Bio

Eamon McKenna enters his 13th year with the UW-Oshkosh track & field programs, including his 10th straight in an assistant role in 2023-24. McKenna also entered his eighth year as head coach of the UW-Oshkosh women’s cross country team and 11th season as the head coach for men's cross country.

McKenna was named 2022 NCAA Division III North Region Women's Indoor Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

McKenna was the Titan men's track & field head coach from 2013-15 and an assistant for the program since 2016 as well assisting the women's track & field team since 2012.

As head coach McKenna guided track & field athletes to four NCAA Division III individual titles (two indoors, two outdoors), All-America awards in 47 events (24 indoors, 23 outdoors) and WIAC individual championships in 22 events (seven indoors, 15 outdoors). He also helped athletes to one NCAA Division III Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and one Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.

McKenna's men's indoor track & field team was the NCAA Division III runner-up in 2013 before finishing third at the national meet in 2014 and eighth in 2015. His outdoor teams placed third in the country in 2013, fourth in 2014 and 39th in 2015.

At the WIAC Men's Track & Field Championships, McKenna's squads finished second at both the 2013 indoor and outdoor meets as well as at the 2014 outdoor event.

At the helm of the Titan cross country programs, McKenna has guided the UW-Oshkosh women to one WIAC title and two Division III Championship appearances while helping the men's team to three NCAA appearances.

During his first season as the UW-Oshkosh women's cross country coach in 2015, McKenna earned WIAC Coach of the Year honors as the Titans secured their 16th league title and first since winning 15 straight from 1986-2000.

McKenna has guided women's runners to three All-American performances, six top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and 12 runners to top-10 finishes at the WIAC Championship, including 2016 and 2017 league individual champion Cheyenne Moore.

With the men's cross country team, McKenna has coached three All-Americans, 11 runners to top-10 finishes at the WIAC Championship and four runners to top-10 showings at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional. In 2012 UW-Oshkosh's John Dewitt earned his second consecutive Division III Men's Cross Country Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average at each of the NCAA's 90 championships.

McKenna returned to the Titans after spending the 2011-12 school year as an assistant coach in both cross country and track & field at Wisconsin Lutheran College. He also possesses coaching experience from two years (2009-10) as an assistant coach at Mount Mary University and four years (2005-08) as an assistant coach at Oconomowoc High School. McKenna began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the UW-Oshkosh men’s cross country team in 2003.

McKenna competed for the UW-Oshkosh men’s cross country team from 1999-2002 and the Titans track & field squads from 2000-04. The Titans captured conference, regional and national cross country championships in 2002 while also winning the WIAC title in 2000.

McKenna’s finest cross country season came in 2002, when he earned All-America honors with his 25th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championship. He placed seventh at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional in 2002 and 12th in 2001.

McKenna earned three All-America citations as a participant in track & field from 2000-04. He competed indoors from 2000-02 and again in 2004 and outdoors from 2000-03. UW-Oshkosh won the WIAC indoor title in 2001 and placed second at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship in both 2001 and 2003. The Titans finished third at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship in 2003.

On the outdoor track, McKenna gained All-America citations by placing sixth in the 10,000-meter run and eighth in the 5,000-meter run at the 2003 NCAA Division III Championship. He also earned All-America status with his eighth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run at the 2002 NCAA Division III Indoor Championship. The Oconomowoc native won the 5,000-meter run at the 2003 WIAC Outdoor Championship.

McKenna earned numerous academic awards while attending UW-Oshkosh. In 2002 and 2003, the College Sports Information Directors of America voted McKenna to its Men’s Cross Country/Men’s Track and Field Academic All-America team. He was named the winner of the WIAC Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Award in 2002 and the UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Senior Scholar-Athlete Award in 2003.

McKenna received his bachelor’s degree from UW-Oshkosh in 2004. The 339th-place finisher (2:55.17) in the 2012 Boston Marathon then earned a master’s degree from UW-Milwaukee in 2008. McKenna also has taught middle school and high school Spanish classes in the Milwaukee area.

(9/21/2022)