England takes reins of cross country, track and field programs

May 14, 2020

Chris England has been named head coach of the cross country and track and field programs at the University of North Georgia (UNG). England takes over the UNG programs after 10 seasons in the same role at Georgia State University (GSU).

England was a two-time All-American runner at the Ohio State University (OSU) and won a USA Track & Field national title in 2006. England served three years on active duty in the U.S. Army. During his military service, he competed on the All-Army cross country and track and field teams and was a member of the Army World Class Athlete Program, representing the U.S. armed forces in competitions around the world.

"On behalf of our university community, we are extremely excited to welcome Chris, his wife Miriam, and kids Ewan and Nola to the Nighthawk Nation," said Lindsay Reeves, UNG director of athletics. "Chris has a track record of success in each program he has touched as a student-athlete, assistant coach and now successful Division I head coach, and his mentoring blueprint fits the UNG core values."

England takes the reins of UNG's programs June 1.

Under England's guidance, GSU won three individual Sun Belt Conference cross country titles with the most recent in 2019. England won the 2012 Sun Belt Coach of the Year award after guiding the cross country team to the league championship in the team's inaugural appearance in the league.

Under England's direction, the Panthers had multiple top-three team finishes in the Sun Belt cross country and track and field championships, including back-to-back second-place finishes in 2014 and 2015.

"It is an absolute honor to be selected to be the next head coach of the University of North Georgia cross country and track programs," England said. "I am thrilled to be able to build upon UNG's already rich tradition of distance running and to bring home many future conference championships."

England previously served as head coach at Murray State University, where he led the Racers' cross country team to an Ohio Valley Conference runner-up position in back-to-back years, the highest program finish in nearly two decades.

England has also served as an assistant at his alma mater, Ohio State, and was the meet manager for the Jesse Owens Classic and the director of the OSU Cross Country Camp. Prior to returning to the Buckeyes, he was a graduate assistant in the athletics department at the University of Wyoming and a volunteer assistant at Boise State University.

Competing at Ohio State, England was a two-time All-American in 1997 in the indoor 5K and the outdoor 10K, earning multiple All-Big Ten accolades along the way. England holds the Ohio State record in the 5K with a time of 13:43.42 and is second all-time in the 10K with a 29:01.29 and an indoor 5K time of 13:58.94.