The University of Mississippi Athletics
Track and Field
Chewens, Michelle
Michelle Chewens
- Title:
- Volunteer Assistant - Distance
- Year at Ole Miss:
- Third
- E-mail:
- mchewens@olemiss.edu
- Phone:
- 662-915-7538
- Alma Mater:
- UNC Greensboro (2011)
Michelle Chewens is in her third season in 2021-22 as a volunteer assistant coach for the Ole Miss track & field and cross country program, working predominantly with the Rebel women’s distance program that has ascended to unheard-of heights under her direction.
Chewens owns more than a decade of coaching experience to her credit, helping mentor numerous All-Americans, conference champions and national qualifiers across an 11-year career that spans stops at UNCG, Toledo, Columbia and Wake Forest before helping turn the Ole Miss women’s distance runners into one of the premier programs nationwide.
Chewens’ cross country teams have been superb in all three of her seasons in Oxford, resetting the best NCAA finish in women’s program history each year – capped by a record 10th-place finish in 2021. Her cross country teams have finished at least third in the SEC in each of her three seasons – including two runner-up team finishes in 2019 and 2021 – and she coached the first cross country All-American in Ole Miss women’s history, Sintayehu Vissa, in 2021 (33rd place).
This success has put Ole Miss women’s cross country on the map nationally. In her three-year stretch with the Rebels, Ole Miss has ranked in 18 of the 23 possible national polls released during her tenure – which matches the 18 total rankings appearances in program history prior to her arrival.
On the track, her runners have proven versatile all the way from 10,000 meters down to the 800, having dismantled eight of the possible 10 standard event school records across the indoor and outdoor seasons. She has coached nine Rebels to All-American honors, won three SEC titles and qualified 10 athletes to the NCAA Championships and 22 to the NCAA East Regional. In total, her runners have scored 12 NCAA points – which accounts for 24.5 percent of all Ole Miss women’s NCAA scoring since her arrival. On a conference level, her runners have tallied 91 SEC points – which amounts to 32.1 percent of all conference scoring by the Rebel women in the same timespan.
In the classroom, Chewens’ Rebel teams have been excellent as well, earning a total 22 USTFCCCA All-Academic individual honors and five USTFCCCA All-Academic team awards across the track and cross country seasons.
The 2021-22 school year has been one for the ages for Chewens and the Rebel women from start to finish. The Ole Miss women began the year with the best cross country season in program history, which ended with the aforementioned record 10th-place team finish and the first-ever All-American honor by a Rebel woman from Vissa in 33rd place. The Rebels were a power all season long, averaging a season-long scoring spread of just 44.2 seconds en route to the third-ever SEC runner-up finish in program history and Ole Miss’ second-ever NCAA South Region title – giving Ole Miss the first men’s/women’s sweep at the South Regional since Florida State in 2012. The Rebels were ranked in all eight polls for just the second time ever, and rose to a program record No. 9 in the final release of the season.
Vissa also notched the top SEC finish ever by a Rebel women’s runner for First-Team All-SEC honors in sixth place, and was followed by Second-Team member Ryann Helmers in 14th place. A school record five Rebels earned NCAA All-South Region honors: Vissa, Helmers, Anna Elkin, Kristel van den Berg and Clio Ozanne-Jaques.
Vissa took that energy onto the track immediately, helping lead the Rebel women to a historic indoor campaign that saw five school records tumble. The Ole Miss women finished tied for sixth at the national meet with 29 total NCAA points – the best finish indoors in combined program history and the most national points scored ever by a Rebel team, indoors or outdoors. Of those 29, the Rebel women’s distance runners accounted for 11 – led by a national runner-up finish by Vissa in the mile. Vissa also ran anchor on the sixth-place distance medley relay team, the highest finish ever by the Rebel women in both events.
At the SEC Indoor Championships, Vissa was once again the catalyst, helping Ole Miss win their first-ever SEC titles on the track indoors in both the mile and the DMR – both coming via SEC meet record performances. The DMR team of Anna Elkin, Jayda Eckford, Loral Winn and Vissa – the same team that went to NCAAs – shattered their own Ole Miss record to win at 10:56.39, establishing a new conference meet record that also put the Rebels No. 12 in NCAA history.
Outdoors in 2022 has already been a tremendous success for the Rebel women’s distance crew, with 14 entries into the NCAA East Regional and yet another SEC title and SEC meet record from Vissa in the 1500-meter at 4:08.72 – the 16th-fastest time in NCAA history. Skylar Boogerd also claimed a medal at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Oxford, with Skylar Boogerd snaring silver in the 10K to become the second runner-up in the event in women’s program history.
