Dr. Don McGarey is back for his 11th season as the Associate Head Coach of the men's and women's cross country teams.
A former distance runner at Louisiana State University, McGarey has developed demanding training regiments that get the most out of his runners. Under his tutelage, the KSU women won the 2005 Atlantic Sun Championship in their first year in the league. Overall, the Owl men and women have placed in the top-4 every year at the A-Sun Championships since joining the league in 2005.
In addition to getting the most out of his runners on a daily basis, McGarey is in charge of recruiting and scheduling. He also is the head coach of the men's and women's track and field programs.
McGarey arrived at KSU with a wealth of coaching experience. Following his time as a student-athlete, he served on the coaching staff at LSU as a Graduate Assistant while he obtained a Masters degree in Microbiology. After earning his Doctorate in Biology at the University of South Florida, he joined the faculty at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, and became an assistant coach with the Gamecocks' Cross Country program.
McGarey left JSU to join the faculty at Kennesaw State in 1998. After spending a year at the school, he joined head coach Stan Sims' staff as an assistant. Together the two would would lead the men's and women's Cross Country teams to nine Peach Belt championships and a men's NCAA Division II Regional Championship during the program's final six years before making the transition to Division I.
Additionally, Marjo Venalainen would win the 1999 and 2000 NCAA Division II Women's National Championship and be named the NCAA Division II Women's Runner of the Year in 2001 while being coached by McGarey. During his tenure, seven runners would be named NCAA Division II All-Americans, and 28 runners were named NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region performers.
McGarey is an Associate Professor in the department of Biological and Physical Sciences at KSU, and is the head coach of the Owls men's and women's Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field programs. Don, his wife Toni, and their children Alex and Chance currently make their home in Kennesaw.
