Chad Colwell - Track & Field Coach - University of Utah Athletics

Chad Colwell

Title:
Assistant Track & Field Coach
Email:
ccolwell@huntsman.utah.edu
Phone:
801-990-5731

Chad Colwell is in his fourth season as an assistant coach for the Utes, overseeing the sprints, hurdles, jumps and multi-event athletes. He brings over 10 years of experience to Utah, coaching at the Division I, Division II and NAIA levels throughout his career.

In just three seasons at the U, Colwell guided the Utes to 13 indoor and 17 outdoor new all-time top-10 times/marks, which includes an overall total of nine that rank among the school’s top-three times and marks.

He was instrumental in helping guide Utah athletes to set three new all-time school records, which included Taylor Watson setting new all-time indoor times in both the 55 and 60-meter dashes. Colwell was also instrumental in the 4x400 team setting a new record at the MPSF Indoor Championships in 2020. Earlier in the season, Kolbi Sims broke the pentathlon record held by Amanda Feigt for nearly 13 years after compiling 3,891 points at the Texas Tech Invite.

In 2019, he helped guide Skyler Blair run a sub-minute 400-meter hurdles time (59.72), which ranked as the fastest time for a freshman in the Pac-12 and was named a regional qualifier. Sims also set a new school record in the heptathlon – a record that had been intact for nearly 12 full years.

During his first season in 2018, Colwell had great success in the sprints area as Alissa Atisme set a then-new school record in the 60-meter dash (indoor), while also helping guide Utah’s 4x100-meter relay team set a new program record. The 2019 4x100-meter relay squad would go onto break that record, twice in the same season, giving the Utes three new record times in a matter of just two years.

Colwell previously served as assistant women's track and field coach at San Diego State, assisting with coaching the jumpers, sprinters and multi-event athletes. SDSU won the 2017 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship and the team was ranked 16th in the final USTFCCA poll.

While working at SDSU, Colwell was a volunteer assistant coach at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center (formerly the Olympic Training Center), working with respected jumps coach Jeremy Fischer.

Colwell is a former coach for Kenyan runner Edward Kemboi. Kemboi had a personal-best 800 time of 1:44.77 in 2017, which tied for 17th in the world.

Prior to his arrival at San Diego State, Colwell spent three seasons as an assistant at the University of Portland (2013-16), coaching the sprints, jumps, javelin and 800 meters. He coached honorable mention All-Americans Kory Thieleke (400, 2015) and Kaylie Van Loo (javelin, 2016) while Katherine Maus was a West Regional qualifier in the triple jump. Thieleke, Van Loo and Maus all hold Portland school records. He also coached 2016 Guam Olympian Josh Illustre.

Colwell served as head track and field and cross country coach at Division II St. Martin's University in 2012-13. That year, Laura Tesch became the first female in program history to qualify for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships (high jump). Three of his men's student-athletes won Great Northwest Athletic Conference outdoor individual titles. Colwell was also the head coach at the University of Great Falls in the NAIA in 2011-12. He coached Travis Price to indoor All-America honors in the 600 while the 4x800 relay team also earned All-America honors during the indoor season, and Andrew Hornung (800) and Rigoberto Jimenez (10,000) both finished ninth at outdoor nationals. Several student-athletes set school records that still stand.

While working towards his master's degree, Colwell was a two-year volunteer assistant at Duke University. He mentored 2009 ACC long jump champion and triple jump runner-up Jade Ellis while with the Blue Devils.

Colwell also worked as an assistant coach at Cal Poly Pomona (2007-08) and Eastern Oregon University (2004-06).

Colwell is a USA Track and Field Level 1 certified coach and also holds a USTFCCCA coaching certification. He has served as meet director of the Portland Twilight and was youth coordinator of the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Colwell, who is originally from Oregon, has a master's degree from Duke and a bachelor's degree from Eastern Oregon University.