Bio

Chris McConnell was appointed men's and women's head cross country and track and field coach on July 1, 2024. He joins the Wildcat coaching staff after spending last year as the head coach and strength and conditioning coach at Talladega College. Before that he was the head cross country and track and field coach at Philander Smith University.

From 2016-2023, he led Philander Smith to two men's Gulf Coast Athletic Conference cross country championships in 2020 and 2022. He coached numerous NAIA National Championship Qualifiers and individual GCAC champions in both cross country and track and field. McConnell is a three-time GCAC Coach of the Year.

At Talladega College, his work as the strenghth and conditioning coach helped the women's volleyball team win it first GCAC title in program history. As head cross country coach, he produced the school's first NAIA national championship qualifier in Decquan Nesbitt. He led the women to a runner-up finish, which included the GCAC runner-up Jewel Cross. During indoor track and field season he had NAIA national championship qualifiers in the men's 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles and the women's 4 x 400-meter relay, which ranked No. 4 in the country.

McConnell led both teams to runner-up finishes in the 2024 GCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Jaylen Haynes won shot put and was co-field MVP. Lamoy Duffus won the women's triple jump. He guided the men's and women's 4 x 100-meter relay to the NAIA national championship. The men ranked No. 5 in the nation and the women were No. 12. Emmanuel Niang was an NAIA All-American in the 60-meter hurdles and the 110-meter hurdles.

As a college athlete, McConnell competed at Kansas Community College and Huston-Tillotson University, where he was a three-time NAIA All-American - running on the 4 x 400-meter relay team. He was an eight-time first-team All-Red River Athletic Conference selection in the 800-meter run, 1,500-meter run, 3,000-meter run, 5,000-meter run and the 4 x 400-meter and 4 x 800-meter relays. At Port Arthur Memorial and Bloomington High Schools, McConnell was a regional and state qualifier in the 800-meter run and ran on three District Champion cross country teams.