{"id":65153,"date":"2026-04-23T21:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=65153"},"modified":"2026-04-23T21:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:00:16","slug":"florida-polytechnic-university-has-officially-named-stephanie-bylander-as-the-inaugural-head-coach-for-its-mens-and-womens-cross-country-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/04\/23\/florida-polytechnic-university-has-officially-named-stephanie-bylander-as-the-inaugural-head-coach-for-its-mens-and-womens-cross-country-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Polytechnic University has officially named Stephanie Bylander as the inaugural head coach for its men\u2019s and women\u2019s cross-country teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Florida Polytechnic University has officially named Stephanie Bylander<\/strong> as the inaugural head coach for its men\u2019s and women\u2019s cross-country teams.<\/sup> The announcement, made on April 23, 2026, marks a significant milestone as the university prepares to launch its first-ever collegiate athletics program this fall.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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Bylander is a well-known figure in the Lakeland sports community, bringing over a decade of local experience to the new position.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Details of the Appointment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Previous Tenure:<\/strong> Bylander spent 11 years at Florida Southern College<\/strong> (FSC) in Lakeland, serving as the head coach for the women\u2019s cross-country and track programs for the last eight seasons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Track Record:<\/strong> At FSC, she led her teams to seven top-five finishes in the Sunshine State Conference and developed 11 All-South Region individual honors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Athletic Background:<\/strong> She was a 10-time All-American student-athlete at Adams State University and a member of two NCAA Division II National Champion teams.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Launching Florida Poly Athletics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The cross-country program is part of a broader push by Florida Poly to integrate competitive sports with its rigorous STEM-focused curriculum.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Inaugural Sports:<\/strong> Along with cross-country, the university is debuting programs in baseball, softball, soccer, and basketball for the 2026-2027 academic year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Conference Outlook:<\/strong> The university is currently in discussions with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)<\/strong> and the Sun Conference<\/strong> for future membership.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Recruitment Strategy:<\/strong> Bylander has already secured the program\u2019s first commitment and emphasized that the new program offers a unique opportunity for student-athletes to pursue elite engineering and science degrees without having to give up competitive running.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      This hire follows the recent appointment of Derek Lower<\/strong> as Florida Poly\u2019s first athletic director, signaling that the university\u2019s transition into collegiate sports is moving at a fast pace for its scheduled fall debut.<\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Florida Polytechnic University has officially named Stephanie Bylander as the inaugural head coach for its men\u2019s and women\u2019s cross-country teams. The announcement, made on April 23, 2026, marks a significant… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDRcL2Rvd25sb2FkLTUtMy53ZWJwP2ZpdD0yNzUlMkMxODMmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJGbG9yaWRhIFBvbHl0ZWNobmljIFVuaXZlcnNpdHkgaGFzIG9mZmljaWFsbHkgbmFtZWQgU3RlcGhhbmllIEJ5bGFuZGVyIGFzIHRoZSBpbmF1Z3VyYWwgaGVhZCBjb2FjaCBmb3IgaXRzIG1lblx1MjAxOXMgYW5kIHdvbWVuXHUyMDE5cyBjcm9zcy1jb3VudHJ5IHRlYW1zIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.DCrPHM4qWQsWQoYTZ0PusUhUwqdEwphQjR5KZyS5re4MQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA0XC9kb3dubG9hZC01LTMud2VicCIsInR4dCI6IkZsb3JpZGEgUG9seXRlY2huaWMgVW5pdmVyc2l0eSBoYXMgb2ZmaWNpYWxseSBuYW1lZCBTdGVwaGFuaWUgQnlsYW5kZXIgYXMgdGhlIGluYXVndXJhbCBoZWFkIGNvYWNoIGZvciBpdHMgbWVuXHUyMDE5cyBhbmQgd29tZW5cdTIwMTlzIGNyb3NzLWNvdW50cnkgdGVhbXMiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.ayYllTjQQJuI78UNCoR_21oGPCSpCX5Xi0EzPQzY2RAMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[30],"tags":[14459],"class_list":["post-65153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-florida-polytechnic-university-has-officially-named-stephanie-bylander-as-the-inaugural-head-coach-for-its-mens-and-womens-cross-country-teams"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65155,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65153\/revisions\/65155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}