ABILENE – The Abilene Christian University Athletics Department Wednesday announced the hiring of Chris Ward as its new head cross country coach. A native of Oklahoma City, Ward also will serve as an assistant coach in charge of distance for the Wildcats' track and field team.
“It's awesome to be coaching here at Abilene Christian, a school that's passionate about its cross country and track and field programs,” Ward said. “I'm happy to be in this kind of environment and am up for the challenge of continuing its tradition of excellence.”
Fourth-year head coach Roosevelt Lofton oversaw the committee that hired Ward and said everyone came away impressed by Ward's character, knowledge of the sport and his passion for coaching student athletes.
“Chris is the best track and field coach for this job, and I'm certain that all of our student-athletes are going to improve because of his vast knowledge of the sport,” Lofton said. “He is someone who really wants to see our athletes succeed in life as well as within their sport, and I have found him to be a great recruiter who is also an excellent mentor and role model.”
Ward comes to Abilene after spending parts of three years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Oklahoma City University. During his tenure at OCU, 46 student-athletes qualified for the NAIA Championships and two 4x400 relay teams captured national titles. The Stars also earned 25 All-America citations and claimed three Sooner Athletic Conference titles, while three cross country teams received all-academic recognition.
Ward conducted his first ACU practice earlier this morning, less than a day after his arrival to Abilene, and received a quality effort from each individual. He expects this year to be tough, but looks forward to transforming his runners into better athletes.
“I'm going to train them from the ground up,” he said, “teach the basics of how to run, breath, anything and everything that comes with being a runner. But I'm training them to be more than runners; I'm training them to be athletes.”
Ward has several star student-athletes returning to this year's team, most notably NCAA qualifier Alyse Goldsmith. A senior, Goldsmith placed third at the 2011 Lone Star Conference championship before going to finish fourth at regionals.
Coming back to lead the men's team are veterans Erik Forrister and Gary Duncan. Forrister last year was selected as the Lone Star Conference Men's Academic Runner of the Year and just missed earning all-conference honors by one spot after placing 16th at conference with a season-best 8K of 26:25.
Duncan competed at all five regular-season meets in 2011 and recorded his season-best 8K of 27:28.11 at the Cowboy Jamboree.
Ward's previous coaching stops include two years as the head coach at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College and a year of volunteer coaching at both Xavier University of New Orleans and Charleston Southern.
Ward graduated from Charleston Southern in June of 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and earned an Associate of Science degree in business management from Independence Community College in December of 2001.
Ward attended Fort Scott High School in Kansas where he competed in the sprints, relays, high and triple jumps.
Ward and his wife, Cameko, have four boys, Kuryous (11), Torrion (11), Devian (8) and Josiah (5).
