Eastern Illinois director of track & field / cross country James Gildon announced the return of a familiar face to the Panthers Athletic Department with the hiring of
Riley McInerney as an assistant track coach and cross country coach.
McInerney, a former All-Ohio Valley Conference runner for the Panthers program, will coach the cross country teams and distance runners on the Panthers indoor and outdoor track programs.
A Charleston, Ill., native, McInerney was a 13-time All-OVC performer between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. He was a three-time NCAA qualifer for the NCAA West Regional in outdoor track while earning All-Region honors in cross country. He was a member of three OVC Championship teams during his time as a student-athlete.
He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at McHenry High School in the fall of 2017 coaching two All-Conference runners. He then worked as a volunteer assistant coach with the EIU cross country / track programs for the 2018-19 academic year helping coach ten All-Conference performances across the three sports.
Following a two-year stint running professionally for the New England Distance/Rhode Island Track Club, McInerney worked for two years as an assistant coach at Indiana State. He helped coach the Sycamores to nine combined men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field Missouri Valley Conference championships. He helped recruit and coach 30 top ten school performances during his two years.
McInerney earned his bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois in 2017. He ran at EIU under former head coach Erin Howarth and his father John McInerney was a seven-time OVC Coach of the Year during the Panthers first years as a league member starting in 1996.