Mississippi Colege Athletics

Chris Webber – Men’s and Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field – 2 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:

• BS in Kinesiology at Mississippi College in May of 2022. 

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. 

School Records

• BECKER, Jan Lukas: Men's 5,000m Outdoor(13:50.00) & 10,000m(28:40.04)
• BELL, Bre: Women's 3,000m Steeplechase (10:52.46)
• BENOIT, Cole: Men’s Indoor 800m (1:50.99), Men's 1500m(3:44.35)
• BERRY, Emily: Women’s 3,000m(9:51.51), Women's 10,000m(37:29.27)
• HERNANDEZ-RUSSELL, Jazmin: Women’s 1-mile(4:53.75), Women’s Outdoor 5,000m(17:01.99)
• KURZ, Hunter: Men's 1-mile(4:03.98)
• WALLACE, Lauren: Women’s Indoor 800m(2:13.12), Women's Outdoor 800m(2:10.30), Women's 1500m(4:26.85)
• 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)

GSC Champions

• BECKER, Jan Lukas: '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)
• BELL, Bre: '23 GSC Outdoor(Women's 3000m Steeplechase)
• BENOIT, Cole: '23 Indoor(Men's DMR & 1-mile), '23 Outdoor(Men's 1500m), '24 Indoor(Men's 1-mile)
• HERNANDEZ-RUSSELL, Jazmin: '24 Indoor(Women's 800m)
• KELLY, Brock: '23 Indoor(Men's DMR)

National Qualifiers

• BALCER, Christian: '22 Cross Country, '23 Indoor
• BECKER, Jan Lukas: '22 Cross Country, '23 Indoor, '23 Outdoor, '23 Cross Country, '24 Indoor, '24 Outdoor
• BELL, Bre: '23 Cross Country
• BERRY, Emily: '23 Cross Country
• BENOIT, Cole: '23 Indoor, '23 Cross Country, '24 Outdoor
• BENOIT, Taylor: '23 Cross Country, '24 Indoor
• FRIEDMAN, Baxter: '23 Cross Country
• GOMEZ, Adam: '22 Cross Country
• GUITTEREZ, Norma: '23 Cross Country
• HERNANDEZ-RUSSELL, Jazmin: '22 Cross Country, '23 Cross Country, '24 Indoor
• KELLY, Brock: '22 Cross Country
• KURZ, Hunter: '22 Cross Country, '23 Indoor
• METHVIN, Braedon: '22 Cross Country, '23 Cross Country
• PARMER, Cooper: '23 Cross Country
• POULIN, Gabe: '22 Cross Country
• SPEED, Preston: '23 Cross Country
• WALLACE, Lauren: 23 Cross Country, '24 Indoor, '24 Outdoor
• WHIPP, Josie '23 Cross Country
• WHIPP, Wyatt: '23 Cross Country

