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Andrea Grove-McDonough enters her fifth season as the University of Toledo’s director of cross country and track & field. As the director of the program, Grove-McDonough serves the head coach of the women’s and men’s cross country teams, and the women’s track & field team.
Grove-McDonough has turned the cross country and track & field programs around into fierce competitors in the Mid-American Conference and recognition at the national level.
Cross Country
McDonough has led the Toledo cross country teams to tremendous success, including back-to-back Mid-American Conference Women’s Cross Country titles (2021, 22) and Coach of the Year honors. The 2022 women’s squad made the largest jump in the national rankings after its performance at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. The Rockets went from receiving votes to the No. 16 spot, the second-highest ranking in program history, in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll. At the conference meet, eoght Rockets finished with PR times, and seven finished in the top-20 with five in the top-100 to run away with the title. Joy Chirchir (second/ 19:36.9), Faith Linga (third/ 19:49.1), and Lou Trois (sixth/ 20:31.8) earned First-Team All-MAC honors, while Emily Vining(eighh/ 20:34.1), Madeline Vining (20:36.7), and Julia Dames (20:56.6) earned Second-Team All-MAC honors.
McDonough’s squad finished sixth at the 2022 NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet and were chosen as an at-large selection for the NCAA Cross Country Championship meet. At the Regional meet, Joy Chirchir and Faith Linga finished in the top-10 and earned All-Region accolades. Toledo concluded its season with a 28th place team finish in Stillwater, Okla. Chirchir led the way for the Midnight Blue and Gold with a 52nd place finish.
In 2021, the women’s cross country team brought home its first conference championship since 2014. MAC Freshman of the Year Joy Chirchir crossed the line ahead of the pack (20:23.2). Chirchir, Semra Karaslan, Faith Linga and Lou Trois all finished in the top-5 and earned First Team All-Conference honors. Grove-McDonough was also named MAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. The women’s team also took seventh at the 2021 Women’s Cross Country NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet in Evansville, Ind. Chirchir finished 21st at the NCAA Regionals and crossed the line at 143rd at the NCAA Championship Meet in Tallahassee, Fla.
On the men’s side, Toledo has claimed consecutive runner-up finishes at the 2021 and 2022 MAC Men’s Cross Country Championship meets, and its highest regional ranking at No. 8 among the Great Lakes teams.
At the 2022 conference meet, the Rockets scored 54 team points, just eight points behind first-place Miami’s 46. Eight of the nine Rockets who competed finished with personal-best times. Dennis Mutai (fourth/ 23:46.2) and Mathew Chesum (sixth/ 23:53.0) earned First-Team All-MAC honors while Ben Otis (13th/ 24:13.12) and Geoff Howles (14th/ 24:13.12) received Second-Team All-MAC accolades. Mutai finished in 34th place to lead the Rockets to a program-best ninth-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship meet.
The Rockets had 67 team points at the 2021 conference meet, trailing only host Eastern Michigan’s total of 30. The trio of Jacob Harris (fourth/ 24:25.0), Benjamin Otis (eighth/ 24:37.7), and Mathew Chesum (10th/ 24:42.4) all earned All-MAC honors. At the 2021 Men’s Cross Country NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet in Evansville, ind., the Rockets finished 11th overall and were led by Chesum who finished 27th individually. It was the best finish for Toledo under the current regional system, and matched the 11th-place finish in 1973 under the old district system.
In 2020, the Rocket women’s team finished in second place at the MAC Championship Meet, just three points behind first-place Northern Illinois. Maya Hannagan (ninth/21:21.0) and Emily Vining (13th/21:28.5) earned All-MAC honors.
The men’s team crossed the line in fifth place at the 2020 MAC Championships, tying for the best-ever finish by a Toledo men’s squad. Jacob Harris (sixth/24:25.4) and Ben Otis (12th/24:40.1) were named All-MAC for their efforts.
In her first season leading the Rockets in 2019, Grove-McDonough led the women’s team to a fourth-place finish at the MAC Championship Meet. Petronela Simiuc earned First-Team All-MAC honors with a fifth-place finish (21.59.8). Emily Vining was named Freshman of the Year after being the first freshman to cross the line with a time of 22.49.9. On the men’s side, Harris was also named MAC Freshman of the Year.
Track & Field
On the track, Grove-McDonough has helped guide her team to tremendous achievements in the last four seasons.
In the beginning of the 2023 indoor season, distance runner Madeling Vining set the school record in the 3000m with a time of 9:16.87 at Boston University, that was previously held by Varsity T Hall of Famer Brianna Shook set back in 2003. Lou Trois ran the second-fastest indoor mile time in school history at Notre Dame, with a time of 4:39.09. Trois went on to earn the gold medal in the mile at the 2023 MAC Indoor Championships, where the Rockets finished seventh and had four student-athletes earn All-MAC honors.
At the MAC Outdoor Championships, Toledo finished 10th overall, while Madeline Vining (10,000m) earned Second-Team All-MAC honors. Vining and Joy Chirchir qualified for the 10k race at the NCAA East Regionals race, and finished 32nd and 39th respectively.
