J.J. Hunter is the Director of Track & Field/Cross Country at MIT, having previously served as the head coach of Kenyon’s men’s and women’s track and field programs. Prior to that, Hunter spent four seasons at Penn, where his coaching focus was on sprints, hurdles, horizontal jumps and multi-events. While there, he developed nine Ivy League sprint/hurdle champions, eight NCAA regional qualifiers, three Penn record holders, and 10 Academic All-Americans. Additionally, his athletes produced 23 top-10 all-time Penn performances and combined to form the No. 1-ranked 100m and 200m event groups in the Ivy League two years in a row (2018-2019). He was named the men’s USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year for the indoor 2018-2019 season.
Hunter made his return to coaching at Penn in August 2016 following a successful corporate career in biotech clinical research. During his time in the private sector, he built and led teams of clinical data management professionals, primarily in oncology therapeutics. While at Amgen, Hunter’s team was responsible for the clinical trial data management for a drug (Kyprolis) that earned FDA approval in 2016 for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
Earlier in his career, Hunter had multiple successful collegiate coaching stints at the University of Miami, Florida International, and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). During a span of seven seasons, Hunter guided five student-athletes to individual Division I NCAA qualifying marks, 24 All-America honors and 11 school records. Additionally, his athletes earned over 100 all-conference accolades during this time frame.
Hunter earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology from La Salle University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley. As an athlete, Hunter competed professionally for Shore AC and Nike Atlantic Coast Club and was a three-time USATF Outdoor Championship qualifier in the 100m (PRs of 10.10w and 10.25).
