James Diamond was hired in July 2019 as the head men's and women's cross country coach at Rockford University. Diamond is a highly-seasoned coach who has spent the last decade coaching and competing at multiple NCAA Division III institutions in the Midwest. He also holds multiple certifications, including a USTFCCCA Endurance Specialist Certification, a USTFCCCA Program Management Certification and a USATF Level 1 Coaching Certification. In addition to his coaching duties at Rockford, Diamond also serves as the head coach for the Rockford FIRE Track & Field Club. They have had 31 national qualifiers across 47 events with him on staff, including the second most qualifiers in program history in 2021.
The RU cross country teams have made significant strides during Diamond's time at the helm of the programs. In 2020, Dominick Welte became the first RU male runner to earn All-NACC honors since 2014 and the first freshman since 2008. One season later, Caitlin Bitunjac became the first RU female runner to garner All-NACC honors since 2014 and also cracked the RU top ten 6k times with the fifth fastest time. In 2022, Rebekah Starwalt also made it into the RU top ten 6k times, with the tenth fastest time. As a team, the RU men finished seventh at the 2022 NACC Championship, which is the Regents' highest finish since 2013.The RU men and women proceeded to cap off the 2022 season with twenty-seventh and twenty-ninth place finishes at the Midwest Regional, both of which were tops for each program in over a decade.
Before coming to Rockford, Diamond spent two years as an assistant coach for the cross country and track and field programs at Wisconsin Lutheran College. As a member of the Warrior coaching staff, Diamond was involved in all aspects of recruiting and helped bring in the largest women's recruiting class in program history. He was also responsible for training and for writing and implementing the strength and conditioning programs for all of the distance runners. During the track season, Diamond also took on the added responsibility of coaching the steeplechase. His athletes were highly successful in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, as he coached 17 NACC Medalists, two NACC Champions and one all-region performer.
Prior to his time at WLC, Diamond spent four years on the cross country and track & field teams at Carthage, where he competed in the 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 meter races. He holds the ninth-fastest 10K time in school history. While at Carthage, Diamond was a member of the 2016 team that finished third at the CCIW Championship, which was the best team finish in 40 years. He competed at two NCAA Division III Cross Country Regionals and seven CCIW Track & Field Championships.
While at Carthage, Diamond also coached the school's running club. Additionally, he served as a camp counselor for two years at the Nike Track & Field Camp and was a volunteer assistant for the cross country teams at Lisle High School in 2016.
Diamond graduated from Downers Grove North High School in 2013, where he was a four-year letterwinner in cross country and track & field for the Trojans. He received IHSA All-Sectional honors in 2012 for the 4x800-meter relay.
Diamond earned his bachelor's degree in 2017 from Carthage College in Business Marketing. He then went on to earn his Master of Arts in Education, specializing in leadership and innovation from Wisconsin Lutheran College. He currently resides in Rockford, Illinois.
