Mary Wood joined the South Alabama track & field coaching staff in August 2023 and is responsible for coaching the vertical jumps and combined events for the Jaguars.
Wood has been in the coaching profession for over 15-plus years and over that stretch, she has coached 32 conference champions, 20 NCAA Division I Preliminary Round qualifiers, three NCAA Championship qualifiers, five USA U20 National qualifiers, 14 school or conference record holders and 99 all-conference performers, as well as been part of 11 conference team championship programs.
The Lincoln, Ill., native arrives at South Alabama after spending one season at Louisville as an assistant coach where she worked with pole vaulters and combined events athletes. In her one season with the Cards, Wood helped guide Aliyah Welter (women's pole vault) and Paul Kallenberg (men's decathlon) to berths at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships, while Welter also qualified for the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships in the pole vault.
Kallenberg won his first ACC title, recording the highest point total (7,748) at the 2023 ACC Outdoor Championships in the men's decathlon, and earned him a qualifying mark to the NCAA Regional. He also set a new program record in the men's heptathlon (5,797) at the ACC Championship meet during the indoor season, while finishing as the conference runner-up in the event. The 5,797 points were both a new Louisville record and ranked as the 18th-highest total in the NCAA.
Welter finished second in the conference during the outdoor season and third during the indoor season in the women's pole vault. Welter earned Second-Team All-American honors during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, while Kallenberg did so during outdoor. Wood also helped five student-athletes earn qualifying marks to the 2023 NCAA East Region Preliminaries.
Prior to her time at Louisville, Wood spent the 2021-22 season at Illinois as an assistant coach where she primarily worked with men's and women's pole vault and men's combined events. During her time with the Illini, Wood helped Tori Thomas to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries in the pole vault along with a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships with a mark of 4.23m (13-10.5), good for second in program history. In all, three of Wood's athletes scored points at the Big Ten Championships. Additionally, she coached Aiden Ouimet to program record in the decathlon (7,348 points).
Wood also spent seven years at Illinois State (2014-21) including four seasons as associate head coach working with men's and women's the horizontal jumps and pole vault.
While at Illinois State, Wood coached 18 Missouri Valley Conference champions, 42 All-Valley performances, 14 NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifiers, five USA Junior National Qualifiers and six Illinois State record-holders. In addition, she helped the Redbirds claim 11 MVC team titles during her tenure, including four straight indoor championships with the Redbird women winning crowns in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, as well as a title in 2016. The women also won three outdoor championships (2018, 2019, 2021), while the men captured back-to-back indoor titles (2018, 2019).
During the 2021 campaign, Wood coached pole vaulter Kellen Kravik to his first MVC championship in the outdoor season as the Redbirds swept the podium. Kravik also set the school record in the pole vault at the Clark Wood Open with a mark of 5.26 meters (17-3.), which would qualify him for his second straight NCAA West Preliminary Championships.
For two years in a row (2019, 2020), Wood's pole vaulters swept the Valley indoor titles with Eddie Winner taking the crown on the men's side and Ariana Cranston winning her fourth-straight pole vault title between indoor and outdoor. Wood also guided jumper Charde Golliday to her first MVC title in the long jump and an All-Valley third place finish in the triple jump.
The 2018-19 season was highlighted by Wood's pole vaulters who won three MVC titles and had eight All-Valley performances.
Over the course of the 2017-18 campaign, Wood led Cranston and Ashenbremer to Valley Championships. Cranston was crowned the 2018 MVC Outdoor Pole Vault Champion, after being named the runner-up at the indoor Valley meet, while Ashenbremer collected both the MVC indoor and outdoor titles.
Wood guided the men's pole vault squad to dominating performances at both the MVC Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships. At the indoor meet, the Redbird vaulters claimed 29 points en route to the team title. Wood's men's pole vault group again swept the podium at the outdoor Valley meet.
In the horizontal jumps, Amanda McClain claimed her third straight indoor long jump title for the Redbirds at the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships. She would go on to win the outdoor Valley title as well, making her a five-time MVC Champion in the long jump. Under Wood's tutelage, McClain broke the 27-year-old Illinois State long jump record at the 2017 Indoor Valley Championships with a personal-best jump of 6.17 meters (20-3 ft.) and qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round in 2016 and 2017. Her NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifying-mark of 6.20 meters (20-4.5 ft.) in 2017 ranks second on ISU's all-time list.
During the 2016-17 campaign, Wood's athletes tallied 19 personal records, achieved 13 school top-10 performances, and established one Illinois State record. Wood's group also combined to score 42 points at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
The 2016 season was highlighted by Emily Clay's outdoor pole vault school record. Clay also won the Missouri Valley Indoor Championship title, helping the Redbird women's team to their first indoor team title since 1997. Clay went on to capture her second Missouri Valley title at the outdoor championships.
Prior to her time at Illinois State, Wood spent seven years (2007-14) at Gardner-Webb working with the men's and women's horizontal jumps, pole vault, combined events. She began her coaching career at Gardner-Webb as a graduate assistant coach in 2007, served as an assistant coach from 2008-12 and spent her final two seasons as the Bulldogs' associate head coach.
At Gardner-Webb, Wood coached 10 Big South Conference Champions with the Bulldogs and while helping her athletes amass 47 All-Conference Honors. Prior to the Runnin' Bulldogs' move to the Big South, Wood guided three athletes to Atlantic Sun Conference titles and six all-conference performances.
In 2014, pole vaulter Tyler Craig earned the Big South Freshman of the Year Award. Wood also sent two athletes to the USA Junior Championships and qualified four athletes to the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
Wood graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 2005 with bachelor's degrees in history, social science and education. During her athletic career at EIU, Wood was a team captain, three-time Ohio Valley Conference indoor champion in the pole vault, an eight-time OVC all-conference performer, and set both indoor and outdoor school and conference records.
Wood earned her master's degree in sport science and pedagogy from Gardner-Webb University in 2009. She completed her USATF Level I Coaching Certification in 2007 and earned her Level II Coaching Certification in Jumping Events in 2009.
