Chris Riggs - Track and Field Coach - Grand Canyon University Athletics

Chris Riggs

Title:
Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Email:
chris.riggs@gcu.edu
Phone:
602-639-7041
Alma Mater:
Colorado State (2004)
Year at GCU:
12th season

Chris Riggs is in his 12th season as GCU’s assistant men’s and women’s track and field coach in 2023-24.. Riggs oversees the jumps, as well as acting as the recruiting coordinator for the Track & Field program.

In the 2022-23 season, Riggs assisted in coaching the men's team to a third straight outdoor WAC Championship in Nacogdoches, Texas where three of his jumpers placed in the top three of their events (Derrick Nwagwu, Jazmine Scott, and Brooke Weimer). In addition, those three each went to the NCAA West Regionals where the Lopes also had the largest group of athletes at the NCAA Regionals in school history with a total of 17. The Lopes men won the indoor WAC Championship in Spokane, Wash. where they have continued their streak of seven straight victories.

Since GCU transitioned to Division I, Riggs has coached 31 student-athletes to individual WAC Championship titles in the long, triple and high jump and had athletes set numerous school records (currently 7.85m long jump, 15.65m triple jump, 2.26m high jump for the men and 6.16m long jump, 12.76m women's triple jump, 1.71m high jump for the women). In GCU’s four years of full NCAA DI eligibility, 17 jumpers have qualified for the NCAA West Prelims, and 4 have qualified for the NCAA Indoor/Outdoor Championships.

During the 2022 season, Riggs coached: high jumper Ethan Harris to a 9^th place finish at the NCAA Indoor championships and to the USATF Outdoor Championships, Gabriel Binion to a 19^th place finish in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and had five jumpers qualify for the NCAA West Prelims.

During the 2021 season, Riggs coached three athletes to the NCAA West Preliminary round, including Ethan Harris who also qualified for the 2021 NCAA Championships and USA Olympic trials. His jumpers also secured multiple top performances at the conference championships, including a high jump title. At the Desert Heat Classic, Harris jumped 2.26-meters in the high jump, 6^th highest jump in the NCAA that year.

In 2019, Riggs coached long jumpers to new levels with redshirt freshman Trey Johnson breaking the indoor long jump record, two men to WAC titles in the long jump and two men to the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the long jump. Riggs also coached Chris Linnin Jr. to two school records in the high jump. Linnin went on to win the WAC indoor title in the high jump and qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round for the first time in his career.

In 2018--GCU’s first year of full NCAA DI eligibility, three long jumpers qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round: Adrian King, Marcus Flannigan and Kayla Finnegan. Flannigan would go on to the NCAA Championships and finish as an All-American Second-Team selection.

In 2013 Riggs coached five different athletes to a total of eight Division II All-America performances, while also being named the 2013 USTFCCCA Indoor West Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year. In addition, six school jump records were snapped during the 2013 season, including Aaron Hill’s long jump mark of 7.85 meters.

Riggs came to GCU after spending two seasons as head coach at Windward School in Los Angeles. Under his direction, Windward sprinters set school records in every sprint and relay event, including a league record in the boy’s 4x400 meter relay.

Prior to Windward, Riggs spent three years at UCLA as the team’s decathlon coach. While with the Bruins, Riggs coached Trent Perez to an eighth-place finish at the 2009 USATF U20 National Championships. Perez scored a career-high 7,315 points at the conference meet, a mark that was good enough for No. 9 all-time at UCLA.

From 2005 to 2008, Riggs was the sprints, relays and jumps coach at Santa Monica Community College. He also served as a cross country assistant at SMCC. Riggs coached several athletes to conference titles and CCC Championship-qualifying marks, and also coached former UCLA Bruin Eric White to multiple school records in the pole vault during the 2008 season.

Prior to SMCC, Riggs assisted with the sprints, jumps and multi-event groups at his alma mater Colorado State, where he helped coach two NCAA qualifiers and John Woods, an All-American in the indoor 60m and outdoor 200m.

As an athlete at Colorado State, Riggs was a three-time conference champion and nine-time All-Mountain West honoree. He was a four-time Midwest regional qualifier and a 2003 USATF Championship qualifier in the 200m.

He graduated from Colorado State in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in speech communications and received his Master’s Degree (MBA) from Grand Canyon in 2019. Riggs holds the USTFCCCA Strength & Conditioning Certification.