Chris Woods - Track & Field Coach

Chris Woods

Title:
Head Track & Field Coach
Email:
cwoods@athletics.msstate.edu
Phone:
662-325-4811

Chris Woods was named head coach of the track and field program on June 14, 2019.

The 2024 season was historic for State track and field with Woods at the helm. During the indoor season, his staff oversaw one school record fall, and multiple top-five finishes at the SEC Indoor Championships, highlighted by Tyrese Reid’s second-place finish in the 800m. Rosealee Cooper finished eighth in the 60m hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The men’s squad made waves in the outdoor season on the USTFCCCA rankings, placing as high as third, the highest in recent history. Six university records fell during the season, and multiple collegiate top times and marks were recorded throughout the season. Woods and his staff oversaw 22 national qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, the largest group in over a decade, with seven going on to be All-Americans. Of that meet, Peyton Bair walked away as the national runner-up in the decathlon, and Remi Rougetet as a sixth-place finisher in the javelin. In his second Olympics as an assistant coach for Team Canada, Woods oversaw Marco Arop to a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, where four other Bulldogs qualified for their respective countries. In addition to his coaching success’ throughout the season, Woods was instrumental in starting an annual reunion for MSU alumni to boost relations between current and former student-athletes.

During his fourth season as head coach, five university records were broken during the indoor season, and three in the outdoor. The staff saw major performances throughout the season, with multiple top-ten finishes at Texas Relays, as well as the SEC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Under his staff, Cameron Crump took gold in the long jump at the Indoor conference meet, then followed by silver at the NCAA Indoor Championships shortly after. Eight All-Americans were produced at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, highlighted by Tony Jones tying for fourth, and Cameron Crump finishing in fifth. In the professional realm, Woods had four former Bulldogs find success at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, with Marco Arop winning gold in the 800m for Team Canada.
For the 2022 season, Woods and his staff saw seven university records fall between the indoor and outdoor seasons. The staff saw large results at the SEC Indoor Championships, with multiple top-five finishes. At the Outdoor Championship, 800m runner Navasky Anderson, and javelin thrower DJ Jónsson walked away with gold medal finishes, placing first in their respective events, accompanied by multiple top-five finishes. Eight All-Americans emerged from the NCAA Indoor National Championship, and three All-Americans were produced for the Outdoor Championships, highlighted by Anderson earning silver at the latter meet. In the professional circuit, Woods had one current athlete and five former athletes compete at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Anderson Peters of Grenada walked away with his second world title in the javelin, the first won in 2019. Marco Arop finished third in the 800 m for Team Canada.

Woods’ 2021 season saw many spots in the record book overturned and updated, for both indoor and outdoor season. His team produced two All-Americans from the NCAA Indoor Championships, while developing nine All-Americans for the Outdoor Championships. The team had several All-SEC selections across the board for their performances at the conference meet. Coach April Thomas’ throwers threw to a first and second place finish at SECs and then had a second, fourth and fifth place finish at the NCAA Championship meet. Woods had four current and three former student-athletes competing at the USATF Olympic Trials, with six former athletes making their respective Olympic Teams. Two of those were ones he had personally coached – Marco Arop and Brandon McBride, running the 800m for Team Canada.

In his first season at the helm, Woods and his staff saw it be cut short by COVID-19. For the 2020 indoor season, State started off strong with 38 top-10 finishers at the UAB Blazer Invitational. They’d go on to have eight athletes compete to personal bests at the Vanderbilt Invite and then 15 top-three finishes at Michigan’s Power 5 Invitational. At Clemson’s Tiger Paw Invite and Vanderbilt’s Music City Challenge, the Bulldogs had six student-athletes post personal bests, one set a school record and had 14 top-10 finishers. Charlotte Cayton-Smith, Dejon Devroe and Jesse Henderson advanced to the finals at the SEC Indoor Championships in College Station. The outdoor season would be canceled, halting the State alumni’s first year at the head coach position.
After guiding the Mississippi State men’s team to its third-highest point total in school history at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Chris Woods was named head coach of the Bulldog men’s and women’s track and field teams, Director of Athletics John Cohen announced June 14, 2019.

“We conducted a national search, and the best fit for our next head coach was right here in Starkville,” Cohen said. “I am excited for Chris and the future of Mississippi State track and field. Chris knows exactly what it means to be a Bulldog having lettered and served as assistant coach and interim head coach at Mississippi State. Our program continues to produce many of the world’s best, All-Americans and champions at a record pace. Chris understands what it takes for our program to continue the path to championships and develop our student-athletes to the fullest. My sincere congratulations goes out to Chris, Wanda, Trace and Cade.”

“This is one of the happiest days of my life,” Woods said upon his hiring. “It’s an honor to serve my alma mater and a dream come true. I would like to thank my family who stuck with me through the process. I also would like to thank John Cohen and (President) Mark Keenum for this wonderful opportunity. I love Mississippi State. It’s important that every day, we put our best foot forward always in the best interest of Mississippi State. My vision for Mississippi State track and field is for us to climb even further heights with the focus on winning championships.”

