Andrea Grove-McDonough - Cross Country Coach - University of North Carolina Athletics

Andrea Grove-McDonough

Title:
Head Cross Country Coach | Assistant Coach (Distance)
Email:
coachmcd@email.unc.edu
Phone:
919-962-5215

Grove-McDonough joins Carolina after a five-year stint as the head cross country and assistant men's and women's track and field coach at Iowa State University. During her time with the Cyclones, she directed the training of all cross country and long distance events ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters. Grove-McDonough also oversaw recruiting for the women's programs in her events.

The Minnesota graduate led the Iowa State women's cross country team to the last five NCAA Championships and even coached the 2014 roster to a runner-up finish. Her cross country program has won four of the past five Big 12 Conference Championships, and she has helped develop 11 All-America competitors across the cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field programs. Nine of her athletes achieved the coveted title of conference champions and two of her relays captured conference gold.

Academically, Grove-McDonough's programs at Iowa State excelled just as much in the classroom as on the course. For five consecutive years, her teams received USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition and the women's programs held the highest team GPA across all women's programs at the university.

Prior to her position at Iowa State, Grove-McDonough held the same set of roles at the University of Connecticut beginning in October 2008. While with the Huskies, she led the women's cross country team to their first ever appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and recorded an eighth-place finish at the 2012 NCAAs. Six of her athletes on the indoor and outdoor track and field teams achieved All-America status while 12 individuals and three relays qualified for both NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Grove-McDonough's athletes at Connecticut were also awarded All-Academic team honors by the USTFCCCA from 2009 to 2012.

Due to her success with her two previous universities, Grove-McDonough is a four-time Big 12 Conference Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year, a three-time USTFCCCA Midwest Region Cross Country Coach of the Year, and a two-time USTFCCCA Northeast Region Assistant Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year. In 2012, she was named Big East Conference Coach of the Year and USTFCCCA Norteast Region Coach of the Year for cross country. The Big East also awarded the Connecticut indoor track and field coaching staff the honor of Coaching Staff of the Year in 2009.