Eastern Illinois director of track & field James Gildon has announced the hiring of Roger An as an assistant coach with the Panthers team.

He joins Eastern Illinois after spending the past three seasons coaching at Mount St. Mary's.  During his 3 years, athletes won 36 All-Conference honors, 14 all-region, and 1 NCAA Division 1 1st round qualifier. School records were either broken or tied in w 60 ('23), m60 ('23), m 100 ('23), m 200 ('24), m 200 (indoor) ('25). His 110h squad was ranked 53rd in Division 1 (5/20) and men's team overall began season in preseason poll ranked 135 in Division 1.
 
Outdoor Conference Championship resulted in all-conference honors in m4 x 100 (1st), m400h (1st), m110h (1st, 3 overall in finals) m200 (3rd, 3 overall in finals), w4 x 400 (2nd) m4 x400 (2nd), and top hurdler being awarded track events rookie of the championships. In '24-'25. The Indoor Conference Championships resulted in all-conference honors in m60 (3rd), m200 (3rd), m60h (2nd), w60h (2nd), m4 x 400 (3rd). The  Indoor Regional Championships (IC4A/ECAC) resulted in All region (all east) honors in m 60h (1st, 3rd, 7th), w 60h, m 60, m 400, m 200 (2nd), highlighted with the men's hurdle group (60h) with 3 in the final & champion, scored the most points in the event for mid major schools at the indoor regional championship. Outdoor Conference Championship resulted in all-conference honors in m4 x 100 (1st), m400h (1st), m110h (1st, 3 overall in finals) m200 (3rd, 3 overall in finals), w4 x 400 (2nd) m4 x400 (2nd), and top hurdler being awarded track events rookie of the championships.

In  '23-'24, His duties were expanded to being significantly more involved with the hurdles, highlighted by a 1-3-4 finish in the 60 meter hurdles at the Indoor MAAC Championships. The men placed 2nd at the Outdoor Championship, the highest for a Mount Sports Program on the year. The Outdoor Conference Championship highlights resulted in All-Conference Honors for w 100h (3rd), m 110h (2nd, &3rd), m 400h (2nd), w 4 x 100 (3rd, m 4 x 100 (3rd), and The Indoor Conference Championship highlights resulted in, w60 (3rd), m60 (3rd) w200 (3rd),m200 (4th 5th) m60h (1st, 3rd, 4th), w 400 (5th). During the Outdoor Conference Championship  meet, The Mount had at least one athlete qualify for every men's and women's sprint or hurdle final, making it one of two programs at the meet to do so.
 
Being an Olympic year, the program had three athletes qualify for the Canadian National Championships, Which also serve as the effective Canadian Olympic Trials for the selection of the national team. The signing class that year was a highlight, as the sprint/hurdle class had 5 athletes that were either top 5 in their state, top 50 in the U.S. or top 10 in the U.K. in the 200m (PA), LJ (MD), 400h (MD), 400m (MD), and 100/200 (Top 10 U.K. U20).
 
'22-'23, An's duties were mainly on splitting the sprinters and relays with director Phillips, with contributions in the hurdles in his first year. School records fell in both the men's 60 and 100 meters, the women's 60 meters was tied, and 30/33 of the athletes that An coached set college or lifetime bests. Numerous sprinters and long hurdlers earned all conference honors, in the m 60 (1st), w 60 (1st), m 200 (2nd), w 200 (1st), m 400 (from 48.48 to 47.99 and first podium indiv. At 3rd), m 400 hurdles (1st), m & w 4 x 400 (3rd), w 4 x 100 (3rd), and m 100 (2nd), w 100 (1st & MAAC Champs record).
 
The season culminated with top men's sprinter Todd Charles breaking the 100m school record and improving from 10.46 to 10.25, qualifying for the first round of the Division 1 NCAA Championships for both the first time in his career, and the first time in modern program history in over 25 years. 29 of 34 athletes broke a college or lifetime best, showing over 85% of the team making improvements on the year.
 
At Amherst College in '21-22, Amherst's top sprinter Henry Buren re-broke his all time school record in the 100 Meters. For the first time, he won the gold medal at the NESCAC championships,as well as earning all-region honors, (1st time top three and top five 60/200 DIII Regional) An also assisted the head coach in the hurdle group. He helped assist multi athlete Jack Trent to set personal bests in the 60 dash and 60 hurdles to qualify for the NCAA DIII indoor Championship meet for the first time.
 
At Lake Superior State, as assistant head coach (highest assistant), An assisted in coaching all event groups, and co-headed the sprint crew at Lake Superior State for the 2020 and '21 seasons, and was the program's strength and conditioning coordinator for all student-athletes on the team. 19 of the 21 sprinters he coached in year 1, roughly 90 percent, broke personal records and the school's top women's sprinter Elizabeth Setsuda improved her top indoor marks from 8.64 to 7.86 in the 60 meters and from 28.61 to 25.60 in the 200 meters. She contributed as the women's highest point scorer, the team surpassing the team total for the past four seasons combined at the meet. During An's tenure, Lake Superior's women's team had its highest-scoring conference meet since 2013 during indoor 2020 with 11 points.
 
An holds the National Strength and Conditioning Association's CSCS certification, an exam that has a pass rate in the 30% range most recently. He is currently completing his capstone project for the USATF Level III Expert Tier in Sprints/Hurdles/Relays, where he had the opportunity to learn from instructors from top schools' directors of track and field/head coaches at U.S.C. (Former) Carol Gilbert, and The University of Kentucky (Lonnie Smith) He became certified as a nutritional coach by the N.A.S.M. In summer 2023 and is also a USTFCCCA Certified Speed Specialist Coach. He graduated with a bachelors of Africana Studies from The College of Wooster'18 and a master's of sport management from Southern Nazarene University '20