Justin Wagner enters his third year at Murray State College and second season leading the Murray State College Cross Country Team in 2024-25. In just the second cross country event of their inaugural season, the Aggie men’s team won first place at the Carl Albert State College XC Meet. The Murray State College cross country teams set 12 PRs at Regionals, had runners win three individual medals throughout the season, and had a runner win the NJCAA DII Runner of the Week Award. The Aggie men’s cross country team finished the season as the No. 1 junior college in Oklahoma, while the women’s team finished as the No. 2 team. Both Murray State College Cross Country teams qualified for Nationals and finished in the top third of the country. Meanwhile, the Lady Aggies Cross Country team was also named a NJCAA All-Academic Team for their success in the classroom as well.
The following year, the Murray State College women’s cross country team received votes in the NJCAA Top 25 Coaches Poll for the first time in program history. The Lady Aggies also earned a third-place finish at Regionals as both Aggie Cross Country teams qualified for Nationals for the second consecutive year. For the second year in a row, Murray State College had a runner win the NJCAA DII Runner of the Week Award.
Wagner arrived in Tishomingo back in August of 2023 with seven years of coaching and recruiting experience and has served as men's basketball assistant along with Sports Information Director duties since his arrival at Murray State. He began recruiting cross country student athletes dating back to his time at Eastern Nazarene College in 2016. Wagner worked as an enrollment counselor at Eastern Nazarene, then Assistant Sports Information Director at Lyon College, as well as Assistant Athletic Director for External Affairs at Arkansas-Monticello and serving as a men's basketball assistant coach.
Wagner completed his first half marathon back in 2025.
