University of Chicago

Chris Hall enters his 25th year as the Head Men's and Women's Cross Country and Men's and Women's Track & Field Coach at the University of Chicago in the 2025-26 academic year.

In 2025, the track & field teams carried that momentum into a strong indoor and outdoor campaign. The women won the NCAA indoor national title in the Distance Medley Relay, led by Ren Brown, Claudia Harnett, Emma Kelly, and Nora Holmes—marking the program’s first individual title since 2021. Coach Hall led his team to seven All-American honors across the season, with Harnett and Brown also setting school records in outdoor competition. The men captured their first-ever UAA indoor title and earned four All-Region honors in the outdoor season with four earning conference titles and two athletes given All-American honors.

The 2024 cross country season was highlighted by the UChicago women’s team placing second at the NCAA Divison III Championships, led by All-Americans Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, Anna Watson, Elisabeth Camic, and Estelle Snider. Battleson-Gunkel was also named Midwest Region Athlete of the Year, while head coach Chris Hall earned Region Coach of the Year honors. On the men’s side, Sanju Patel qualified individually for nationals, finishing 126th overall in his NCAA Championship debut.

In 2022, UChicago men's and women's cross country both qualified for the NCAA Championships for the fourth-straight season. The Maroon women finished as NCAA national runner-up and the men took 25th. At UAAs, the women captured the team title. Three women earned All-American honors (Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Lucy Groothuis, Maddie Kelly) to go with seven All-Region accolades and seven All-UAA honors. UChicago's men produced one First Team All-UAA runner and four All-Region selections.

The 2021 fall season saw both cross country teams qualify for the NCAA Division III Championship meet. The women finished in sixth place and the men took 11th place. Sam Craig (9th place) and Claudia Harnett (17th place) both secured All-American status. Harnett and Henry Myers were also the UAA cross country individual champions. During the 2022 track season, UChicago submitted eight All-American performances, including a national runner-up finish by Isabel Maletich in the indoor long jump.

The 2021 spring track season was highlighted by a pair of NCAA national championship victories by Isabel Maletich, who swept the outdoor long jump and outdoor triple jump. Rachel TerHaar was national runner-up in the outdoor women's pole vault. All told, UChicago produced five All-American performances. Maletich was named the 2021 USTFCCCA National Women's Field Athlete of the Year.

In 2019, the Maroon women's cross country team finished fourth at the NCAA Division III Championship and the men finished 12th. Ryan Cutter (ninth place) and Sophie Elgamal (16th place) were both cross county All-Americans. The indoor track & field season produced 21 All-American honors as well. In the 2020 indoor track & field season, Laura Darcey submitted the fourth-best pentathlon score in the history of NCAA Division III (3,794 points). Isabel Maletich posted the fifth-best triple jump in NCAA Division III history at 12.58 meters. Darcey was named the 2020 USTFCCCA National Women's Field Athlete of the Year, while Maletich captured USTFCCCA Midwest Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year honors.

In 2018-19, both UChicago cross country teams qualified for the NCAA Championships, with the women finishing 11th and the men taking 12th. The women's track and field team produced 13 All-Americans who led the Maroons to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships and an eight-place showing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Isabel Maletich won the national title in the indoor long jump.

In 2017-18, Khia Kurtenbach won the women's cross country national title, becoming the second NCAA champion in program history alongside Rhaina Echols (1999). UChicago women's cross country qualified as a team for the NCAAs for the eighth year in-a-row. The Maroon track & field teams recorded seven All-American finishes, and the women won the UAA Indoor Championship.

The 2016 Maroon women's cross country team reached the NCAA Championships for the seventh-straight year. Khia Kurtenbach was a three-time All-American in cross country (10th place) and track and field (5th, 5,000 meters / 6th, 3,000 meters). The UChicago women's track and field team tallied seven All-Americans.

In 2015-16, both UChicago cross country teams qualified for the NCAA Championships and Khia Kurtenbach earned All-American status by finishing 25th. Three women and two men earned All-Region status. In the track and field seasons, the Maroons women put together seven All-American performances. Michelle Dobbs highlighted the year by winning the indoor 800 meter NCAA title.