In 2022, Faith Linga made an appearance at the NCAA Outdoor National Championship meet where she finished 21st in the 10,000m and earned USTFCCCA honorable mention All-America. Linga was among five Rockets who qualified for the NCAA Regionals: Lou Trois (1500m), Stephanie Sherman (10,000m & 5,000m), Semra Karaslan (3,000m Steeplechase) and Emily Vining (3,000m Steeplechase).
Chirchir took first in the 5000m and 3000m at the 2022 MAC Indoor Championships. Chirchir was named MAC Freshman Runner of the Year, Co-Performer of the Meet and First Team All-MAC, while Emily Vining earned Second-Team All-MAC honors. Trois won the 1500m at the 2022 MAC Outdoor Championships, while Linga won the 10K. Trois, Linga, Karaslan, Sherman and Margrett Watt earned All-MAC honors.
The 2020-21 women’s track and field student-athletes recorded 39 personal-records in long distance races. In that outdoor season, the distance group captured the highest point total in MAC history for events from the 800m through the 10,000m.
Stephanie Sherman earned All-America honors by finishing in 16th place in th 10,000M at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor National Championships. Sherman was joined at the NCAAs by Petronela Simiuc, who qualified in the 1500m. Sherman and Simiuc were among five Rockets who qualified for the NCAA Regionals. The others were Yana Khabina (400m hurdles), Semra Karaslan (3000m steeplechase) and Emily Vining (3000m steeplechase).
Simiuc also won both the 800 meters and the mile at the 2020 MAC Indoor Championships, and qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championship Meet. She was named USTFCCCA All-American despite the fact that the national meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simiuc teamed with Karaslan, Rayna Horner and Meltem Yasar to take first in the distance medley relay at the 2020 MAC Indoor Championships.
Grove-McDonough’s status as a leader in the collegiate track & field world was affirmed when she was named to join the coaching staff of the 2022 Team USA Track and Field Team at the Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China. She served as the assistant coach in charge of men’s and women’s middle distance and long distance events.
In addition to being an innovative coach, Grove-McDonough also puts a strong emphasis on the academic success of her student-athletes. In the past four semesters, the women’s cross country team has posted team GPAs of 3.615, 3,776, 3.623 and 3.440. In 2020-21, Petronela Simiuc, Stephanie Sherman, Rayna Horner and Emily Vining were named MAC Distinguished Scholar Athletes, the most selections of any UT sport that season.
Grove-McDonough came to Toledo in 2019 after serving one year as the head men’s and women’s cross country coach and assistant men’s and women’s track & field coach at North Carolina. Prior to that, she spent five years as the head women’s cross country coach and assistant track & field coach at Iowa State from 2013-2018, and held the same position for five years at UConn from 2008-2013.
While at North Carolina, Grove-McDonough coached the men’s cross country team to victories over four nationally ranked squads for the first time since 2011. Under her direction, six Tar Heels earned All-ACC recognition in cross country and track. In Grove-McDonough’s five seasons at Iowa State, she led the Cyclones to five combined NCAA championship appearances, four Big 12 championship titles, and an NCAA runner-up finish in 2014.
At UConn, Grove-McDonough led the Huskies to an eighth-place national finish in 2012, their first NCAA Championship appearance in school history. In five seasons under Grove-McDonough’s direction, 15 UConn student-athletes became NCAA qualifiers, six earned All-American honors, and five were Big East Conference champions. In addition, records in every indoor and outdoor distance event were broken. Academically, her teams earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors for four consecutive years from 2009-2012.
Grove-McDonough has also coached several individuals who excelled on the international stage. In 2018, she coached Cailie Logue to a USA Junior National Championship in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters. Grove-McDonough has coached three USA Junior National runners-up in the 3000 meters and steeplechase, five U20 World Championship qualifiers, two U20 Pan Am qualifiers and two U20 Pan Am medalists.
Grove-McDonough was named Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017, and was named Big East Conference Head Coach of the Year in 2012. In 2013, 2014 and 2017, she was named USTFCCCA Midwest Region Cross Country Coach of the Year. She also earned USTFCCCA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors for indoor track & field in 2012 and 2013. Grove-McDonough was part of the coaching staff that earned Big East Conference Coaching Staff of the Year honors for indoor track & field in 2009.
Prior to becoming a coach, Grove-McDonough was a two-time national titlist, winning the 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters. She ran professionally for 12 years and was a seven-time Canadian National Team member. Grove-McDonough was ranked first in Canada in the 10,000 meters in 2008 and was ranked second in the nation in the 5,000 meters in 2002, 2006 and 2007.
Grove-McDonough competed at the University of Minnesota as a distance runner, earning All-America honors in the 1,500 meters with a fifth-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Outdoor Championship. She earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 1996.
A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Grove-McDonough graduated from Minnesota in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in human resource development and business & industry education.
Grove-McDonough and her husband, former University of Montana All-America decathlete Troy McDonough, a son, Smith, and a daughter, Holden.
