University of Rochester Athletics

Matthew Herbert enters his second year on the University of Rochester track & field and cross country coaching staff in 2025-26. He serves as the Men's Cross Country Coach and works with Rochester's men's and women's middle and long distance runners during the track & field season.
 
During his first year with the Yellowjackets, Herbert led the men's cross country team to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Niagara Regional, and Vishal Yalamanchili '25 and Joe Berry '28 both earned All-Region honors from the USTFCCCA. During the indoor season, Herbert coached middle distance runner Sean Hendricks '25 to a Regional title and First Team All-America honors in the Mile. Hendricks ran a personal best 4:10.30, which earned him a fifth-place finish at the 2025 NCAA Division III Indoor T&F Championships. During Herbert's first year on staff, the Yellowjacket middle and long distance runners also added ten new performances to the program's All-Time Top 10 list.
 
Herbert came to Rochester after working the 2023-24 season as an Assistant Coach with the men’s cross country and track & field team at Ithaca College. That was Herbert’s second stint with the Bombers, as he previously was an Assistant Coach with the women’s cross country and track & field program from August 2017 through June 2021.
 
During his time at Ithaca, Herbert helped coach four women’s individual national champions (1 XC, 3 track) and five other All-Americans, all coming in cross country or distance events, while also aiding the Bombers to a 4th-place team finish at the 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Additionally, Ithaca finished 9th at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in 2017 with two runners receiving All-American honors that season.
 
Prior to his most recent coaching job at Ithaca, Herbert spent two seasons (2021-23) with the cross country and track & field program at St. John Fisher University. He helped the Cardinals women’s team send their first ever individual qualifier to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship in 2021 and earn back-to-back conference titles in cross country. St. John Fisher also won both the indoor and outdoor track & field Empire 8 titles in 2022.
 
Herbert graduated from SUNY Geneseo in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a minor in Psychology.
 
While at Geneseo, Herbert was a member of the cross country team for two seasons. In track and field, Herbert spent three seasons with the men’s program and capped his career by winning the 10,000 meters as a senior at the 2016 SUNYAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He also was a podium finisher at the SUNYAC Outdoor Championships in the 5,000 meters in 2015 and 2016.