University of Louisville head track and field/cross country coach Dale Cowper has announced that Mary Wood will join his staff as an assistant coach.
“As we began the search process Mary quickly rose to the top of our candidate pool and I’m excited to add Coach Wood to our staff this fall,” said Cowper. “She is an outstanding recruiter, coach, and mentor on and off the field. The pole vault and combined events have been a big part of our program over the last decade and will continue to thrive under Coach Wood’s direction.”
Wood has built an impressive coaching resume which spans over 15 years and includes 31 conference champions, 15 NCAA Division I Preliminary Round qualifiers, eight USA Junior National qualifiers 12 school records, and 95 all-conference performers. She completed her USATF Level I Coaching Certification in 2007 and earned her Level II Coaching Certification in Jumping Events in 2009.
“Thank you to Coach Cowper and the athletics administration for the incredible opportunity to coach at the University of Louisville,” said Wood. “I’m extremely excited to work alongside a very talented group of coaches that are building champions on and off the track. I’m elated to inherit a such high-quality group of student-athletes in the pole vault and combined events group.”
Wood comes to Louisville after spending the 2021-22 season at Illinois as an assistant coach working primarily with men’s and women’s pole vault and men’s combined events. During her time with the Illini, Wood helped Tori Thomas to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries in the pole vault along with a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships with a mark of 4.23m (13-10.5), good for second in program history. In all, three of Wood’s athletes scored points at the Big Ten Championships. Additionally, she coached Aiden Ouimet to program record in the decathlon (7,348 points)
Prior to her stint at Illinois, Wood spent seven years at Illinois State (2014-21) including four seasons as associate head coach working with men’s and women’s the horizontal jumps and pole vault.
While at Illinois State, Wood coached 18 Missouri Valley Conference champions, 42 All-Valley performances, 14 NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifiers, five USA Junior National Qualifiers and six Illinois State record-holders. In addition, she helped the Redbirds claim 11 MVC team titles during her tenure, including four straight indoor championships with the Redbird women winning crowns in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, as well as a title in 2016. The women also won three outdoor championships (2018, 2019, 2021), while the men captured back-to-back indoor titles (2018, 2019).
Before to her time at Illinois State, Wood spent seven years (2007-14) at Gardner-Webb working with the men’s and women’s horizontal jumps, pole vault, combined events. She began her coaching career at Gardner-Webb as a graduate assistant coach in 2007, served as an assistant coach from 2008-12 and spent her final two seasons as the Bulldogs’ associate head coach.
At Gardner-Webb, Wood coached 10 Big South Conference Champions with the Bulldogs and while helping her athletes amass 47 All-Conference Honors. Prior to the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ move to the Big South, Wood guided three athletes to Atlantic Sun Conference titles and six all-conference performances.
The Lincoln, Illinois native graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 2005 with bachelor’s degrees in history, social science and education. During her athletic career at EIU, Wood was a team captain, three-time Ohio Valley Conference indoor champion in the pole vault and set both indoor and outdoor school and conference records.
Wood earned her master’s degree in sport science and pedagogy from Gardner-Webb University in 2009.
| Lori Korte HarmonAssistant Sports Information Director | Louisville Athletics |