Women's Track & Field
Fox, Chris

Chris Fox
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- chfox@syr.edu
- Phone:
- 315-952-4759
Chris Fox returned to the Syracuse cross country/track program in Sept. of 2023, serving on as an assistant coach in a volunteer capacity, with a primary focus on men’s distance runners.
Fox previously served as the program’s head coach from 2005-18, transforming Syracuse back into a national power. Under his leadership, and alongside current head coach Brien Bell, who was Fox’s associate head coach for that duration, Syracuse became one of the nation’s premier programs, before initially retiring from the University to coach in the professional ranks for the last five years.
Fox led Syracuse to the 2015 NCAA Championship, has earned USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year, owns a nine of conference titles, has coached multiple individual national champions and 31 of the program’s 46 cross country All-Americans have come since he and Bell first took the reins of the program and Fox coached over 60 All-Americans in track and field at Syracuse.
Fox inherited a program that hadn't qualified for the NCAA Championships in cross country in the 30 years prior to their arrival. Since they first came to 'Cuse, and under the continued direction of Coach Bell, the Orange men have an active streak of 14-straight appearances heading into the 2023 season. That stretch includes 10 top-15 finishes and three top-five finishes. All-10 of the women's team's NCAA Championship appearances have come under the direction of Bell and Fox as well.
Fox earned USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year honors in 2015 as he led his championship roster to an undefeated season, claiming wins at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, Wisconsin Adidas Invitational, ACC Championship and NCAA Northeast Regional before the NCAA Championship.
He concluded his first stint with the Orange in a year that saw Justyn Knight claim NCAA individual titles in cross country and the indoor 5,000-meter run in the 2017-18 school year. Knight was the second national champion on the track under Fox’s direction, as Jarret Eaton won the 60-meter hurdles title in 2012.
The men’s cross country team posted nine top-15 finishes and a pair of top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships under Fox. The team hadn’t qualified for the NCAA Championships since 1974 and hadn’t finished inside the top-15 since 1963 prior to his arrival.
The women’s program has also experienced new success under Fox, with the Orange placing 12th in 2015 at the NCAA Championships, which still marks second-best mark in program history behind 2010’s 10th-place finish, which also came under his direction.
In 2017, Paige Stoner became the first Orange women to post a top-20 finish at the meet and also claimed the women's team first ACC individual cross country championship that season.
In 2016, both Freddie Crittenden III and Knight reached the podium at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, the first time in program history that Syracuse has seen two of its athletes reach the podium at the event.
After his stint as the Orange’s head coach, he spent the last five years leading the Reebok Boston Track Club.
Fox initially arrived at 'Cuse after an four-year stint leading the cross country and distance program at his alma mater, Auburn. He also had coaching stops at North Carolina and George Washington around his professional running career for Nike-Athletics West and Brooks Sports.
Fox is a 1983 graduate of Auburn.
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Fox previously served as the program’s head coach from 2005-18, transforming Syracuse back into a national power. Under his leadership, and alongside current head coach Brien Bell, who was Fox’s associate head coach for that duration, Syracuse became one of the nation’s premier programs, before initially retiring from the University to coach in the professional ranks for the last five years.
Fox led Syracuse to the 2015 NCAA Championship, has earned USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year, owns a nine of conference titles, has coached multiple individual national champions and 31 of the program’s 46 cross country All-Americans have come since he and Bell first took the reins of the program and Fox coached over 60 All-Americans in track and field at Syracuse.
Fox inherited a program that hadn't qualified for the NCAA Championships in cross country in the 30 years prior to their arrival. Since they first came to 'Cuse, and under the continued direction of Coach Bell, the Orange men have an active streak of 14-straight appearances heading into the 2023 season. That stretch includes 10 top-15 finishes and three top-five finishes. All-10 of the women's team's NCAA Championship appearances have come under the direction of Bell and Fox as well.
Fox earned USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year honors in 2015 as he led his championship roster to an undefeated season, claiming wins at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, Wisconsin Adidas Invitational, ACC Championship and NCAA Northeast Regional before the NCAA Championship.
He concluded his first stint with the Orange in a year that saw Justyn Knight claim NCAA individual titles in cross country and the indoor 5,000-meter run in the 2017-18 school year. Knight was the second national champion on the track under Fox’s direction, as Jarret Eaton won the 60-meter hurdles title in 2012.
The men’s cross country team posted nine top-15 finishes and a pair of top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships under Fox. The team hadn’t qualified for the NCAA Championships since 1974 and hadn’t finished inside the top-15 since 1963 prior to his arrival.
The women’s program has also experienced new success under Fox, with the Orange placing 12th in 2015 at the NCAA Championships, which still marks second-best mark in program history behind 2010’s 10th-place finish, which also came under his direction.
In 2017, Paige Stoner became the first Orange women to post a top-20 finish at the meet and also claimed the women's team first ACC individual cross country championship that season.
In 2016, both Freddie Crittenden III and Knight reached the podium at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, the first time in program history that Syracuse has seen two of its athletes reach the podium at the event.
After his stint as the Orange’s head coach, he spent the last five years leading the Reebok Boston Track Club.
Fox initially arrived at 'Cuse after an four-year stint leading the cross country and distance program at his alma mater, Auburn. He also had coaching stops at North Carolina and George Washington around his professional running career for Nike-Athletics West and Brooks Sports.
Fox is a 1983 graduate of Auburn.
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