11/07/2025
Meet The Women’s Track & Field Head Coach — Jon Riley
Jon Riley is serving his 18th season as head coach of the VCU Women's Track & Field and 16th season as head coach of the Men's Track & Field team. Riley took over the reigns of the women's program in 2008 and the men's team in 2010, and has overseen a remarkable makeover of both by employing three key ingredients: dedication, commitment, and passion. While these three words are often associated with Coach Riley, they are also descriptors of his teams and coaching philosophy.
Riley's accolades include 11 women's track & field Atlantic 10 Conference team championships (Indoors 2015, Outdoors 2016, Indoors 2017, Indoors 2018, Outdoors 2018, Indoors 2019, Outdoors 2021, Indoors 2022, Indoors 2023, Indoors 2024, Outdoors 2024), as well as three All-Americans (Kiara Porter [5-time], Jaleesa Williams [2-time], and Gudrun Hallgrímsdóttir [5-time]) and numerous individual conference champions. He has also kept the men's program in consistent competition for conference championships. In 2016, he guided the men's team to a third-place showing at the 2016 A-10 Outdoor Championships, the program's best since it joined the league prior to the 2012-13 season. He has also collected Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year honors 8 times.
Riley's student-athletes have set school records in 37 women's and 13 men's events (indoor and outdoor) during his tenure.