2022 SLC Women's Indoor Coach of the Year
2022 SLC Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year
2012, 2013 SLC Men’s XC Coach of the Year
2010, 2015 Louisiana Women’s XC Coach of the Year
2010 Louisiana Men's XC Coach of the Year
Brendon Gilroy, a former McNeese athlete, is in his 15th season as the head coach of the McNeese track and field program and recently wrapped up his 16th season as the leader of the cross country squads.
The 2022 season was the most memorable in the women's program history as Gilroy led a squad to the Southland Conference team championships for both the indoor and outdoor seasons for the first time in school history.
Gilroy had served the 2006 season as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach.
In his 16 years as the cross country head coach, he led the Cowboys to the 2012 Southland Conference championship and was named the men’s coach of the year that same season. He’s also coached the league’s freshman of the year (Stephen Kerr, 2012), newcomer of the year (Alex Bruce-Littlewood, 2011), and athlete of the year (David Rooney, 2012). In 15 seasons, the Cowboys have had one first place finish, two second places and three third places.
In addition to the runners listed below, most recently, Gilroy coached Gideon Cheplak to the 2020 SLC Newcomer of the Year award after he finished second in the 8k race with a time of 23:20, the second-fastest in school history only to David Rooney. Cheplak also earned first team all-conference honors for his efforts while Henry Kiplagat was named third team All-SLC. On the women's side, both Aurelia Jepkorir and Bonnie Andres earned third team honors.
In 2019, the Cowboys finished fourth in the conference behind Kiplagat's 10th place finish and second team all-conference honors.
He's been named the Louisiana XC Coach of the Year a total of three times and is a 2-time Southland Conference XC Coach of the Year recipient.
Rooney also became the first McNeese cross country runner in school history to earn All-America honors after a seventh place finish at the 2012 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
On the women’s side, he coached Amy Talbot to the league XC newcomer of the year award in 2011.
In 2017, he coached three runners - Enrique Soto, Nathan Jones and Katja Woelfl - to All-South Central Region honors after each placed in the top 25 at the regional meet. That same year, he led the Cowboys to a second place finish at the SLC XC Championships behind Jones' second place overall mark while Soto finished third. The Cowgirls placed third as a team, led by Woelfl who finished fourth individually while teammate Gladys Jerotich placed fifth.
Jerotich claimed all-conference honors in 2018 when leading the Cowgirls to a team fourth place finish while she placed fourth individually.
His outdoor teams and competitors have been some of the best in school history. Combined, he’s coached 31 conference champions and five all-American selections. His teams have won six SLC Athlete of the Year Awards (Rooney in ‘12 and ‘13; Cheplak in '21; Jasmine Webb in ‘13 and ‘14; Mariah Georgetown in 2012); six SLC Outstanding Track Performer Awards (Rooney in ‘12 and ‘13; Cheplak in '21; Jasmine Webb in ‘13 and ‘14; and Simone Johnson in 2015); and outstanding field performer (Ashlee Smith in 2012); and three newcomers of the year (Brad Gebauer in 2007; Christoph Graf in 2017; Cheplak in '21). His 2013 men’s team finished third at the SLC meet for its best finish since placing third in 1991 while the 2013 women’s team won the league runner-up trophy with a school record 134 points.
In 2021, Cheplak became the first Cowboy in school history to sweep the major postseason awards - Athlete of the Year, Outstanding Track Performer and Newcomer of the Year.
For the indoor season, Gilroy has coached 23 conference champions, three all-Americans, and a NCAA champion in Brad Gebauer (pole vault in 2007). Gebauer was also named the league’s indoor newcomer of the year while Rooney earned outstanding track performer honors and the high point award in 2013. Alex Bruce-Littlewood (2013) and Ryan Holroyd (2014) were named the conference’s newcomers of the year.
In 2017 indoor, the Cowboys scored 120 points to finish in second place in the team standings for their highest finish ever. Six Cowboy athletes won gold medals in the conference meet while Nathan Jones became the first Cowboys' track and field athlete to be named the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Men's Athlete of the Year. In addition, he was named the conference's Outstanding Running Events Performer while Christoph Graf picked up the Newcomer of the Year award.
On the women’s side, La’Shantena Rounds won the conference title in the weight throw three straight years and earned all-America honors in 2012 when she was named the league’s outstanding field performer. She’s just the third student-athlete in Cowgirl indoor history to win conference gold three consecutive seasons (Keri Ange with three titles in the 10,000 meters and two in the 5,000; Sita Waru 4-time champion in the 5,000-meters from 1998-2001). The Cowgirls placed third in the 2013 league championships under Gilroy's watch, their best finish since a second place standing in 2000.
A native of Ireland, Gilroy was a three year cross country and track letterman at McNeese where he received his bachelor degree in Chemistry in 1993 and his master in Health & Human Performance in 1999.
He had spent nine years as head cross country and track coach at Iowa High School and had been head coach for the Lake Area Express Track Club for 10 seasons.
During his prep coaching career Gilroy had been named the Louisiana Class AAA coach of the year for both cross country and track in 2004 and led Iowa to two state titles, the first such championships in any sport for the high school.
In USATF junior Olympic competition he had his athletes earn 105 all-America honors as well as set seven national records and win 35 national championships.
He is married to the former Keri Ange, a member of the McNeese Sports Hall of Fame, a McNeese distance runner record holder, conference champion and McNeese Athlete of the Year. The couple has two daughters, Haile and Ciara. Haile is a former member of the Cowgirl track and field program and is pursuing her PhD at Auburn University. Ciara is currently a sophomore for the Cowgirls competing in cross country and middle distance on the track.
