Giles McDonnell - Assistant Coach - Sprints/ Hurdles/ Relays - Cowboy Cross Country & Track Coaches

Giles McDonnell

Title:
Assistant Coach - Sprints/ Hurdles/ Relays
Email:
Run4okstate@okstate.edu
Phone:
(405) 744-8765

Giles McDonnell is in his ninth year as an assistant track and field coach at Oklahoma State, working primarily with sprints & hurdles at OSU. McDonnell came to OSU after spending a year at Utah State. Before his time in Utah, he spent four seasons as the long sprints and hurdles coach at Texas State and two seasons at his alma mater, New Mexico as an assistant coach, where he coached the sprints, hurdles, relays and jumps.

McDonnell quickly had a major impact on development of sprinters at Oklahoma State as the athletes under his tutelage have rewritten the OSU record books and accomplished numerous program firsts.

Aaliyah Birmingham became the first sprinter at OSU to win a Big 12 individual title and saw the first woman’s 4x4 qualify to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Ashton Hicks became only the 2nd male sprinter at OSU to win a Big 12 title. Overall, OSU athletes coached by McDonnell have set school records in both men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor 400 Meters and 600 Yards, men’s 600 Meters, women’s 60 Meters, 100 Meters and outdoor 200 Meters. Both men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor 4x400 Meter Relay records have also fallen during his tenure. In just the eight years under McDonnell, 60 percent of the indoor and 35 percent of the outdoor top 10 marks in program history have been set.

McDonnell has demonstrated one of his greatest strengths as a coach is the evaluation and development of athletic talent. Each season, he continues to show he is one of the very best sprints coaches at Identifying and developing talent. During his time at OSU, he coached Ashton Hicks from a personal best of 46.8 to 45.6, Charlie Bartholomew from 46.66 to 45.40, DJ McArthur from 49.1 to 46.05 and a 45.10 electric relay split. Christina Ollison's previous personal best of 54.5 dropped to 53.11 and an electric split of 51.63 at the 2021 NCAA West Prelims.

In the longer sprints, Michaela Travers had a PR of 2:24.58 in the 800 Meters and 1:04.55 in the 400 Meter Hurdles. She left OSU with personal bests of 2:07.78 and 59.05. Tamara Woodley, having never competed in the 600 Yards prior to coming to Oklahoma State, became the school record holder with a time of 1:19.41, eclipsing the performance of Cowgirl great Leisa Knowles. Tori Ortiz came into her college career with a PR of 58.68 in the 400 and left OSU with PR’s of 1:20.63 in the 600 Yards (3rd all time in OSU history) and 54.62 in the 400 Meters.

Prior to OSU,
Utah State:
AJ Boully - 49.83 to 46.43, with a 45.23 electric split at the 2016 NCAA West Prelims.
Brady Martin - 48.66 to 46.26.
Parker Bluth - 47.50 to 46.56.

Texas State:
Katie Miller 60.47 to 58.67 in 400 Meter Hurdles.
Chante’sean White - 59.67 to 57.29 in the 400 Hurdles.
James Hilliard - 50.38 in 400 Meters, 39.54 in the 300 Hurdles and 51.46 in 400 Hurdles.

Most recently, McDonnell played a key role identifying and signing some under the radar recruits, that turned into some of the nation’s Best. In 2018, he successfully brought in one of, if not the best sprinting classes in OSU history. McDonnell signed sprinters that were all ranked top-20 nationally in the 400 Meters in high school.

Three of McDonnell’s previous signees were invited to Brooks PR, one of the most prestigious high school invitational meets in the country. In just his first class in 2017, McDonnell brought in the third-fastest 400 Meter Hurdler in the country.

Under his watch, the recruits McDonnell attracts are able to convert their success in high school competition to outstanding athletic performances at the collegiate level. In the superb class’ freshman year, Ashton Hicks was a standout. He made appearances at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Hicks was the conference runner-up in the 400 meters at the Big 12 Indoor Championships and earned all-conference honors again at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. He also broke the OSU indoor 400-meter record and nearly broke the outdoor mark as well.

LaKyron Mays also found success as a true freshman. He earned all-conference honors in the 400 meters during both the indoor and outdoor seasons and qualified NCAA West Regional alongside Hicks. Under McDonnell’s tutelage, Hicks and Long continued to perform at a high level as they progressed as student-athletes. Hicks captured the 400 meters conference title that eluded him in 2019, clocking a 46.02 for the first-place finish the Big 12 Indoor Championship in 2021. Long also earned himself a spot atop the podium at the 2021 indoor conference championship as a member of the Cowboy DMR that earned the event win.

During the 2021 outdoor season, Hicks, with the McDonnell’s guidance, returned to his All-American ways with a trip to the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He added a second All-America honor to his collegiate resume during his trip to Eugene. On the women’s side, one of the top two sprinters McDonnell added was transfer Aaliyah Birmingham. An all-timer for Oklahoma State sprints, Birmingham set a total of four program records to her name: indoor 60 meters (7.22), indoor 400 meters (53.15), outdoor 100 meters (11.31) and outdoor 400 meters (51.51). A two-time All-American, Birmingham made a pair of trips to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as a Cowgirl in 2019 and 2021.

On account of McDonnell’s coaching, Birmingham, Kalaya Ali, Tori Ortiz and Christina Ollison’s combined efforts in the 4x400 Meter Relay cemented their names atop the Cowgirls’ all-time list and earned them a trip to the NCAA Championships in 2021. In 2017, McDonnell brought a late addition to the Cowgirl roster in Nicolette Dixon, one of the better 400-meter runners in the state of Texas at the time of her signing.

