NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt women’s cross country and track and field officially welcomed Mary Angell on Friday. Angell will serve as the director of operations and completes the coaching staff for newly-appointed director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas.
“Vanderbilt University has an inspirational mission and vision that I am truly excited to be a part of,” Angell said. “I knew I had to jump at the opportunity to work with Coach AT, my former teammate Ashley Kovacs, and the rest of the staff. Together, I’m confident that we will provide an exceptional student-athlete experience and compete at the highest levels of the sport.”
“I’m excited for our staff and our student-athletes,” Thomas said. “Mary comes with a wide perspective as a former SEC track and field student-athlete and with operations background at two different universities. She understands what is needed to make a great operation and experience for the student-athletes.”
Angell brings operations experience from two different Universities and came to Vanderbilt after four years at UC San Diego where she was an athletics eligibility and scholar-athlete development advisor. While serving as the academic advisor for 12 varsity programs, she was also on the Integrity Advisory Council and in the Assessment and Evaluation Leadership Workgroup.
Prior to San Diego, Angell was the director of operations for the USC men’s and women’s track and field programs from 2013-16. She was also the director of operations for the University of Central Florida track and field programs as a graduate assistant during the 2012-13 season.
As a student-athlete at Kentucky, Angell was an NCAA qualifier in the discus. She earned multiple academic honors from the USTFCCCA, SEC and CoSIDA and made the finals of the Olympic Trials in 2012. Angell was also a college teammate with Kovacs.
A Michigan native and product of Byron Center High School, Angell set state records en route to a state discus title and three state championships in the shot put.
Angell earned her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Kentucky in 2012 and earned a master of education in postsecondary administration and student affairs at USC in 2016.
Vanderbilt cross country opens its 2021 campaign on Friday, Sept. 3 at the Mizzou Invite. A complete 2021-22 schedule for Vanderbilt track and field will be available later this Fall.
Be sure to follow Vanderbilt track and field on all social media platforms at @vandyxctrack.
