Paul Wright is entering his third season as the head coach of Lindenwood men’s and women’s cross country and track and field programs. Since coming to St. Charles, Wright has won 11 out of a possible 12 HAAC Championships, including sweeping all six championships during the 2008-09 school year.
In cross country, Lindenwood’s men team has won the HAAC Championships both years under Wright. Each time, four of the top six runners were from Lindenwood, including Ivaylo Ignatov who won the 2008 title. The 2007 team had one of the top in school history by finishing third at the national championships. The women’s team won the 2009 HAAC title behind individual champion Francine Nzilampa and finished 22nd at the national meet.
In track and field, Lindenwood has swept the men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor conference titles since 2008. The men’s team has finished in the Top 20 at each national meet in that span, including 11th in both indoor and outdoor in 2009. The women’s team had a pair of Top 10 finishes in 2009, coming in sixth at the indoor meet and third at the outdoor national competition. Wright has coached four student-athletes to six NAIA National Champions in the last two years. Last summer, two Lindenwood athletes participated in the World University Games.
Track and field athletes have also excelled academically the last two years. In 2009, eight track and field athletes were named NAIA Scholar-Athletes and four were ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selections.
Before he came to Lindenwood, Wright was the head coach at Southern Virginia for six years. His women's teams won six straight United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) cross country titles and five straight National Small School Championships. Wright's men's squads finished third or better in his last six USCAA cross country and track championships, including national titles in 2002 and 2006.
Prior to coaching at Southern Virginia, Wright was the head coach from 1996-2001 for an Elite Running Group in Salt Lake City, Utah. While there, he coached three athletes who qualified for the Olympic Trials.
Wright was an all-conference performer and NCAA Division I qualifier at Clemson. He won the 1992 ACC championship in the 4x800m and was the runner-up the next season. Wright was a part of four ACC Indoor Championship teams and three ACC Outdoor Championship squads.
Wright graduated with both his BA and MS degrees from Clemson. He earned a bachelor of science in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management in 1993, and earned his master’s in 1996 in the same subject. In 2001, Wright earned a Ph.D. in Parks, Recreation and Tourism (Therapeutic Recreation) from the University of Utah. He has published over twenty journal articles, book chapters, or technical reports, and has presented locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
