Craig Penney
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg Director of Athletics and Recreation Garnett Purnell announced that Craig Penney has been named the university’s new men’s and women’s cross country and track & field head coach. Penney will take over the two programs after the departure of Steve Shutt, who left in June after seven years to take over the same positions at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.
This season will mark Penney’s debut as a Tiger coach, but he has led cross country and track teams at six colleges in the past 29 years. One of his stops included Wittenberg rival and fellow North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) member College of Wooster. His most recent stop was Shenandoah University, where he was the head cross country coach and an administrative assistant for media relations. During his two years at Shenandoah, Penney guided five runners to all-conference honors and led three of those individuals to strong finishes in the NCAA Division III South Region Meet.
During Penney’s 16 years as a cross country and track & field coach he has been named conference coach of the year 12 times. In 2000, he was named the United States of America Track and Field Mid-East Regional Track and Field Coach of the Year. Beyond Penney’s individual accolades, his teams have won 15 conference titles. He has also produced 250 all-conference performers, 20 most valuable player awards, 52 National Qualifiers, and 32 All-Americans. He has also helped athletes set more than 70 new college records.
Not only has Penney led his individuals to high levels of competition, his teams have also held their own in the classroom. In 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003, his cross country teams earned Coaches Association Academic All-America recognition. Last year at Shenandoah, Penney’s women’s cross country team was one of 108 Division III schools to earn the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Academic Award with a 3.39 grade point average.
Penney has also been involved in other activities beyond coaching. From April 2003 through July 2004, Penney was the assistant conference planner and programmer for Penn State University Conferences & Institutes. He also has gained experience as a director of seven conference championship events and three NCAA Regional Cross Country Championships. During his time at Shenandoah as an administrative assistant, Penney helped to process media guide advertising and handled media relations responsibilities for postgame interviews.
“I am thrilled to be here at Wittenberg University,” Penney said. “The facilities here, the athletic philosophy and the high caliber of student-athletes that Wittenberg attracts make for a wonderful coaching situation. I look forward to continuing the process of building this outstanding program.”
Penney, who was a double major at Edinboro State University, earned his master’s degree in sports administration from Ashland University. He will take over a Wittenberg men’s cross country team that came in ninth at the NCAC meet last fall and was picked to finish in the same spot in this year’s coaches preseason poll. The Wittenberg women’s cross country team placed eighth at the same meet last year, and the Tigers are also picked to repeat in that position. In track and field, Wittenberg’s men’s team took fifth in the indoor conference championship meet and fourth in the outdoor event, while the Tiger women placed fourth and sixth in the two meets respectively.
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