Crystal Lanning was named director of athletics at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in the spring of 2018, after serving as interim director of athletics from 2016-18. She provides leadership for a department that sponsors 20 varsity sport programs and serves more than 600 student-athletes, in addition to overseeing campus recreation.
Under Lanning’s leadership, UWRF Athletics has experienced remarkable competitive, academic and programmatic success. Since the 2021-22 academic year, Falcon teams have won four NCAA team national championships, including the 2025 football championship and three consecutive women’s ice hockey championships in 2024, 2025 and 2026. In 2025-26, UW-River Falls became the first NCAA Division III institution to win national championships in both football and women’s ice hockey in the same academic year. UWRF has also produced two individual national champions, with Jacob Balcome winning consecutive NCAA Division III men’s indoor heptathlon championships in 2025 and 2026.
During that span, Falcon teams have captured 11 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championships, while UWRF student-athletes and coaches have earned 36 All-America honors, 32 All-Region selections, three national Coach of the Year awards and five national Player of the Year honors. Four women’s hockey players have received the American Hockey Coaches Association Laura Hurd Award, and football standout Kaleb Blaha won the 2025 Gagliardi Trophy as the most outstanding player in NCAA Division III football.
Academic achievement has remained a hallmark of Falcon Athletics. All 20 varsity programs have consistently maintained a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or higher. Since 2021-22, over 1,000 UWRF student-athletes have earned Academic All-Conference honors, five WIAC Scholar-Athlete Awards and five College Sports Communicators Academic All-America selections.
Lanning has also overseen significant growth of the department, including the addition of esports and men’s soccer and the reinstatement of baseball, which had been discontinued in 2002.
In 2026, Lanning was named a Nike Executive of the Year Award recipient by Women Leaders in Sports. The prestigious awards recognize five senior-level executives across each NCAA division and the broader sports industry who demonstrate leadership and vision while promoting excellence, professional development, diversity and gender equity in sports.
Prior to becoming director of athletics, Lanning served as assistant commissioner for membership services at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference during the 2015-16 academic year. She previously spent 11 years at UW-River Falls, serving as assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator before becoming associate athletic director in 2014. She began her UWRF career in 2004 as an assistant athletic trainer and instructor.
Lanning earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Winona State University and her master’s degree in kinesiology and health promotion from the University of Kentucky. She is a graduate of the NACWAA (Women Leaders in Sports) Institute for Administrative Advancement and Executive Institute.
Lanning is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators and Women Leaders in Sports. She has previously served as chair of the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Committee and Women’s Soccer Committee, as well as a member of the NCAA Division III LGBTQ Working Group.
Lanning and her husband, Shane, reside in Hastings, Minn., with their two children, Addison and Marshall.
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