David Chandler
Head Cross Country Coach; Asst

McMurry's head cross country coach David Chandler enters his seventh season in 2009. Chandler has been on McMurry's coaching staff since 2001 as an assistant to both track and cross country. In 2003, he became second head cross country coach in school history following Bill Libby.

As a coach, Chandler has enjoyed success on the course with both the men's and women's teams. The men's team has been to the NCAA Regional meet all six seasons under his direction and the men have been the ASC runner-up in all six as well.

In 2006, he helped the women win their first ASC Championship in school history and watched Carla Lewis become the second woman in school history to win the individual ASC Championship. That year, the men placed fifth in the NCAA Regional meet and the women finished 13th.

In 2008, Chandler saw junior Ken Wheeler make the NCAA Division III national meet; it was the first runner under Chandler's watch that advanced beyond regionals and the second in school history. Chandler's teammate Josh Hufstedler was the only other McMurry athlete to make nationals in 1999. Wheeler finished 153rd out of 280 runners, the best placing in school history and he set the school's 8K record at nationals with a time of 25:54.31.

McMurry's cross country team has a reputation of staying from start to finish and excelling in the classroom. Chandler's contributions have been significant as the 2008 men's team marked the third consecutive team to be named academic all-America as a whole. The criteria to become an academic all-America team are to place at the regional meet and have a cumulative GPA of 3.10 or higher.

Chandler was a four-year letterman in cross country as a student at McMurry before graduating in 2000. He won the American Southwest Conference individual cross country championship in both 1998 and 2000 and helped the men's team to an ASC Championship in 2000. He was also a member of McMurry's first intercollegiate cross country team in 1996 founded by then-head-coach Bill Libby.

All in all, Chandler was an all-conference selection four times, an academic all-conference selection three times and was named to the NCAA all-region team his senior year. He also was an ASC track champion taking the 800-meter title in 1997 and was named all-conference twice in track and field.

Chandler has directed long distance camps and clinics since 1999 and has spoken on several occasions at coaches' clinics on distance running including the Texas HS Girls Coaching School, Corpus Christi Track Coaches Clinic and the Mississippi HS Track Coaches Association.

He is a member of both the USA Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Associations and is USATF level I coach and has been a level II coach in endurance events since 2004.

Chandler graduated from McMurry with a B.S. in multidisciplinary studies with an emphasis in secondary history and physical education. He received his master's degree in sports recreation management from Hardin-Simmons in 2002. He also serves as a teacher in the physical education and servant leadership departments at McMurry.

Chandler, 31, married the former Janet Bohling in May 2002 and the couple resides in Abilene and has a son, Michael (1).

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