McDonnell has also had strong impact on the development of student-athletes and OSU has seen a strong improvement in the sprints program overall direction. During his second year at OSU, he coached 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays that earned All-Big 12 honors. He coached the women’s group that broke a 21-year old school record in the women’s outdoor 4X400-meter relay. For the first time in school history, both the men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relays qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary round.

The men’s 4x400-meter relay ran the 6th-fastest time in school history and the fastest time since 1984. McDonnell guided individual athletes to Big 12 success in Ambra Wesley, who qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary round for the first time in her career in the 800 meters under his guidance. She was also a first team All-American as a member of the indoor DMR team at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championship. Standouts Malik Givens, Amira Coleman and Brandon Singleton all scored individual points in the very competitive Big 12 Conference.

Coleman achieved the 2nd-fastest time in school history in the 600 Yards and developed into a critical leg on the women’s school-record setting 4x400-meter relay team. McDonnell played an integral role in shaping Malik Givens’ 60 meters third-place finish at the Big 12 Championships in 2017. Another athlete under McDonnell’s tutelage, Brandon Singleton, finished sixth in the 600 Yards and was a first team All-American as a member of the DMR squad at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships. Under his direction, the 4x100-meter relay team made it to the West Regionals and Jacob Fincham-Dukes, Logan Daily, and Temitope Olonisakin each recorded personal bests in the 100 Meters.

Before coming to Oklahoma State, McDonnell enjoyed tremendous success at every program he has been a part of. In 2016, McDonnell was recognized as the Mountain Region’s Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA for leading the Utah 4x400 Meter Relay team to first team All-America honors in Eugene. During his time at New Mexico and Texas State, McDonnell coached 22 individual NCAA West Preliminary qualifiers, five relay NCAA West Preliminary qualifiers, one relay NCAA Outdoor Finals qualifier, two individual Outdoor Finals qualifiers and one individual NCAA Indoor qualifier. He also coached 14 conference champions, 50 all-conference performers, 64 indoor/outdoor conference finalists and scorers, a second team NCAA All-American, four USTFCCCA Academic All-Americans and a pair of USA Junior National Outdoor Championships competitors.

In his time at Texas State, McDonnell had a tremendous impact on the program, helping the program capture four team conference championships. He worked with the athletes in the long sprints, 400 Meter Hurdles and 4x400 Meter Relay. In all, he coached 25 all-conference performers, four individual conference champions, two scholar-athletes of the year and guided his group to 37 top-10 all-time Texas State performances. McDonnell also coached his athletes to success on the national level with 19 NCAA West Preliminary participants and three USTFCCCA Academic All-Americans.

2015 was a banner year for the sprint group at Texas State, highlighted by the first relay squad to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the school since 1989. Working with the 4x400 Meter Relay was one of McDonnell’s primary responsibilities and the results were impressive. Overall, Texas State had a 4x400 Meter Relay team qualify for the West Prelim every year McDonnell worked at Texas State. The women’s indoor 4x400 Meter Relay school record was broken and he helped guide the second-fastest relays in school history for both the men’s indoor/outdoor relay and the women’s outdoor relay. The athletes he worked with all enjoyed considerable improvement under his guidance, with a high percentage of them establishing marked improvements on individual personal records.

In his first season with the Bobcats, McDonnell worked directly with the long sprints group (400 Meters and 400 Meter Hurdles), but also assisted with both the 100 and 200 Meter groups, with the team seeing immediate improvement. Numerous school records were established, the men’s team scored a runner-up finish at the 2012 Southland Outdoor Championships and a record number of athletes qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary rounds. Athletes coached by McDonnell ran on the first 4x100 Meter Relay to win a conference title in school history. In the 400 Hurdles, McDonnell guided athletes to an individual conference title, an all-conference performance and two NCAA West Prelim berths. Both women cut more than two seconds off their personal records and one set the Southland Conference meet record.

While at New Mexico, McDonnell helped the Lobos enjoy their highest conference finishes at the time in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, New Mexico had its highest combined finish in program history and set records for most points scored for both programs in the Mountain West. UNM sent athletes to the NCAA Championships in the men’s 100 Meters, men’s Long Jump, men’s Triple Jump, men’s 4x100 Meter Relay, women’s 400, women’s Long Jump and women’s Triple Jump.

An Albuquerque native, McDonnell returned to New Mexico in 2009 after a stint as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona, where he worked with the sprinters and jumpers.

While at NAU, the Lumberjacks won four Big Sky Conference titles in a span of two years and sent athletes to the NCAA Regional Championships in the men’s 200 Meters, men’s 400 Meters, men’s 4x100 Meter Relay and the women’s Triple Jump.

McDonnell began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Albuquerque’s Eldorado High School. In his five years there, McDonnell guided more than 40 athletes to the New Mexico 5A State Championships with titles coming in the sprint relay, 4x400 Meter Relay, 400 Meters, 110 Meter Hurdles and Long Jump. In 2007, the 4x100 Meter Relay team broke a 20-year old school record after the 4x200 Meter Relay broke a 19-year-old record in 2006. McDonnell had five top-five team finishes at the state meet, and five of his athletes went on to compete at the NCAA Division I level.

As a Lobo, McDonnell competed in the jumping events from 1994-99. He placed in both the Long and Triple Jump and was part of the first Lobo team to compete in the Mountain West Conference Championships. McDonnell earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at New Mexico. He holds a Level I USATF Certified Instructor Certification, Level I USATF Track and Field Certification and two Level II Certification in sprints, hurdles and combined events.