Women's Track & Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- willisdj@cofc.edu
- Phone:
- (843) 953-5309
David Willis enters his third year at the College of Charleston as an assistant coach for the cross country program.
Willis, a native of Paducah, Ky., helps oversee all aspects of the cross country program, working with both the men’s and the women’s teams as well as taking on operations responsibilities.
In 2015, coach Willis' tutelage played a key role as three runners cracked the CofC Top 10 lists. Before that in 2014, Willis helped guide standout CofC runner Mackenzie Johnston to a fourth place finish at the CAA Championship, the highest placement of a CofC runner at that meet in program-history. The Cougars finished 23rd at the NCAA Southeast Regionals, which was the highest team finish at NCAA's in the history of the program.
"I'm pleased to welcome David Willis to my staff,” said Seago. “He is an accomplished athlete who brings a wealth of experience from his competitive days. As a young coach he has a proven track record and has made strong connections with his athletes. I look forward to his help and believe his work will add another dimension of strength to our program.”
Willis comes to the Lowcountry after having spent the last five months as the head cross country coach at Rock Hill High School, in Rock Hill, S.C. Prior to being the head coach at Rock Hill, Willis mentored two individual state champions before joining the program as an assistant. In addition to his sporting duties, Willis works full time at the Sawgrass Technologies Company.
A talented runner himself, Willis contributed to high school state championships in Kentucky in both 2003 (cross country) and 2004 (t&f) before doing it again in South Carolina in 2006 (cross country). He then attended Eastern Kentucky on a track and field and cross country scholarship. While there, the Colonels managed four consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Championships in cross country and another conference title in indoor track and field. Willis graduated from EKU with a Bachelor of Science degree in graphics communications management with a minor in entrepreneurship.
“I'm thrilled to be here,” said Willis. “I’ve always had a dream of coaching at the division one level and I look forward to working with coach Seago and our talented group of student-athletes as we work towards achieving even greater heights for this program.”
