Matt Baxter (born 6 August 1994) is a New Zealand long-distance runner.
In 2019, he competed in the senior men's race at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Aarhus, Denmark. He finished in 46th place.
Early career Baxter attended New Plymouth Boys' High School in New Plymouth, New Zealand where he was born and raised. At the time of graduation he held the New Zealand High School senior track record in the 3000m.
Collegiate career Baxter ran for Northern Arizona University from 2016 to 2018. He chose NAU because of the coaching staff and the opportunity to train at altitude. Prior to running for NAU, Baxter studied at Auckland University of Technology where he competed under the guidance of Kerry Rodger. Baxter studied criminology at both institutions.
In his first season running for the NAU cross country team Baxter finished 2nd at the Big Sky XC Championships and 11th overall at the NCAA XC Championships, helping lead NAU to the first national championship in school history.
The following fall Baxter once again finished 2nd at the Big Sky XC Championships. At the NCAA XC Championships he finished 2nd overall to Syracuse runner Justyn Knight by less than half a second. The Lumberjacks also finished as national champions for the second straight year.
Professional career Baxter started running for the Hoka training group Northern Arizona Elite in 2019.
Authorship Baxters first book, Hurt Me If You Can: The Tales of a High School Runner, come out in 2019. The self-published book is an autobiographical account of Baxter figuring out running in his highs school years.
In 2023, Baxter co-authored Running Up the Mountain with former NAU XC coach Ron Mann. The book was published by Flagstaff-based Soulstice Publishing. It chronicles the start of the Lumberjacks men's cross country dynasty as well as the team's connection to the Flagstaff community.
Results and personal records All results taken from Word Athletics profile
Championship results YearMeetVenueEventPlaceTime2010New Zealand U17 ChampionshipsChristchurch3000m3rd8:53.262011New Zealand U17 ChampionshipsDunedin1st8:30.681500m2nd3:55.89Commonwealth Youth GamesNational Sports Centre3000m7th8:46.392013New Zealand Athletics ChampionshipsAuckland5000m5th14:24.192015New Zealand Athletics ChampionshipsWellington1500m12th3:59.955000m7th14:55.692016NCAA XC ChampionshipsLaVern Gibson Cross Country Course10 km11th30:03.12017NCAA XC ChampionshipsE. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park10 km2nd29:00.8NCAA Indoor ChampionshipsGilliam Indoor Track Stadium5000m14th14:08.28NCAA Outdoor ChampionshipsHayward Field10,000m7th29:09.832018NCAA Indoor ChampionshipsGilliam Indoor Track Stadium3000m11th8:10.28NCAA Outdoor ChampionshipsHayward Field10,000m5th28:39.352019New Zealand Athletics ChampionshipsChristchurch14:14.651st14:04.44World Cross Country ChampionshipsAarhus10 km45th34:032020New Zealand Road Running ChampionshipsAuckland10 km1st30:22New Zealand Athletics ChampionshipsChristchurch5000m2nd14:14.652023World Cross Country ChampionshipsMount Panorama Circuit~10 km58th32:22
Personal records SurfaceEventTimeDateVenueShort Track3000m7:47.85February 15, 2020Boston University5000m13:27.61January 24, 2020Boston UniversityOutdoor Track10,000m28:10.05May 3, 2018Palo Alto, CARoadHalf Marathon1:04:12March 17, 2024New York, NYMarathon2:10:57December 1, 2024Valencia, SP
References
External links