Palm Beach Atlantic University Athletics

Maryellen Powers began her tenure as the head women's cross country coach at Palm Beach Atlantic in July 2015 and also coaches men's cross country, women's track, and men's track which were new programs for PBA in 2017-18.  

Powers captained PBA's return to sports following the halt of athletics due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Sailfish hosted the Palm Beach Atlantic Meet on Jan. 30th, 2021, the first sporting event in 10 months for PBA and the first cross country meet hosted at the Rinker Athletic Campus with each team finishing in first place. During the shortened 2020-21 season, both cross country teams experienced improvement with the women's team finishing second at the SSC Championships, their highest finish in program history. Allison Seng earned All-SSC first team honors as Abigail Bateman and Dune Costes earning All-SSC second team honors. On the men's side, Ty Fisher earned All-SSC second team honors.

During Powers' second year at PBA, freshman Cami Rickenbach qualified for the NCAA National Tournament, due to her second place individual finish at the NCAA South Region meet.  Rickenbach was also named to the USTFCCCA All-South Region Team.

• 1 All-Region Finisher
• 4 All-SSC Honorees
• 2-time USTFCCA Scholar Team

Coach Powers began her collegiate coaching career at nearby Northwood University as she assisted in starting the Seahawks cross country program from scratch as the Head Distance Coach. In just two years she helped guide the young program to being competitive at the NAIA level while also taking on additional responsibilities such as planning and directing the Sun Conference Championships.

Before assisting NU with the start of their program Powers was the head cross country and track coach for three South Florida high schools (2007-13) including the University School, American Heritage and Pine Crest Preparatory School. During this time she guided eight top-5 finishes and a combined 13 district and regional champions.

Outside of coaching at the prep and collegiate levels Powers has also owned and operated her own business called System 3 Coaching. This coaching stint has seen her train four Inside Triathlon Master’s All-American selections as well as coach two successful English Channel crossings which is widely considered one of the toughest athletic achievements in the world.

Powers’ time in coaching was preceded by her career as a professional triathlete. From 1995-02 Powers earned top-5 finishes at some of the top triathlon competitions in the world including Ironman Florida and the U.S. Pro Nationals.

She was a four-time USA Triathlon Pro National Team member while even earning the 1995 Inside Triathlon Pro Rookie of the Year. Her 12th place finish at the 1998 Goodwill Games saw her compete with an American best run split of 36:10 for the 10km.

• Prior to joining the professional ranks Powers spent four years competing as an amateur after graduating from Boston University with her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. While at BU she was a member of the varsity swimming team.
• Powers is married to her husband, Nathaniel Hammond, and have a son, Thomas Powers Hammond. The family resides in Boca Raton