Gabe Sanders

Gabe Sanders has completed three years as Stanford's sprints and hurdles coach, having joined the Cardinal staff in October 2015.

In addition to coaching Olivia Baker to six NCAA 800 finals and school records in the outdoor 800 and indoor 400, and a Pac-12 400 title, Sanders coached Cardinal sprinters to unprecedented success.

In 2018, Stanford qualified three of its four relay teams to the NCAA Championships, including both the men's 4x100 and 4x400 for the first time ever. The men's 4x400 became the first from Stanford ever to reach an NCAA final. And the 4x100 team was the first to advance to NCAA's since 2004.

At the Pac-12 Championships, Isaiah Brandt-Sims' third in the 200 was Stanford's highest conference finish in that event since 1997, and he also broke the Big Meet record in the 100 with a 10.41.

Gabriel Navarro became Stanford's first conference 100 finalist since 2008 and ran the No. 2 time by a freshman in school history.

The top six men's outdoor 4x400 times in school history all have been run under Sanders, including 1-3 in 2018. The top four men's and top three women's indoor 4x400's also have come in the Sanders era. 

In 2018, both the men's school indoor and outdoor 4x400 records were broken, and the indoor 4x400 mark was eclipsed in 2019.

In 2016, the men's 4x400 team -- without anyone entered in the open 400 -- gave Stanford its first conference 4x400 or mile relay championship in 62 years. In that same year, the women's 4x400 set a school indoor record, was No. 2 all-time outdoors in school history and finished as the Pac-12 runner-up and earned a berth in the NCAA Championships.

With unprecedented depth in the sprints in 2018, five Cardinal women ran 53.60 or faster in the 400 and all are among Stanford's all-time top-11 in that event, including Ashlan Best, who set a school freshman record of 53.24. 

Sanders coached Jackson Shumway to a Pac-12 400 hurdles runner-up finish and Daniel Brady to third at the Canadian championships in the same event. Shumway graduated in 2017 as a school-record holder in three relays (the indoor and outdoor 4x400, and the indoor distance medley).

Under Sanders, Isaiah Brandt-Sims broke Stanford records eight times and graduated as the holder of four school records: in the 60, distance medley relay, and indoor and outdoor 4x400.

Among Baker's many accomplishments were an NCAA outdoor runner-up finish in the 800, a 2:00.08 in the U.S. Championships final, and two consecutive MPSF indoor 800 championships. She was the 2016 West Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year.

Sanders previously coached at Boston University for seven seasons, where he was the program’s recruiting coordinator. Fifteen school records were set under his watch and Terriers’ sprinters and hurdlers combined for 16 Patriot League titles and 28 America East crowns. He also coached athletes to 10 conference meet records – six in America East and four in the Patriot League.

Sanders was named 2012 USTFCCCA Northeast Region Indoor Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year and had 21 NCAA regional qualifiers and one NCAA Championships finalist.
 
A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sanders earned his degree in kinesiology with minors in sport management and communication from the University of Michigan in December 2005. In 2014, Sanders earned his master's in physical education with a specialization in coaching from Boston University.

Sanders was an assistant coach for jumps and multi-events at Williams College in 2006 and 2007, coaching 12 All-Americans and overseeing eight school records. He coached sprints, hurdles, relays, jumps and throws at Colgate in 2008, and his athletes broke five school records.

Gabe and Erin Sanders have a son, Oscar.