In 2014-15, UChicago women's cross country took 12th place at the NCAA Championships. Catherine Young became an All-American for the second-straight year, finishing 27th. Four women and two men were also named All-Region. UChicago women's track and field captured the UAA Indoor and Outdoor Championship titles. The women's Distance Medley Relay came in third overall at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Hall and his assistant coaches took Women's Coaching Staff of the Year. In total, women's track and field earned six All-American awards.

In 2013-14, UChicago won the UAA women's cross country title and the indoor track and field title. The women's cross country squad also won the NCAA Midwest Regional and took fourth place at the NCAA Championships. Hall was named UAA Coach of the Year and Midwest Region Coach of the Year. On the men's side, pole vaulter Michael Bennett won a national championship in the indoor track and field season and then took runner-up in the outdoor season.

In 2012-13, the Maroons won the UAA women's cross country team title. Runners Billy Whitmore and Julia Sizek combined for five All-American honors in the cross country and track seasons.

In 2010-11, UChicago cross country and track & field teams produced three All-Americans, six national qualifiers, and 13 University Athletic Association champions. Additionally, the women's cross country squad posted a 10th-place showing at the NCAA Division III Championship.

The 2009-10 campaign marked one of the most successful in UChicago women's track & field history as the Maroons placed fourth at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships and sixth at the Outdoor Championships.

UChicago also featured a two-time NCAA champion in distance runner Liz Lawton, who led the 2010 Division III field in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs at the national outdoor championships. Lawton became the third UChicago athlete to claim a national track & field title in an eight-year span.

Since Hall's arrival at UChicago in the fall of 2001, his teams have captured 12 UAA titles (men's cross country in 2002 and 2004; women's cross country in 2012 and 2013; men's indoor track & field in 2002 and 2008; women's indoor track & field in 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2018; women's outdoor track & field in 2015); made 18 NCAA Division III team postseason appearances (men's cross country in 2004, 2005, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019; women's cross country in 2003, 2006, 2010-19); and have notched 12 national top-10 finishes (women's indoor track & field - 6th in 2019, 4th in 2010; women's outdoor track & field - 8th in 2021, 8th in 2019, 6th in 2010, 7th in 2006 and 10th in 2008; men's outdoor track & field - 8th in 2004; men's cross country - 9th in 2005; and women's cross country - 4th in 2019, 4th in 2013 and 10th in 2010).

Hall's men's cross country teams have featured three All-Americans, six All-American honors and 43 All-UAA performances, while the women have boasted 10 All-Americans, 14 All-American honors and 42 All-UAA performances.

In track & field, Hall's men’s teams have produced three NCAA Division III individual champions, 26 All-Americans, 77 national qualifiers and 123 UAA champions. During that time, the women's teams have featured six national champions, 99 All-Americans, 191 national qualifiers and 179 UAA champions.

Hall has also overseen a significant growth in his team in terms of numbers and quality. Upon his arrival at UChicago in 2001, the women's cross country/track & field squads finished last in the UAA with approximately 20 athletes. Within five years, the team numbered about 50 and was ranked as high as seventh in the country. The men's and women's teams have been consistently ranked among the top-25 each year.

The Midwest Region Coach of the Year in cross country and indoor track & field in 2004, Hall has also been part of the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year on 11 occasions.

Hall arrived at UChicago after serving as head men's and women's cross country coach and assistant track & field coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout from 1992-2001. He was named the head men's track & field coach prior to the 1995 season.

During his tenure at Wisconsin-Stout, Hall’s teams produced 28 All-Americans and two national champions. In 1996, Hall's men’s outdoor track & field team finished fourth at the NCAA Division III Championship, marking the school's best-ever national track & field finish. Also in 1996, he was chosen as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Track Coach of the Year.

Prior to his appointment at UW-Stout, Hall served as assistant women's cross country coach at the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) from 1991-92 and as assistant cross country and track & field coach at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse from 1989-91.

Hall was an All-American distance runner at UW-LaCrosse, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in kineselogy in 1989 and 1990, respectively.