Jon Bell Named Head Coach
June 19, 2008
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University athletics announced today that Jon Bell will guide the cross country and track and field programs on a full-time basis. Bell had been serving as interim head coach of the programs for the past year. "I am thankful for this opportunity because I truly believe that Saint Louis cross country and track and field can be successful," Bell said. "Last season was an important stepping-stone in the process of building this program because we showed we can compete with some of the top teams in the conference and our region. With one of the best recruiting classes in SLU cross country and track and field history coming in, as well as the support of the administration, I believe we will continue to compete at a high level. Our goal is to soon be competing for Atlantic 10 Championships and NCAA Championship bids." "We are pleased to formally introduce Jon as head coach of the cross country and track and field teams," senior associate director of athletics Doug McIlhagga said. "As we anticipated, Jon performed admirably during a challenging interim period after taking over on short notice prior to the fall 2007 cross country season. His teams reacted positively to his leadership, showed steady improvement throughout the year and continued to achieve at a high level academically." Bell led the cross country and track and field squads to arguably their best seasons in school history. In the fall, the women's cross country squad finished seventh at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships, easily its best finish since joining the league three year ago. In addition, a youthful men's squad posted school records and had its first student-athlete claim weekly conference honors when Steve Vargas was named A-10 Cross Country Performer of the Week in October. The steady improvement under Bell's watch carried over into the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, as the Billikens continued to break school records and establish personal-best marks. For the first time in track and field's two-year existence, SLU entered student-athletes in a variety of field events and was able to field a team in the majority of the relay events.
Bell's student-athletes also succeeded in the classroom. Five Billikens were tabbed Academic All-Conference in the indoor track and field season, while three earned the honor following the outdoor season. Laura Coyer achieved ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors, 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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