Oneonta Sports Information Department
After the conclusion of a national search, SUNY Oneonta Director of Athletics Tracey Ranieri is pleased to announced that Chris Wilber has been selected as the Head Coach of the men's and women's cross country and track & field programs. Wilber spent this past year as the interim coach of both programs after having served as an Associate Head Coach with the Red Dragons previously.
"I'd like to thank Tracey Ranieri, Ryan Hooper, Geoff Hassard, and the rest of the search committee for providing me with the opportunity to continue to lead the cross country and track and field programs," said Wilber. "I'm excited to continue building our program and continuing to provide student athletes with a positive four year experience."
During this past year, Wilber assumed complete management of the cross country and track & field programs including budgeting, scheduling, community service and student athlete development. In the fall, he guided the men's cross country team to a fourth place finish at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships and earned one of 16 at-large berths to the NCAA Division III Championships. The fourth place finish was the best in program history while the trip to the NCAA Championships was the second in the last three years for the men.
Both the men's and women's cross country, women's track & field teams and four individuals were recognized for their outstanding academic performance by the USTFCCCA.
In track & field, Wilber directed the program to improved standing at the SUNYAC championships while coaching Tyler O'Bryant (New York/Ellenville)'19 to qualifying marks for both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships and All-American finishes in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
During his four years as the Associate Head Coach for Oneonta, Wilber was the primary jumps and multi coach where he mentored his athletes to numerous accolades at the conference, regional and national level. Wilber has coached athletes that have earned All-America honors five times, qualified for nationals 13 times while capturing eight SUNYAC titles. During his tenure, the men claimed the indoor team title in 2015 while the women won both the indoor and outdoor titles in 2016.
As an undergraduate, Wilber completed his B.S. in Health Education and Physical Education at Ithaca. He also competed as a jumper for the Bombers track & field program. After graduation, he returned to Ithaca to complete a M.S. in Health Education while working as a graduate assistant coach. Wilber then spent an additional two years as an assistant coach with the Bomber men's track & field program, working primarily with the jumpers. During his time, the men won six Empire 8 championships and one NYSCTC championship.
Wilber is a USA Track and Field Level 1 Certified coach while also being a USTFCCCA Specialist in sprints, hurdles, relays, jumps, combined events and strength and conditioning. He has also completed USTFCCCA coursework in testing & measurements, weightlifting and sports psychology while completing Masters level coursework in short sprints.
