Kris Mack returns to The Farm for his sixth season as the Assistant Coach for the Cardinal men's and women's multi-event athletes and pole vault. Mack joined the Stanford staff in January of 2004 after working as a Physical Therapy Technician at BioMotion Physical Therapy in Thousand Oaks, CA. Coach Mack has been influential in helping Stanford qualify a record number of student-athletes for the NCAA Track and Field Championships.
"Coach Mack is one of the best young minds in the pole vault and multi-events today. The athletes he works with are rewriting the record books every year," said Edrick Floreal, Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field.
Last season Mack led a trio of athletes to All-America honors with Graeme Hoste (pole vault), Josh Hustedt (heptathlon) and Dani Maier (javelin). Hoste completed a season where he set the indoor school record in the pole vault (18-4 ¾), won a MPSF title and finished fourth at the indoor nationals. Hustedt finished as the national runner-up and the MPSF champion in the heptathlon, as well as climbing to No. 3 on the all-time Stanford decathlon list (7,465 points). On the female side, Mack coached Maier to a new school record in the javelin by throwing 174-0. She was also the Pac-10 runner-up and finished ninth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. In addition, Mack led Lauren Stewart to an MPSF title and a new school record of 3,924 points in the pentathlon. He also led Whitney Liehr to a new Stanford freshman record of 5,186 points in the heptathlon.
During the 2007 season, Mack guided Graeme Hoste to a top-ten finish in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Championships, earning the first All-American honors of his collegiate career. Hoste continued to improve under Mack's guidance as he garnered his second All-American honor of the season after earning a fourth-place finish in the pole vault at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Mack also coached Josh Hustedt to a Stanford-record heptathlon score of 5,837 at the NCAA Indoor Championships, earning the first All-American honor of his career. Hustedt continued to improve in the decathlon as well, scoring a collegiate career best 7,286 points at the Cal Multis (No. 5 all-time at Stanford), where he qualified to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also set the Stanford indoor 60-meter hurdle record of 8.03 along the way. On the women's side, Mack coached freshman Kara Bennett to a 12th-place finish in the heptathlon at the Pac-10 Championships.
In 2006, Mack coached Graeme Hoste to a No. 3 collegiate ranking and No. 15 USA National Ranking, with appearances at the Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Championships and the USA National Championships. Hoste's vault of 18-1 (5.51m) ranks second all-time in the Stanford record books. Under Mack's guidance, then-freshman Donell Hill qualified for the NCAA Regionals, qualified for the Pac-10 finals and finished fourth at the USATF Junior National Championships. Hill vaulted 16-7 (5.06m), taking over the No. 2 all-time freshman spot. Mack also coached decathlete Josh Hustedt to a 1,200-point personal best increase in the decathlon (7070 points, NCAA Provisional Mark and seventh all-time at Stanford). Hustedt was instrumental in scoring points at the Pac-10 Championships with a fourth-place finish in the decathlon and a seventh-place finish in the long jump. Hustedt made huge improvements in many events. Besides the decathlon, Hustedt also qualified for the NCAA West Regional Long Jump Final with a personal-best jump of 24-8 (7.48m). He also improved his pole vault mark from 13-0 to 15-5 (4.70m). During the indoor season, Mack also guided Hustedt to a new indoor school record in the Men's Heptathlon (5,359 points). On the women's side, Mack coached Anna McFarlane to a new indoor school record (13-1, 3.99m) in the women's pole vault. For the second straight year she qualified outdoors for the NCAA Regionals with a vault of 12-11 3/4 (3.96m).
In 2005, Mack coached Hoste and Benjamin Dickens in the pole vault. Hoste vaulted 16-6 3/4 (5.05m), which qualified him for the NCAA West Regional, while Dickens vaulted 16-1 (4.90m) in five different meets. Both were impressive during their first year of collegiate competition, and were able to crack the Top 10 all-time in the Stanford record book. The Cardinal women vaulters also enjoyed productive seasons. McFarlane and Samantha Shepard both competed at the NCAA West Regional. McFarlane vaulted 12-11 3/4 (3.96m) her freshman season, good for fourth on the school's all-time list. Mack also coached decathlete Nick Taylor to a 1,000-point personal best increase in the decathlon (6,832 points) and a fifth-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships in 2005. Taylor also set the indoor school record in the heptathlon (5,104 points).
In 2004, Mack coached senior Jason Goff to a 13-foot personal best increase in the javelin (218-8, 66.67m) and a berth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. Mack also guided Samantha Shepard and Leila Ben-Youssef to NCAA Regional appearances in the women's pole vault. He helped Sally Mills score a personal-best and indoor school record 3,417 points in the women's pentathlon.
Mack has enjoyed success coaching athletes from the prep to the elite levels. In 2003, Mack served as an Assistant Coach at Bloomington North High School in Bloomington, Ind. In just one year at Bloomington North, Mack led four athletes (two throwers/two vaulters) to the Indiana state track and field championship meet. Mack helped guide Bloomington North to the 2003 Sectional and Regional track and field championship titles.
As a Graduate Assistant Coach at Indiana University from 2000-02, Mack helped coach Dino Efthimiou to a fifth-place finish in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Championships, earning the senior Hoosier his first All-America award. At Indiana, Mack also coached then freshman Emily Tharpe to an indoor and outdoor school record in the pole vault.
During the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials, Mack was an Assistant Coach for Sky Jumpers Vertical Sports Club and coached Paula Serrano to a tenth-place finish in the women's pole vault. While working at Sky Jumpers (1996-2000), Mack assisted with the development of many elite high school pole vaulters, including Chelsea Johnson, Shayla Balentine, Monica Pacas and Kasey Lundgren.
As a standout student-athlete at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Mack had a personal best of 17-4 (5.28m) in the pole vault and was a member of the track and field team that qualified five pole vaulters at the 1998 and `99 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Mack graduated Magna Cum Laude from Cal Poly in 2000 with a B.S. in Kinesiology and Biochemistry. In 2002, Mack earned his M.S. in Biomechanics from Indiana University. At Indiana, Mack studied under Jesus Dapena, the Sports Biomechanics high jump specialist for USA Track and Field.
Mack and his wife Paula, the 1999 NCAA Champion in the women's pole vault, have two sons, Travis Calahan and Caleb Laim. They reside in Mountain View, Calif.