The University of Texas has named Pete Watson the men's distance and cross country coach. 

The move fills out the distance hires for the Longhorns after head coach Edrick Floreal tabbed PattieSue Plumer to lead the women’s distance programs last week. 

Watson comes from the University of Virginia where he was the head men’s cross country and distance coach, a position he’s held since 2012. The Virginia team has made the NCAA Cross Country Championships every year under Watson and also featured top mid-distance performances from Henry Wynne and Mike Marsella. 

Wynne was the NCAA champion indoors in the mile during the 2016 season and Marsella placed 11th in the 1500m at June's NCAA Championships.

"Leaving Virginia will be extremely difficult because the guys I coached were awesome," Watson said in a press release. "I pride myself on the culture that we create, not only amongst our distance group, but also with how that fits in with the rest of the program. I am excited to get to campus and get our cross country season started here in a few short weeks."

Brad Herbster coached the men’s and women’s programs at Texas since 2013, but was not retained after Floreal accepted the head coaching job in June.

Prior to Virginia, Watson had three-year stints at North Carolina and Auburn.

The Texas men finished 30th at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships. During the indoor and outdoor track season freshman Sam Worley qualified for both national championships, while sophomore John Rice placed 12th in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the steeplechase.