| Title: | Assistant Coach |
| Phone: | 931-372-3770 |
| Email: | tcesnik@tntech.edu |
Tina Cesnik is in her first year as an assistant coach for the Tennessee Tech cross country and track & field teams following her hiring in July 2024.
Cesnik previously served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Golden Eagle women's cross country during the 2022 season, one that saw the purple and gold collect a third-place finish at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships. Following the season, she completed an internship with the Nashville Predators in the fall of 2023 and was a graduate teaching assistant at the Tennessee Tech University Department of Exercise Science.
Prior to joining the Tech staff as a volunteer, Cesnik competed for the Golden Eagles as a member of the women's cross country and track & field programs from 2020-21. She was a scoring member of the women's cross country squad that earned a runner-up performance at the 2021 OVC Championships, the team's best finish in school history.
On the track, she set collegiate personal records in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter runs as well. Before transferring to TTU, Cesnik competed at the University of North Florida for two seasons. During her time as a student-athlete she was a perennial member of the Atlantic Sun and OVC Commissioner's Honor Rolls and earned the OVC Academic Medal of Honor in 2021.
A native of Prevalje, Slovenia, Cesnik was a standout performer on the national level before embarking on her collegiate career. She won 13 national youth and junior championships in the 800-meter, 1,500-meter, and 3,000-meter runs. In 2016, she placed third at the Slovenian National Senior Championships in the 1,500-meter run.
During her high school career, she captured the National High School Championships in the 1,000-meter run in 2015 and placed third in 2018. She represented Slovenia nine times in international competition, including at the European Cross Country Championship in Samorin, Slovakia in 2017.
Cesnik earned her bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Tennessee Tech in 2022 and collected her master's degree in exercise science and physical education and wellness with a concentration in sport management in 2024. As a graduate, she earned the Oustanding Graduate Student Award for the Department of Exercise Science and the Go-Getter Award from the College of Education.
