John McDonnell (coach)
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John McDonnell (born July 2, 1938) is the current head coach for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks track team. He began as the cross country track coach for the University in 1972 and became head track coach in 1978.
[edit] Coaching accomplishments
Coach McDonnell led the track team to their first national championship while a member of the now-defunct Southwest Conference at the 1984 NCAA Indoor Championships. Since then, the University of Arkansas has won 42 NCAA championships, including 11 cross country, 19 indoor track and 12 outdoor track. Other schools have won only 24 combined NCAA titles in the three sports during the same period.
He has more national championships (42) than any coach in any sport in the history of college athletics. The next highest is 27 by Pat Henry, former LSU and current track coach at Texas A&M University.
McDonnell has also won five national triple crowns, including three in a row (1991-1994). Texas-El Paso has won three national triple crowns. No other school has ever won one.
In addition, McDonnell team and individual achievements include[1]:
- 20 conference triple crowns since 1982, including eight straight between 1987 and 1995
- 25 consecutive conference titles in cross country with indoor track and outdoor track combined from 1987 to 1995
- 72 conference championships in the last 77 events Arkansas has entered since 1981-1982
- 81 conference championships overall since 1974 including 38 in the SWC and 43 in the SEC (in 47 total events)
- 12 consecutive NCAA indoor track championships (1984-1995)
- coached 178 track All-Americans, earning 635 separate All-America honors
- 33 consecutive league cross country championships (1974-2006)[2]
- 54 individual national champions
- 23 Olympians coached spanning three decades and six different Olympic Games including gold, silver and bronze medalists
- his 1994 indoor track squad won the national championship by the widest margins in the history of the sport as well as scored the most points (94) in the history of the NCAA event
- his 1994 squad scored a meet record 223 points at the SEC Outdoor Championships
The Razorback outdoor track facility on the campus of the University of Arkansas is named for him. McDonnell has been honored as a member of the United States Track Coaches Hall of Fame, the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Southwestern Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Mayo Hall of Fame.
[edit] Life outside of coaching
McDonnell was born July 2, 1938, in County Mayo, Ireland. He was granted United States citizenship in 1969, the same year he graduated from University of Southwestern Louisiana. When McDonnell is not coaching, he enjoys spending time on his 2,500-acre cattle ranch in Pryor, Oklahoma. He reportedly owns over 650 head of cattle. The coach is also involved with several non-profit organizations, including the American Heart Association, the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute and works closely with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to promote Prostate Cancer Awareness. He is married to the former Ellen Elias of Bayonne, New Jersey and has two children, Heather and Sean.
