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Chris Daymont has been a mainstay and influential force in the St. Olaf Athletics department since the inception of women’s varsity athletics in the mid- 1970’s. No person has coached, mentored or led more women at St. Olaf than Daymont. Her success isn’t limited quantity (she has coached around 1,200 women) or tenure (over 33 years on staff), as she has nine conference titles and 20 NCAA appearances to her credit in cross country alone. In cross country, Daymont has led St. Olaf to nine conference championships in her tenure, the second-most of any MIAC school. The Oles captured five consecutive titles from 1998-2002, and had their best NCAA finish in that stretch, a fourth place finish in 1999. Daymont has accompanied athletes to the NCAA National Championships 20 times (ranks 7th in all time appearances), eleven of those with finishes in the top ten, including the last two seasons. She has also coached over 10 different distance athletes to 18 Cross Country All-America honors. Voted NCAA III Central Region Coach of the Year three times, Daymont has also earned MIAC Coach of the Year honors twice. She also serves as the meet director for many major cross country and track and field events, most notably hosting the NCAA National Cross Country Championships in 2002 and 2007.
The arrival of the Minnesota state high school cross country championships on the St. Olaf campus were facilitated by Daymont and the 22nd consecutive MSHSL Championships will be run on the campus trails this November. She coached the St. Olaf women’s track and field programs for 29 seasons. Daymont led 26 different athletes to 53 All-America titles. Among them are four national champions, and several runners-up finishers. She has served as a distance and middle distance clinician around the region and has been meet director for both MIAC and NCAA National Track and Field Championships hosted by St. Olaf. Since leaving the track coaching ranks, Daymont remains connected to the program as the home meet administrator. She is presently serving on the NCAA National Track and Field Committee. Daymont and her husband Dick are champions in the running community and have directed countless local running events. Most notable is the Zoom! Yah! Yah! Indoor marathon hosted each January with help from the women’s track and field team.
They have three children, all St. Olaf alums: Tom ‘06, Megan ‘03 and Sara ‘01.
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