Jon Bell is in this third season as head coach of the Saint Louis University cross country and track and field squads. After serving the 2007 as interim head coach, he was officially named head coach in the summer of 2008. Since taking over the reigns of both the cross country and track and field programs - the latter of which was formed in just 2006 - Bell has the Billikens in position to compete both regionally and in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Bell and his staff have recruited a number of student-athletes who have made immediate contributions. During the 2008-09 indoor track and field campaign, the Billikens had their first individual conference champion as St. Louisan Brittney Cloudy won the triple jump in the A-10 indoor meet, also qualifying her for the USA Junior meet. During the outdoor campaign, freshman Dahmar Smiles qualified for the USA Junior Championships in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Including Brian Holdmeyer's (10,000 meters) appearance in 2008, Bell has coached three athletes who have advanced to the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships. On the cross country side, the Billikens have shown consistent improvement under Bell's watch. In 2008, Bell led the women's cross country and track and field squads to their best season in school history as the Billikens placed sixth in the A-10 Championship. In 2009, SLU had its first A-10 All-Conference performer as sophomore Hilary Orf placed 13th in the meet held at Forest Park in St. Louis. The men's team, loaded with mainly underclassmen, improved its finish by one spot in the 2009 conference championship. In addition to achievement on the track and course, Bell also stresses achievement in the classroom. In 2009, the track and field program was named to the NCAA Division I All-Academic team list. The men's squad posted a 3.211 team GPA, which ranked 12th in the country and first among Atlantic 10 Conference schools. The women's squad had a 3.332 GPA to rank 35th nationally. Since 2008, the Billikens have placed 15 student-athletes on the A-10's All-Academic Team. Mary Moloney, a 2009 graduate and recipient of the inaugural "Get in the Game" Scholarship, was the lone A-10 competitor in the 2008-09 academic year to be named to the All-Academic teams in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Laura Coyer achieved ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors in 2008, the first time in school history a cross country or track and field athlete earned such an honor. Bell was named interim head coach of the Billikens in August of 2007 following Mike Nelson's resignation to take a similar position at Marquette. Bell joined the Billikens as a volunteer assistant coach prior to the 2007 track and field seasons after spending one year as an assistant track and field coach at Utah Valley State. At UVSU, he was a recruiting coordinator for the NCAA Division I institution and assisted in all facets of the program. Bell worked with four student-athletes who broke school records, and one who claimed an NCAA Independent championship. Bell was a graduate assistant coach at Emporia State (Kan.) University from 2003 to 2005. He coached two NCAA Division II All-American long jumpers and sent 10 student-athletes to the NCAA Division II National Championships. Bell began his coaching career at his alma mater, St. Mary's (Minn.) University, in 2002. He also served as head girls' track and field coach at Winona High School in 2003. After graduating from St. Mary's with a bachelor's degree in 2002, he went on to earn a master's in health, physical education and recreation from Emporia State in 2005. |
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