MCRAVEN UP CLOSE

PERSONAL

Hometown: Arlington Heights, Illinois
Wife: Mary
Children: Kylie
Education:
North Central College, 1990 (Bachelor's in English)
Alabama, 1993 (Master's in Human Performance Studies)

COACHING HISTORY

1991-94: Alabama, Assistant Coach
1994-96: Nebraska, Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator
1996-2005: Kent State, Head Coach
2005-10: Illinois, Assistant Coach
2010-Pres.: Texas A&M, Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track & Field Coach (Distance)

TEXAS A&M COACHING ACHIEVEMENTS

45 All-Conference Finishers
16 All-Americans
9 Conference Champions
1 NCAA National Champion

Last Updated 8/16/2021

Wendel McRaven is in his 12th year at Texas A&M. Under his guidance the Aggie distance runners have rewritten the Texas A&M record books and all-time lists. Aggie distance athletes have earned five All-American honors in cross country, eleven first-team All-American honors in track, and an individual national title under his direction.

McRaven who coaches the Aggie men’s and women’s cross country teams along with the distance runners on the track has helped lead a resurgence in Texas A&M distance running. Athletes coached by McRaven hold school records in all of the track distance events except the women’s steeplechase, women's 1500m and the men’s 10,000m. In 2018, Alex Riba became the first Texas A&M athlete to break four minutes in the mile with his 3:59.12 to win the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational. Riba later smashed the outdoor school record in the 1500 meters with a 3:40.66.

During his time at Texas A&M Henry Lelei ranks as the most accomplished collegiate distance runner to wear the maroon and white. Lelei finished second in the NCAA championships in the 3000m steeplechase in 2013 with a school record 8:23.16. Later, in the same meet, Lelei helped secure the Aggies’ national team title with an eighth place finish in the 5000 meters. He currently holds school records indoors at 3000 (7:47.91) and 5000 (13:54.33) and outdoors in the 3000 steeplechase (8:23.16) and 5000 (13:45.30). He also ran the anchor 1600 leg on the school record setting Distance Medley Relay (9:29.71).

Lelei was a two-time top-ten finisher at the NCAA cross country championships. He finished ninth at the 2011 NCAA championships and followed that up with a fifth place finish in 2012. In Texas A&M’s first year in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 2012, Lelei became the first Texas A&M athlete to win a SEC championship when he won the SEC cross country championships in Nashville, TN.

In 2012 Texas A&M’s Natosha Rogers won the NCAA national title at 10,000 meters. Rogers, who previously had never qualified individually for the NCAA outdoor meet, went on to finish second at the 2012 Olympic Trials at 10,000 meters. Rogers holds A&M school records indoors in the 3000 (9:12.83) and 5000 (15:52.40) as well as outdoors at 1500 (4:17.06), Mile (4:41.00), 5000 (15:45.80), and 10,000 (31:59.21). She currently competes professionally for New Balance.

On the cross country course, the Aggies have excelled under McRaven’s leadership. The 2011 men’s team claimed the school’s best finish at NCAAs with an 18^th place finish. In 2013, the Aggie women had their best conference finish in history with a runner-up finish at the SEC Championships. In 2015, the Aggie men also claimed second-place in the SEC meet.

In 2014, Texas A&M’s Grace Fletcher and Hillary Montgomery earned All-American honors in cross country. Montgomery and Fletcher would team up in 2015 to go 1-2 in the SEC indoor 5000 meters. In the fall of 2015, their teammate, Karis Jochen joined them by also earning individual All-American honors in cross country.

An assistant coach at Illinois for six years, McRaven also coached at Kent State for nine seasons, which included a five-year stint as head coach of the Golden Flashes’ track and field/cross country programs.

In his last season at Illinois the men’s track and cross country program rose to their highest levels in recent history. The men’s track team finished 11^th in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and during the fall, McRaven’s young cross country squad challenged for a national berth with a fifth-place finish in the NCAA Midwest Regional. McRaven also coached Illinois’ first cross country All-American since 1990 in Trent Hoerr, who finished 16^th in the 2007 NCAA Championships.

As a head coach McRaven led Kent State to five Mid-American Conference championships, earning five MAC Coach of the Year honors. Regional coaching honors included the USTFCCCA Great Lakes men’s and women’s Coach of the Year awards. In cross country he guided the women’s team to a first-ever conference team title.

Prior to joining Kent State’s program, McRaven served as an assistant track coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Nebraska from 1994-96. During his time with the Cornhuskers, the men’s and women’s teams won three out of four possible indoor and outdoor conference championships. The 1996 Nebraska men placed second at the NCAA Indoor Championships while the women finished fourth.

Before joining the Nebraska program, McRaven served as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama from 1991-94. In 1994 the Alabama women’s track and field team won the indoor and outdoor SEC titles and placed second at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The women’s cross country team qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1993.

A native of Arlington Heights, Illinois, McRaven graduated from Wheeling High School. Competing for North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, McRaven was part of three NCAA Division III national championship teams and earned Division III All-American honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 1990.

McRaven earned his bachelor’s degree in English from North Central in 1990 and his master’s degree in human performance studies from Alabama in 1993. He is also a USATF Level II certified coach in the endurance events. McRaven's wife is Mary and they have one daughter.