In 2010, coach Dan Flynn had his most successful season of his career, as both the men’s and women’s cross country team won New England Collegiate Conference Championships.  It was the third consecutive championship for the women and the second straight for the men.  The Lynx women’s team earned national recognition by being the only cross country team in the nation to earn a perfect score (15) in its conference championship. 

The NECC honored Lesley’s dominance by naming Flynn the 2010 NECC Coach of the Year for both the men’s and women’s programs. In 2009, he made history by leading the men’s cross country team to a NECC Championship, the first men’s team to earn this honor at Lesley University.

In just three years, Flynn has coached five NECC Runners of the Year, three NECC Rookies of the Year, and over 30 NECC All-Conference runners. He was introduced as Lesley’s head cross country coach on July 20, 2005. Flynn also works as the Director of Community Service at Lesley, where he has increased the number of hours students volunteer from 500 to 6,745 hours per year in his six years.

Flynn's coaching career began in 2001, when he founded a middle school girl's track team in Camden, New Jersey during a year of service with AmeriCorps.  He went on to coach track and field at his alma mater, Thayer Academy in Braintree, MA, which went on to win their fifth Independent School League championship.  Throughout his time at Thayer, Flynn coached many individual ISL and NEPSTA champions in the 1500m, 3000m and 800m.

He went on to receive his master's degree from Boston College in higher education administration with a concentration in college student development. Flynn ran high school track at Thayer Academy.  There he broke the school record in the 800m and was on the ISL and New England champion 4x400m relay in 1996.  Flynn was recruited to run at Merrimack College, where he ran four years of cross country and track.  He was named captain in his junior year.

He completed the Boston Marathon in 2006 and 2011. Coach Flynn is the director of a distance running summer camp for high school runners in Stowe, VT. In his free time, Flynn is the founder of The Flynn Running Company where he trains elite runners qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Coach Flynn is certified as a Level 2 Coach (Endurance) by USA Track and Field and certified by the Road Runners Club of America.

Amanda Shaffer started as an assistant coach in 2011 for the Lesley University men's and women's cross country programs.

Prior to joining the Lynx, Shaffer served as the long and middle distance assistant track & field coach for Brookline High School in Brookline, Massachusetts.  Shaffer helped guide the girls' track & field team to some of its personal bests.  She also trained several athletes at Foss Running Camp.

Shaffer graduated from Coyle and Cassidy High School in Taunton, Massachusetts where she is the school record holder for their cross country course, the one-mile, the 1,000m and the distance medley. She ran cross country and track & field for four years and one season of both swimming and softball. 

Shaffer earned her Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University where she ran cross country and track. 

Currently, she is in pursuit of her Master's Degree in Fine Arts for Creative Writing, Stage and Screen at Lesley University.  She is employed by the U.S. Department of Labor.

One of Shaffer's greatest running accomplishments is being a qualifier for the Boston Marathon.

Former Lynx runner Fran Cusick returns to the program as an assistant coach for the cross country team.

Cusick was a four-time All-New England Collegiate Conference runner from 2006-2009, was the New England Collegiate Conference Runner of the Year in 2009 and is the school’s record holder in the 8k race with a time of 26:08.

Since graduation, he has coached cross country at Mount Alvernia High School in Newton and spring track at Arlington Catholic High School. Coach Cusick continues to run competitively throughout New England.