Mississippi Colege Athletics

Chris Webber – Men’s and Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field – 4 Seasons

Coaching Mission:

• To contend for the GSC and NCAA DII National Championship every year by developing the God-given talent of the athletes on our team. In doing so, helping them to glorify God with their gift and to “run free”. 

Education:

• B.S. in Kinesiology at Mississippi College in May of 2021. 

Coaching Experience:

• August 2017 - May 2018: Student Intern Cross Country Coach at Starkville High School(Starkville, MS)
• August 2019 - May 2021: Head Cross Country Coach at Columbus Christian Academy(Steens, MS)
• May 2022 - March 2024: Graduate Assistant Coach at Mississippi College
• March 2024 - June 2024: Interim Cross Country Coach at Mississippi College
• June 2024 - Present: Associate Head Cross Country Coach at Mississippi College. 

MC Coaching Highlights:

• No greater highlight exists for Coach Webber than watching them overcome fear and anxiety and “run and not be weary”. Teaching that when you use a gift from God to glorify Him, the pressure of comparisons, fear, and stress are unnecessary during competition, and athletes get to enjoy the sport the way that God designed it. In this way, you worship by receiving the gift, stewarding the gift, and then returning the gift to the Giver. 

Cross Country School Records: 8

• Men’s 8K: Jan Lukas Becker(23:29.8)
• Men’s 8K Top 5 avg: Poulin, Becker, Kurz, Balcer, Kelly(24:07)
• Men's 10K: Jan Lukas Becker(29:22.9)
• Men's 10K Top 5 avg: Becker, Kurz, Poulin, Balcer, Methvin(31:02)
• Women’s 5K: Lauren Wallace (17:19.9)
• Women’s 5K Top 5 avg: Wallace, Benoit, Bell, Finch, Harris(17:55)
• Women’s 6K: Lauren Wallace: (20:40.6)
• Women’s 6K Top 5 avg: Wallace, Bell, Benoit, Mayatte, Harris (21:19)

Track & Field School Records: 17

• Bre Bell: Women's 3,000m(9:46.56), Women's 3,000m Steeplechase (10:52.46)
• Cole Benoit: Men's 1500m(3:44.35)
• Emily Berry: Women's 10,000m(37:29.27)
• Gabe Hodson: Men's Indoor 800m(1:49.33)
• Hunter Kurz: Men's 1-mile(4:03.98)
• Jan Lukas Becker: Men's 3,000m(7:58.12), Men's Indoor 5,000m(13:47.00), Men's Outdoor 5,000m(13:50.00), Men's 10,000m(28:40.04)
• Lauren Wallace: Women’s Indoor 800m(2:13.12), Women's Outdoor 800m(2:10.30), Women's 1-mile(4:43.84) Women's 1500m(4:26.85)
• Taylor Benoit: Women's Outdoor 5,000m(16:58.56)
• Men's DMR: Hunter Kurz, Fabio Palmieri, Christian Balcer, Cole Benoit(9:44.63)
• Women's DMR: Jazmin Russell, Hilary Udechukwu, Taylor Benoit, Lauren Wallace(11:29.55)

Individual GSC Champions: 24

• Bre Bell: '23 Outdoor(Women's 3000m Steeplechase), '26 Indoor(Women's DMR)
• Brock Kelly: '23 Indoor(Men's DMR)
• Cole Benoit '23 Indoor(Men's DMR & 1-mile), '23 Outdoor(Men's 1500m), '24 Indoor(Men's 1-mile)
• Evan Wrights: '25 Indoor(Men's 4x400m), '25 Outdoor(Men's 4x400m), '26 Indoor(Men's 4x400m)
• Gabe Hodson: '26 Indoor(Men's 800m & 4x400m)
• Jan Lukas Becker: '22 Cross Country, '23 Indoor(Men's 3,000m & 5,000m), '23 Outdoor(Men's 3,000m Steeplechase & 5,000m), '24 Indoor(Men's 5,000m)
• Jazmin Hernandez: '24 Indoor(Women's 800m)
• Lauren Wallace: '26 Indoor(Women's DMR)
• Sam Hodson: '25 Indoor(Men's 4x400m), '25 Outdoor(Men's 4x400m), '26 Indoor(Men's 4x400m)
• Taylor Benoit: '26 Indoor(Women's DMR)

Team GSC Champions: 3

• 2021 Men’s Indoor (Beers, Benoit, Del Rio, Hall, Poulin, Gomez, Russell)
• 2023 Men’s Indoor (Balcer, Becker, Benoit, Hodson, Poulin, Kelly, Kurz)
• 2025 Women’s Cross Country (Wallace, Bell, Benoit, Mayatte, Harris, Finch, Wallace, Sellers, Jeffery, Jensen)

NCAA DII National Qualifiers: 63

2021 Cross Country

• Braedon Methvin
• Bre Bell
• Brock Kelly
• Christian Balcer
• Cole Benoit
• Emily Berry
• Evan Del Rio
• Gabe Poulin
• Hunter Kurz
• Jazmin Hernandez
• Josie Whipp
• Kathy Hammond
• Madeline Campbell
• Norma Guitterez

