The 2024-25 USTFCCCA NCAA Division III Women's National Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year, Julie Heyde is in her third season as MIT's Director of Track and Field and Cross Country/Track and Field Head Coach in 2025-26. In addition to overseeing the track and field and cross country programs, she serves as an instructor for the physical education and wellness program.
The 2024-25 season was historic for Heyde and the women's cross country and track and field program, as she guided MIT to the "triple crown" by winning NCAA Division III national titles in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. The women’s cross country program earned its first national title with a ten-point win over UChicago, 128-138, as Kate Sanderson, Rujuta Sane and Christina Crow all earned All-America honors for the Engineers. The MIT men finished 13th at nationals, while MIT’s men’s and women’s squads won team titles at the East Region Championships, NEWMAC Championships during the season, with the women adding victories at the Connecticut College Invitational, as well as the D3 Pre-Nationals.
The victory at nationals for the women’s cross country program set off a historic string of first, as the Engineers would go on to win both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Division III titles –  becoming the first DIII women’s program to sweep of all three titles in the same season. Heyde guided the women's team to its first-ever team title at the 2025 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, as MIT scored 49 points while earning 12 individual All-America honors as she became the third woman to lead a DIII team to an indoor title. The momentum continued into the outdoor season, where the women's program won 11 events to claim the NEWMAC Championship before going on to win the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championship for the first time with a total of 56 points. Heyde became the sixth woman to lead a DIII team to an outdoor title.
In addition to her national accolades on the women's side, Heyde was also named the 2024-25 USTFCCCA Division III East Region Women's Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year as well as the 2024-25 USTFCCCA Division III East Region Men's Indoor Coach of the Year as the men recorded a top-ten national finish at NCAA nationals, finishing seventh with 22 points. During the outdoor season, the men's program added a 17th place finish at national. The women's program would also go on to be named the indoor and outdoor scholar team of the year as well as the USTFCCCA Program of the Year.Â
Heyde served as an assistant coach for the women’s cross country and track & field teams at Division I Boston College from 2012-2023. During her time at BC, she recruited and coached five All-Americans, two ACC event champions, one US Olympic Trials qualifier and over 40 individual or team NCAA appearances. In addition, her student-athletes set four school records, five relay school records and posted 28 top-five all-time performances. At BC, she also served as the interim director and head coach of women’s cross country and track & field from March 2022-August 2022.
Prior to her arrival in Chestnut Hill, Heyde held a number of positions at North Carolina State University from 2008-2012, including as the director of operations for the men’s and women’s cross and track & field programs from August 2011-2012.
Heyde graduated from Boston College in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Philosophy and a minor with NCATE accreditation in Secondary Ed. She then earned her Masters of Education in Higher Education Administration from North Carolina State in 2010.
