixth at the NCAA South Regionals that year, with four Bulldogs earning All-Region status.
In 2012, Franks guided the men's cross country team to a Top-5 finish at the NCAA South Regional, tying a program-best finish.
Franks helped the women’s cross country earn fifth-place finishes at both the 2010 SEC Championships and the NCAA South Regional, with the men finishing seventh and 10th, respectively. That season saw Renee Masterson and Haley Greenwell earn All-SEC and All-Region honors, while Adam Lenz earned all-conference accolades on the men’s side.
MSU Track & Field Assistant Coach
In 2018, Franks coached MSU standout Rhianwedd Price-Weimer to a fourth-place finish in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Also in 2018, under Franks’ tutelage, 2016 1500m Olympian Marta Freitas broke the Portuguese national record in the mile (4:22.45).
Coming off the best women's track and field season in program history, Franks coached Price-Weimer to one of the best seasons in school history, where she became Franks’ first NCAA Champion by capturing the 1500m crown at the 2015 NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships.
Freitas would give Franks his second-straight 1500m national champion in 2016, when she crossed the finish in 4:09.53, edging out Stanford’s Elise Cranny, who crossed in 4:09.54.
In addition, Franks coached two other Bulldogs to the 2015 NCAA Championships including Freitas (1500m) and Cornelia Griesche (3000m steeplechase), who set the school record in the steeplechase at the NCAA East Preliminaries to qualify for nationals with a time of 9:58.06. Also, that season, Damian Roszko clocked the second-fastest 10,000m run in school history (29:25.35).
Franks coached Price-Weimer her freshman year in the 800-meter run and 1500-meter run, both of which she holds the schools third-fastest times. Three other distance runners also made their way in to the record book to hold the Top-3 times in the 3000-meter steeplechase, including Griesche (10:00.58), Antonia Hehr (9:59.32) and Lisa Ziegler (10:18.51). Griesche went on to receive honorable mention All-American accolades in the event.
On the men’s side of the 2014 outdoor campaign, Franks coached Damian Roszko, who worked his way into the record books in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:13.53. Patrick Monaghan earned the second-best time in the mile at 4:07.18.
In the 2013 season, Franks coached John Valentine to the third-best 5000m mark in MSU record books (14:24.82).
During the 2011 Indoor Track and Field season, Franks guided sophomore Haley Greenwell to a third-place spot on the MSU all-time list for the 5,000-meter run, but it was during the 2011 Outdoor Track and Field season that Franks really saw Greenwell shine. Greenwell raced her way to the top of the MSU all-time list for the 10,000-meter run, while posting a 3rd place finish at the SEC Championships and a 17th place finish at the NCAA Championships. Franks' coaching paid off at the end of the season, as Greenwell was named an honorable mention All-American.
Pre-MSU
Prior to returning to Starkville, Franks spent five years at Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University), serving as head cross country coach for the Bears and winning three Missouri Valley Conference women's titles. His women's teams finished in the top four at the NCAA Midwest Regionals during his last three years and his men's squads finished in the top half of the conference all five seasons. In track and field, the Bears captured three indoor and outdoor league championships on the women's side.
Franks was a three-time MVC Coach of the Year in women's cross country. During the 2002-03 season, he was also a part of the first SMSU squad since 1993-94 to win the league's coveted Triple Crown championships in cross country and both indoor and outdoor track and field.
Personal
Franks is married to former MSU runner Meggan Hodge. The two have two children, Madison and Patrick.
