Army West Point Athletics
Men's Cross Country
- Title:
- Assistant Coach, Cross Country/Track and Field
- Email:
- Lauren.Bunke@westpoint.edu
Lauren Bunke joined the Army West Point cross country and track & field program in July 2026 after spending the 2025 and 2026 seasons as the associate distance coach at UMass Boston.
During her time at UMass Boston, Bunke coached the 2025 Little East Conference outdoor champion and runner-up in the 10,000 meters. She guided an athlete to first-team All-LEC honors and USTFCCCA All-Region recognition during the 2025 cross country season, and in 2026, one of her runners dropped more than a minute in the 5,000 meters en route to the LEC indoor title and a meet record. She also developed second- and third-team All-LEC performers in the 800 meters. Along with designing training programs for the distance group, Bunke managed recruiting for the program, built the cross country competition schedule and provided injury prevention and recovery programming.
Prior to UMass Boston, Bunke served as a graduate assistant at Saint Francis University, where she helped the women's cross country team to a runner-up finish at the 2024 Northeast Conference Championships. At the 2025 NEC Indoor Championships, she worked with a runner-up in the 800 meters and a third-team All-NEC performer in the 5,000 meters. She also assisted with recruiting, served as the program's compliance liaison and designed a post-run recovery and mobility program to reduce injury risk.
A licensed physical therapist, Bunke brings expertise in injury prevention, biomechanics and endurance performance to the Black Knights. She worked as an outpatient physical therapist at Professional Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine in Franklin, Massachusetts, from 2025 to 2026, treating orthopedic and sports-related injuries and using biomechanical analysis to improve running efficiency.
As an athlete, Bunke competed at Lebanon Valley College, where she qualified for the 2023 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships and was named USTFCCCA National Runner of the Week in September 2023. She was a two-time NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic All-Region selection and a two-time cross country MVP. On the track, she earned eight All-Middle Atlantic Conference honors, including two first-team nods, and was named MAC Athlete of the Week in both cross country and track. A two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree, she captained the cross country team from 2020-22 and the track & field team in 2022-23.
Bunke earned her bachelor's degree in exercise science from Lebanon Valley in 2022 and her Doctor of Physical Therapy from the school in 2024.