Program Top-10's

• BALCER, Christian: Men's Indoor 800m(#7), Men's 1-mile(#2) Men's 1500m(#4), Men's 3,000m(#7), Men's 3,000m Steeplechase(#5), Men's Indoor 5,000m(#4), Men's Outdoor 5,000m(#4), Men’s DMR(#3, #7)
• BAXTER, Leslie: Women’s Indoor 800m(#6), Women’s Outdoor 800m(#6), Women’s Indoor 4x400m(#6), Women’s Outdoor 4x400m(#5)
• BECKER, Jan Lukas: Men's 3,000m Steeplechase(#3)
• BELL, Bre: Women’s Indoor 800m(#7), Women’s Outdoor 800m(#8), Women’s 1-mile(#8), Women’s 1500m (#5), Women’s 3,000m(#3), Women’s Indoor 5,000m(#2), Women’s Outdoor 5,000m(#6), Women’s DMR(#3)
• BENOIT, Cole: Men's Outdoor 800m(#5), Men’s 1-mile(#3), Men’s 3,000m(#2), Men’s Indoor 5,000m(#8), Men’s DMR(#2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #9)
• BENOIT, Taylor: Women’s Indoor 800m(#3), Women’s Outdoor 800m(#4), Women’s 1-mile(#2), Women’s 1500m(#2), Women’s 3,000m(#4), Women’s Indoor 5,000m(#5), Women’s Indoor 4x400m(#6), Women’s Outdoor 4x400m(#5)
• BERRY, Emily: Women’s Indoor 800m(#9), Women’s 1-mile(#4), Women’s 1500m(#7), Women’s Indoor 5,000m(#3), Women’s Outdoor 5,000m(#3), Women’s DMR(#5)
• DICKERSON, Ava: Women’s 1-mile(#9), Women’s 3,000m(#9), Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase
• DOOLING, Caroline: Women’s 1500m(#10)
• FRIEDMAN, Baxter: Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase (#9)
• GUITTEREZ, Norma: Women’s 1-mile(#10), Women’s 3,000m(#7), Women’s Indoor 5,000m(#8), Women’s Outdoor 5,000m(#7)
• HALL, Haley: Women’s Indoor 800m(#5), Women’s Outoor 800m(#5), Women’s 1-mile(#6), Women’s 1500m(#4), Women’s DMR(#2), Women’s Indoor 4x400m(#6), Women’s Outdoor 4x400m(#5)
• HAMMOND, Kathy: Women’s Indoor 800m(#9), Women’s Indoor 5,000m(#10)
• HERNANDEZ-RUSSELL, Jazmin: Women’s Indoor 800m(#2), Women’s DMR(#2, #3, #4, #6)
• JOHNSON, Hollis: Men’s 1-mile(#8), Men's 1500m(#10)
• KELLY, Brock: Men’s Indoor 800m(#10), Men's 1500m(#6), Men’s 3,000m(#4), Men's 10,000m(#7), Men’s DMR(#4, #7)
• KURZ, Hunter: Men's Indoor 800m(#8), Men's Outdoor 800m(#8), Men's 1500m(#2), Men's 3,000m(#3), Men's Indoor 5,000m(#3), Men's DMR(#2, #3, #7)
• METHVIN, Braedon: Men's 3,000m(#10), Men’s Indoor 5,000m(#5), Men's Outdoor 5,000m(#6), Men's 10,000m(#4)
• PARMER, Cooper: Men’s Indoor 5,000m(#7),  Men's 10,000m(#5)
• POULIN, Gabe: Men's Indoor 5,000m(#6)
• SELLERS, Shana: Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase (#3), Women’s Outdoor 5,000m(#10)
• SMITH, Carson: Men’s 1-mile(#6), Men’s Indoor 5,000m(#9), Men’s DMR(#6)
• SPEED, Preston: Men’s 1-mile(#10), Men’s Indoor 5,000m(#10)
• PERRY, Caroline: Women’s 10,000m(#10)
• WALLCE, Lauren: Women’s 1-mile(#3), Women’s 3,000m(#2), Women’s Indoor 5,000m(#4), Women’s Outdoor 5,000m(#2), Women’s DMR(#2, #3)
• WARDLAW, Ava: Women’s 10,000m(#8)
• WHIPP, Josie: Women’s Indoor 5,000m(#9), Women’s 10,000m(#3)

Post-Season Highlights

• First NCAA DII national champion since 1978(Jan Lukas Becker, Men's 10,000m, 2023).
• Highest-ever male and female NCAA DII Cross Country Championship finishers in program history (Male = Jan Lukas Becker, 7th overall & Female = Lauren Wallace, 107th overall).
• First-ever to have both genders qualify in an event to NCAA DII Track and Field National Championships in program history(1500m, 2024).
• First-ever podium sweep in GSC Indoor Championship history(Women’s 800m, 2024).
• First-ever women's 10,000m podium finish at GSC Track & Field Championships in program hostory(Emily Berry, 2024). 

Personal Information:

• Coach Webber proudly competed for the Choctaws in Track and Field / Cross Country from August of 2018 to his graduation in May of 2022, and claims that his biggest athletic achievement that he is most proud of is ‘winning the water balloon toss at camp week his freshman year’.
• He comes to Mississippi College from his alma mater, Columbus Christian Academy located in Steens, MS, where his family still resides.
• Coach Webber says that he is not sure why, but God placed in his heart to be a college coach when he was in middle school, and nothing has changed. Now, not only does he get to do what he loves, but also what he is called to do and where he is called to do it.
• In January of 2024, he decided to fully commit his life to the Lord, and his life 'hasn't been the same since’.