2022 Indoor

• Hunter Kurz, Men's Mile**

2022 Outdoor

• Cole Benoit, Men's 1500

2022 Cross Country

• Adam Gomez
• Braedon Methvin
• Brock Kelly
• Christian Balcer
• Gabe Poulin
• Hunter Kurz
• Jan Lukas Becker*
• Jazmin Hernandez

2023 Indoor

• Christian Balcer, Men's DMR*
• Cole Benoit, Men's DMR* & 3000**
• Hunter Kurz, Men's DMR* & Mile
• Jan Lukas Becker, Men's 5000* & 3000**

2023 Outdoor

• Jan Lukas Becker, Men's 10000@

2023 Cross Country

• Baxter Friedman
• Braedon Methvin
• Bre Bell
• Cole Benoit
• Cooper Parmer
• Emily Berry
• Jan Lukas Becker*
• Jazmin Hernandez
• Josie Whipp
• Lauren Wallace
• Norma Guitterez
• Taylor Benoit
• Wyatt Whipp

2024 Indoor

• Jan Lukas Becker, Men's 5000
• Jazmin Hernandez, Women's DMR*
• Lauren Wallace, Women's DMR*
• Taylor Benoit, Women's DMR*

2024 Outdoor 

• Cole Benoit, Men's 1500**
• Jan Lukas Becker, Men's 5000 & 10000*
• Lauren Wallace, Women's 1500**

2024 Cross Country

• Braedon Methvin
• Brock Kelly
• Carson Smith
• Christian Balcer
• Cooper Parmer
• Preston Speed
• Taylor Benoit
• Wyatt Whipp

2025 Outdoor 

• Evan Wrights, Men's 4x400
• Sam Hodson, Men's 4x400

2025 Cross Country 

• Lauren Wallace
• Taylor Benoit

2026 Indoor

• Gabe Hodson, Men's 800*
• Lauren Wallace, Women's Mile*

Program Top-10’s: 171

Other Post-Season Highlights:

• First NCAA DII national champion since 1978(Jan Lukas Becker, Men's 10,000m, 2023)
• First Men's 800m NCAA DII National Qualifier & NCAA DII 1st-Team All-American (Gabe Hodson, 2026)
• First Women's 1-mile NCAA DII National Qualifier & NCAA DII 1st-Team All-American (Lauren Wallace, 2026)
• First Cross Country GSC title in school history (Women’s XC, 2025)
• First Women’s GSC title in program history (Women’s XC, 2025)
• First NCAA DII South Regional Women's Individual Champion in school history(Lauren Wallace, 2025)
• First Sub-17:00 5K in Women's program history(Taylor Benoit)
• First Sub-4:50 Mile in Women's program history(Lauren Wallace)
• First Sub-1:50 Men's 800m at GSC Championships(Gabe Hodson, 2026)
• Highest male and female NCAA DII Cross Country Championship finishers in program history (Male = Jan Lukas Becker, 7th overall & Female = Taylor Benoit, 87th overall)
• Highest male NCAA DII Cross Country team finishers in program history (12th, 2023)
• Highest male and female NCAA DII South Region Cross Country Championship finishers in program history (Male = Jan Lukas Becker, 1st overall *tie* & Female = Lauren Wallace, 1st overall)
• GSC Indoor Meet Record in Men's 800m(Gabe Hodson, 1:49.76, 2026)
• GSC Indoor Meet Record in Men's 4x400(Hodson, Wrights, Hodson, 3:13.51, 2026)
• First to have both genders qualify in an event to NCAA DII Track and Field National Championships in program history(Men's & Women's 1500m, 2024).
• First podium sweep in GSC Women's Indoor Championship history(Women’s 800m, 2024 - Hernandez-Russell, Benoit, Wallace)
• First Women's DMR Victory at GSC Indoor Championships(Bell, Benoit, Wallace, 2026)
• First Women's 10,000m podium finish at GSC Track & Field Championships in program history(Emily Berry, 2024). 
• Most team points scored in the Men's 10,000m at '24 GSC Outdoor Track & Field Championships(Methvin, Parmer, Kelly)
• Most team points scored in the Men’s 10,000m at ’25 GSC Outdoor Track & Field Championships(Methvin, Parmer, Haber)

Personal Information:

• Coach Webber proudly competed for the Choctaws in Track & Field and Cross Country from August 2018 to his graduation in May 2021. While he had many athletic accomplishments, he claims his proudest achievement was winning the water balloon toss at camp week his freshman year.
  Webber hails from his alma mater, Columbus Christian Academy in Steens, MS, where his family still resides. He is married to Julie Webber (formerly Brenner), another MC alum. They first met at the Speed Library on campus, and Webber likes to say that '30 national titles couldn't match the accomplishment of he and Julie's marriage.'
  From a young age, Webber felt called by God to become a college coach—a conviction that took root in middle school and has never wavered. Today, he not only gets to do what he loves, but also what he believes he was called to do, at the place he was called to do it.
  In January 2024, he made the decision to fully commit his life to the Lord, a moment that, in his words, "his life hasn't been the same since.”