NORMAL, Ill.—Mary Wood has had success in many areas in track and field—both as an associate head coach at Gardner Webb and as a student-athlete at Eastern Illinois – and she will look to continue that success with the Illinois State pole vaulters, triple and long jumpers in her new role as an assistant track and field coach, as announced by director of track and field and cross country Jeff Bovee Tuesday.
"I'd like to thank Jeff for the opportunity to join such a fantastic staff and team at Illinois State," Wood said. "I'm incredibly excited to serve the student-athletes and to assist Jeff in the realization of his vision for the future."
Wood comes to Illinois State after serving two years as the associate head track and field coach at Gardner Webb, focusing on the Bulldog jumpers and vaulters, where she coached 10 Big South Conference Champions, four NCAA Division I regional qualifiers, two USA Junior National qualifiers, 47 All-Conference performers and guided six student-athletes to Gardner Webb school records.
"Mary comes to us from Gardner-Webb, where she was the associate head coach," Bovee said. "She had responsibilities as the recruiting coordinator and was also the coach for sprints, hurdles, multi-events and pole vault. She has a vast background in a number of event areas, which was definitely something that stood out during the search. She also has Illinois ties, and when it comes to connections with the high school coaches around the state, that is a big plus."
In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Wood has also worked with Sky Jumpers vertical sports camps, Eastern Illinois track and field camps, University of Illinois vault club, Olivet Nazarene vault camp and Lincoln track club. She has connections throughout the state of Illinois and will be a recruiting asset to the ISU staff.
Wood is an equally respected student-athlete, as she once held both the indoor and outdoor pole vault records at Eastern Illinois. As a team captain at EIU, Wood was a three-time Ohio Valley Conference indoor pole vault champion. She was a five-time OVC pole vault runner-up and an eight-time all-conference honoree in the pole vault.
Wood graduated from Eastern Illinois with a Bachelor of art in history, social science and education. She earned her Master's degree from Gardner Webb in sports science and pedagogy.
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