AMES, Iowa – Andrea Grove-McDonough, who quickly turned the Connecticut women’s cross country team into a Top 10 program nationally, has joined the Iowa State coaching staff as Head Women’s Cross Country and Assistant Track & Field Coach.
“Andrea is a superb addition to our staff and she will make an immediate and dramatic impact,” Iowa State Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Martin Smith said Wednesday. “I was impressed with her ability to lead an incredible resurgence at UCONN and quickly identified her as the perfect candidate to further develop our outstanding foundation in distance running at Iowa State.”
Grove-McDonough coached five seasons at UCONN as an Assistant Track & Field Coach, including the last two as Head Women’s Cross Country Coach. Her 2011 Huskie team earned a national ranking for the first time in school history and last fall’s team finished eighth (one spot ahead of Iowa State) at the 2012 NCAA Championship.
UCONN was second in both the 2012 BIG EAST Women’s Cross Country Championship and the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet prior to earning the school’s first-ever NCAA Championship bid. The Huskies also recorded their highest ever national ranking (14th) last fall.
“It’s very humbling to have the opportunity to lead our women’s distance program at Iowa State,” Grove-McDonough said. “The Cyclones have a great tradition, both historically and in recent times, and I’m motivated to add to that legacy. It’s also a great opportunity to work alongside Coach Smith, who is nationally recognized as one of the best in the business. Finally, the resources and facilities available at Iowa State position us to become one of the nation’s best training centers for distance runners.”
Grove-McDonough earned 2012 NCAA Northeast Regional Coach-of-the-Year and BIG EAST Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honors.
The UCONN program made steady progress with Grove-McDonough’s guidance. Part of the growth included her team earning All-Academic recognition from the USTFCCCA three times.
On the track, the Huskies set school records in the 800m, 1,000m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 3,000m steeplechase and 10,000m during her tenure. She coached five All-Americans.
Prior to becoming a coach, Grove-McDonough had an outstanding professional running career. A two-time national titlist, she won the 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters and ran the seventh-fastest time in that event in her nation’s history. She ran professionally for 12 years and was a seven-time National Team member.
Grove-McDonough was ranked second in Canada in the 5,000 meters in 2002, 2006 and 2007 and first in the nation in the 10,000 meters in 2008. Her personal bests include: 2:07.12 in the 800m, 4:11.04 in the 1,500m, 15:31.29 in the 5,000m and 32:29.86 in the 10,000m.
As a collegiate runner at Minnesota, Grove-McDonough earned All-America honors in the 1,500m with a fifth-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Outdoor Championship. She was team captain from 1994-96 and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors. She earned her degree in Human Resource Management.
Upon graduation from college, she helped coach the women’s and men’s cross country teams at the University of Montana.
The native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is married to former All-America decathlete Troy McDonough.
