Bolivar, Mo. – SBU Head Cross Country and Track and Field coach Corey McElhaney is entering his 18^th season leading the Bearcats. During his tenure he has coached more than 50 All-Americans, two National Champions, and five team conference championships.
 
McElhaney has been successful outside of the track and race course as this past year he earned the SBU Staff Life Beautiful award, the highest honor you can achieve as an SBU staff member. This award is given to those who exemplifies Christ-like behavior with others, engages actively in their Church and community, continually strives to improve their quality of work, and demonstrates sincere willingness to serve others through their roles at SBU.
 
After his graduation from SBU in 2006 he has done nothing but develop and build the cross country/track and field program into the powerhouse it is today. He won his first cross country conference title in 2008, just two years after taking over the program, SBU's first MIAA Championship. He continued to build the women's cross-country program winning in 2013, 2015, & 2016. It only took him two years in the GLVC to claim their first conference title in 2020. McElhaney has led the Bearcats to six NCAA National Cross-Country Team Qualifications. He was named MIAA coach of the year four times and GLVC coach of the year once. In 2015, he earned the USTFCCCA Central Regional Coach of the Year after leading the women's team to a Regional Championship.
 
On the track, his teams have consistently been in contention for the title, both indoor & outdoor, but the Championship has evaded him. This is only a minor setback to McElhaney's dominance on the track as he has coached two individual National Champion titles. These belong to Natalie O'Keefe who won the NCAA indoor high jump in 2016 & 2017. His athletes have won over 100 individual conference titles in both indoor and outdoor championships, including 16 total this past season. As well, the Bearcats had a near complete sweep on the track winning 3 out of the 4 GLVC track athlete of the year awards.
 
His teams have also had success in classroom as his program has had 5 NCAA Elite 90 recipients during his career. This award is handed out to the athlete with the highest GPA competing at NCAA Nationals. The Bearcats have also had over 150 USTFCCCA Academic All-American's. Also, the women's cross-country team tied for the highest team GPA in the Nation in 2018-19.
 
McElhaney added to his SBU degrees after completing his Master of Education in 2013. He currently resides in Bolivar with his wife, Christine, their daughter, Carlee and son, Casen.