Matt Baxter

Matt Baxter (born 6 August 1994) is a New Zealand long-distance runner.

In 2019, he competed in the senior men's race at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Aarhus, Denmark. He finished in 46th place.

Early career
Baxter attended New Plymouth Boys' High School in New Plymouth, New Zealand where he was born and raised. At the time of graduation he held the New Zealand High School senior track record in the 3000m.

Collegiate career
Baxter ran for Northern Arizona University from 2016 to 2018. He chose NAU because of the coaching staff and the opportunity to train at altitude. Prior to running for NAU, Baxter studied at Auckland University of Technology where he competed under the guidance of Kerry Rodger. Baxter studied criminology at both institutions.

In his first season running for the NAU cross country team Baxter finished 2nd at the Big Sky XC Championships and 11th overall at the NCAA XC Championships, helping lead NAU to the first national championship in school history.

The following fall Baxter once again finished 2nd at the Big Sky XC Championships. At the NCAA XC Championships he finished 2nd overall to Syracuse runner Justyn Knight by less than half a second. The Lumberjacks also finished as national champions for the second straight year.

Professional career
Baxter started running for the Hoka training group Northern Arizona Elite in 2019.

Authorship
Baxters first book, Hurt Me If You Can: The Tales of a High School Runner, come out in 2019. The self-published book is an autobiographical account of Baxter figuring our running in his highs school years.

In 2023, Baxter co-authored Running Up the Mountain with former NAU XC coach Ron Mann. The book was published by Flagstaff-based Soulstice Publishing. It chronicles the start of the Lumberjacks men's cross country dynasty as well as the team's connection to the Flagstaff community.

Results and personal records
All results taken from Word Athletics profile