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Mark Conover
Director of Track and Field/Cross
Country
Second Season (Track), 15th Season (Cross Country)
Humboldt State 1983
After coaching the men’s cross country team to seventh
straight and 10 Big West Conference Championships during his
tenure, Mark Conover was named Cal Poly's Director of Track and
Field / Cross Country on Dec. 30, 2009
Conover is currently in his 15th season at Cal Poly and has led
the Mustangs to 12 appearances at the NCAA Cross Country
Championships, six of those as a team. He has coached the
men’s team to four top-20 finishes, including 13th in 2003,
10th in 2004, 13th in 2006 and 11th in 2007.
“I am honored to be selected as the Director of Track and
Field and Cross Country at Cal Poly,” Conover said
in December. “To be in the position to lead the program
into the next decade is a coach's dream. Cal Poly offers everything
that is necessary when it comes to having a successful program due
to its prestigious academic standing and the 'learn by doing'
experience that is offered to the student-athlete in a setting that
is second to none.
“I look forward to providing a positive environment that
will allow the student-athlete to obtain academic and athletic
excellence. I also look forward to recruiting and coaching bright,
energetic and passionate young men and women who seek the
outstanding education and athletic opportunity that Cal Poly
offers.”
Conover has been named the Big West Conference Men’s Coach
of the Year eight times and the United States Track and Field and
Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) West Region coach of
the year twice (2000 and 2003).
During his tenure at Cal Poly, Conover has coached a pair of
two-time All-Americans in both track and cross country. He has
coached 23 NCAA West Region men’s and women’s track and
field qualifiers and 28 individual NCAA All-West Region men and
women in cross country.
Conover also has coached 26 Big West Conference individual
champions in track and cross country, produced three Big West
Conference Track Athletes of the Year, seven Big West Cross Country
Athletes of the Year, two Freshman Track Athletes of the Year and
seven Freshman Cross Country Athletes of the Year.
He has coached 27 men and women to Cal Poly top-ten all-time track
and field marks, including the school record-holder in the
men’s 5,000 meters and women’s steeplechase
The women’s cross country team, which he assisted before
assuming full duties, had their highest conference finish in eight
years in 2009 (third). Women’s cross country also earned NCAA
All-Academic team honors in 2007 and won the 2004-05 and 2007-08
Big West Conference team GPA awards.
“Cal Poly has a long-standing tradition of excellence in the
sports of track and field and cross country, with numerous
All-Americans as well as alumni who went on to become
Olympians,” Conover said. “That fact, combined with the
number of successful coaches who came before me and the number of
alumni who are currently successful high school and collegiate
coaches, truly make it special to be the Director of Track and
Field and Cross Country at Cal Poly. The program has a special
place in the hearts of many alumni and fans of the sport who have
been associated with Cal Poly.”
Conover coached the Cal Poly athlete of the year in 2007 as well
as the Big West Conference scholar-athlete of the year in 2005 and
the Cal Poly scholar-athlete of the year in both 2005 and 2008.
Conover was a nine-time All-American distance runner at Humboldt
State, and earned the rare distinction of becoming an All-American
in all three NCAA divisions (I, II and III). He was the national
champion in the 10,000 meters in track in 1981 and in cross
country, also in 1981.
In 1988, Conover was the Olympic Trials Champion in the marathon
and went on to run at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He competed
professionally from 1984-96 and was a four-time U.S. Olympic Trials
qualifier.
A graduate of Miramonte High School in Orinda, Calif., Conover
earned his bachelor’s degree in natural resource planning and
interpretation at Humboldt State in 1983 and earned his
master’s degree at Cal Poly in city and regional planning in
1989.
Conover, who survived a battle with Hodgkin’s Disease in
1993 and 1994, was inducted into the Humboldt State University Hall
of Fame in 1993.
Prior to his coaching stint at Cal Poly, Conover was an assistant
planner with San Luis Obispo County from 1989-92 and editor of a
magazine, The Runner’s Schedule, from 1992-95. He served
internships in the planning departments for the city of San Luis
Obispo in 1985 and Morro Bay in 1987.
Mark lives with his wife, Kelly, in San Luis Obispo. They had
triplets in May 2007 -- two girls, Audrey and Marley, and a boy,
Cordell.
Kelly Strong
Arizona State, 2002
Cal Poly track and field director Mark Conover completed his
staff during the 2010-11 season as the Cal Poly Athletics
Department announced that former University of Washington assistant
coach Kelly Strong has joined the Mustang program in a similar
capacity.
Strong arrives on the central coast following a nine-year stint
with the University of Washington, where she helped form one of the
nation’s elite distance programs, accentuated by the women
winning the 2008 NCAA Team Championship in Cross Country. Over the
past two years, due to Strong’s involvement in recruiting and
coaching, UW garnered two Pac-10 titles, two podium finishes, four
Olympic Trials qualifiers, and 27 All-American honors in cross
country and on the track.
Much like Coach Conover, the former Arizona State graduate has a
history of elite success both as a runner and as a coach. After
helping build the distance program as an athlete in Tempe, the
Oregon native went back to the Northwest to help guide the young
women in Seattle. In her nine years as a coach, the Washington
teams qualified for NCAA’s all but twice, and the last three
finishes (8th, 1st, 3rd) were
highest in school history.
Her reputation as one of the nation’s best recruiters, as
well as her ability to connect with student-athletes played a large
part in that success, and it is the reason Conover is excited
having her take part in the growing distance tradition in San Luis
Obispo.
"Kelly is a great addition to the staff, said Conover. “Her
experiences as a top-level athlete and coach are assets that will
be valuable to the program. Her ability in recruiting, aiding in
daily operations of a program, along with her skill in helping the
student-athlete find success have all been proven. She fits all the
criteria I had for this position, so ultimately we can continue to
provide a great overall experience for our student-athletes both
academically and athletically at Cal Poly."
The newest Mustang is a 2002 graduate of Arizona State. During her
collegiate career, she earned five All-America honors and three
Pac-10 titles, and she set five school records. Following that, she
ran for Asics, and represented them in three Olympic Trials. In
2008, she also set the American record in the 2,000-meter
steeplechase (6:25.98), and ranked seventh in U.S. history in the
3,000-meter steeple (9:47.68).
She was recognized in 2002 with ASU's Pac-10 Medal, and was ASU's
Athlete of the Year in 2001-02.
“I am overjoyed with the opportunity. In a place like Cal Poly, there are so many things that are distinct. San Luis Obispo is such a beautiful town that is fifteen minutes from the Pacific Ocean, hosts an elite institute of higher learning, and has a history of great distance running. Mark’s coaching ability and success speaks for itself, and I am enthusiastic about how our styles will mesh in helping the Mustangs continue to rise to the top. I think we have a lot of good things to look forward to, starting with Cross Country 2010.”