Shortly after being named head coach, back-to-back NCAA Champion Anderson Peters and three-time All-American Marco Arop found success on the global stage. Peters won gold at the Pan American Games while shattering the Pan Am record with a personal-best and MSU-record throw of 87.31m. He went on the claim the IAAF World Championship in October of that year.
Arop won gold at the Pan American Games, clocking a meet-record and MSU record 1:44.25 in the 800m. Arop advanced to the 800m finals at the IAAF World Championships after clocking in at 1:45.07 to place second in his semifinal heat, and would go on to finish seventh in the world in the finals.

Woods had served as the interim head coach since Sept. 20, 2018, after five seasons as a sprinters and relays coach for both the MSU men and women. With its 11th-place and 24-point showing at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, State secured its third-highest point total in program history and second-best mark since 1982. Woods helped guide the men and women to a combined seven All-America honors in the 2019 outdoor season.

MSU’s men put together the most-decorated outdoor season in program history, claiming more SEC Athletes of the Week and USTFCCCA National Athletes of the Week than ever before along with four All-America accolades.
The Bulldogs put six men on the podium at the SEC Championships, the most since State earned eight medals in 2003. They finished the conference meet with 57 points, their highest total since 2012. MSU’s eighth-place SEC Outdoors finish was its best since 2015. Woods spearheaded the Bulldogs to nine medals, representing their most since 2003.

In addition, a total of 28 men and women athletes qualified for the NCAA East Prelims, which was a program record. The Bulldog men broke two school records, including the oldest, untied, Championship-event record in the program’s record book.
The highlight of the 2019 outdoor season came when The Bowerman semifinalist Peters led an MSU javelin sweep of the podium. Peters successfully defended his national title, becoming the first MSU athlete to claim consecutive national championships. He threw a personal-best 86.62m (284-2), breaking his own school, meet and national records. Peters landed three attempts beyond 84.00m and threw six collegiate all-time top-10 marks this year alone.

State’s trio of Peters, Curtis Thompson and Tyriq Horsford was just the 11th sweep of any event podium in NCAA history. Stephen Jones broke Simeon Kigen’s steeplechase record that had stood since 1982 by one second. In all, nine new marks landed in the men’s all-time top five last year.

On the women’s side, Tiffany Flynn and Logan Boss both earned All-America status to close their storied careers earlier this month. Flynn finished eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 13.32m, while Boss tied for 12th in the high jump, clearing 1.78m. The 2019 outdoor season saw four women’s school records fall along with two freshmen records. The Bulldogs added 14 new marks to the program’s all-time outdoor top five.

In his time as an assistant, Woods coached Bulldog athletes to 17 All-American selections and two SEC championships. His student-athletes hold over 40 times in the MSU record books. In 2018 alone, Woods’ athletes put 15 new marks among the top five in MSU history.

Four of the top five times in both the men’s and women’s indoor 4x400m relay came under his watch. In the men’s indoor 800m, all top-five times are held by athletes coached by Woods himself.

In 2018, he coached Marco Arop to a runner-up finish at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also led Ro’Derick Spears to a school-record 13.65 in the outdoor 110m hurdles. Spears also joined Herbert Wise III, Willie-Lionel Reed, and Charles Brockman III to break the school record in the outdoor shuttle hurdle relay twice that year. He also coached the 400m leg of the women’s indoor distance medley relay that set the MSU record in 2017 and the women’s indoor 4x400m relay team that broke that record in 2015.
In 2014, Woods coached Brandon McBride to the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor title in the 800m, followed by the SEC title at the 2016 conference championship. Under his coaching, the 4x400m squad took third at that same championship.

Woods competed as a middle-distance athlete for the Maroon and White from 2005-08. As a student-athlete, Woods garnered two-time All-America honors and four-time All-SEC accolades.

Before coming to MSU, Woods served as head coach for the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Before his time with Claflin, Woods was instrumental in the success of Abilene Christian University’s track and field program as the men’s and women’s long sprints and middle and long-distance coach. Under his direction at Abilene Christian, Woods aided his team to back-to-back NCAA Division II National Championships in men’s track and field.

In 2011, Woods coached five runners who garnered multiple honors. Desmond Jackson claimed five All-America honors, Amos Sang claimed four All-America accolades, while Jordan Geary, Partis Rovertson, and Lavance Williams each claimed All-America honors under Woods’ direction.

In 2010, Woods coached nine All-America athletes, including multiple All-America honorees Desmond Jackson, James Hardin, and Amos Sang.

A native of Covington, Georgia, Woods graduated from MSU in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in clinical exercise physiology. Woods is married to former two-time Olympic sprinter Wanda Hutson. The couple has two sons, Trace and Cade.