The 2020-21 season was Chewens’ first full one in Oxford and was a strong one to boot, highlighted by the first NCAA berth in the DMR in women’s program history. That squad of Loral Winn, Toni Glatz, Sintayehu Vissa and Maddie King set the school record and finished eighth overall for First-Team All-American status. Across indoor and outdoor, 12 of Chewens’ athletes scored at the conference meet. Outdoors, Clio Ozanne-Jaques took full advantage of her last season with the Rebels, earning another SEC medal to her credit with a bronze in the 10K before smashing the school record at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at 33:26.86 to earn Honorable Mention All-American status.
In cross country, the Rebel women again had their highest national finish to that point with a 12th-place showing – a nine-spot improvement over the previous record of 21st set in 2019. Three Rebels would have broken the top individual national finish record, led by a 49th-place showing by Anna Elkin – who was also a Second-Team All-SEC finisher alongside Victoria Simmons.
The 2019-20 campaign was cut short due to the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic, but Chewens’ first season with the Rebels was a strong one anyway. Ole Miss recorded its highest national finish to that point in 21st place, and earned an auto bid to the national meet following a second-place finish at the NCAA South Regional. Skylar Boogerd was named SEC Freshman of the Year on an SEC runner-up squad, while Victoria Simmons earned the first of her two career Second-Team All-SEC nods.
Prior to Ole Miss, Chewens spent three seasons as the head women’s cross country coach and an assistant track coach at Wake Forest beginning in the 2016-17 season under head coach John Hayes.
Chewens made an immediate impact in her first season with the Demon Deacons. The women’s cross country team finished sixth at the ACC Championships, a large improvement from the 12th place finish in 2015. The success continued as the women’s program improved from 12th to 5th place at the Southeast Cross Country Regional, just 23 points shy of an NCAA auto-bid. At the end of the season, two members in Ellie Abrahamson and Mimi Smith earned All-ACC Academic Team honors for their performances both inside and out of the classroom.
During the Indoor track and field season, Chewens coached two Indoor All-ACC performers in Ellie Abrahamson (3,000m run) and Kathryn Lazarchick (mile). Both athletes would earn All-ACC Academic honors at the end of the season.
In the outdoor season, Abrahamson would go on to finish second in both the 5,000m run and 3,000m steeplechase at the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships while both Abrahamson and Lazarchick represented Wake Forest at the NCAA East Preliminary. Abrahamson, under the guidance of Chewens, capped her senior season with a school-record performance at the NCAA Championships, where she finished seventh in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:56, earning All-American honors.
By the end of the season, both Abrahamson, aside from her school-record performance, and Lazarchick cracked the top five all-time performance list at Wake Forest. Abrahamson took the third-place spot in the 5k with a time of 16:01 while Lazarchick landed fifth in the 1500m with a time of 4:20. Abrahamson also earned All-ACC Academic Team honors.
In her second cross country season with the Deacons, the team took fifth at the ACC Championships, the best finish since 2003. Samantha Halvorsen had a breakout sophomore season under Chewens that culminated in All-ACC honors after finishing 14th overall. The team went on to take sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional in a field that included five national ranked teams. Halvorsen earned All-Region honors after finishing 20th. Chewens also had three women named to the All-ACC Academic Team at the end of the season while the team was named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team.
Halvorsen’s success under Chewens’ coaching continued into the outdoor season as she became Wake Forest’s first female NCAA qualifier in the 10,000m since 2005. Halvorsen finished 16th at the National Championships to earn Second Team All-America honors. From the beginning of the season to the NCAA finals, Chewens helped Halvorsen shave nearly a minute off her 10k time to finish the season fourth on the Wake Forest all-time list.
Chewens’ influence can be seen in other distance runners, as three of her student-athletes qualified for the 2018 East Preliminary. Also under Chewens in 2018, Mimi Smith earned Second Team All-ACC honors in the 5,000m at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Eliza Lukens-Day 16:24 5k No. 10 All-Time.
Her last season in 2019, Chewens mentored four All-ACC runners. Indoors was highlighted by Samantha Halvorsen’s 16:07.40 in the 5K (No. 2 school history), and Halvorsen carried that to the outdoor season with an All-ACC performance in the 10K. She qualified for the national meet in the 10K following an eighth-place finish at the NCAA East Regional at 33:32.32. Halvorsen would go on to earn Honorable Mention All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Halvorsen was one of four Wake Forest athletes to qualify to the East Regional, alongside Hannah Brookover and Elise Wright in the 3000-meter steeplechase, and Mimi Smith in the 5K and 10K. Wright’s 10:10.09 in the steeple ranked as the second-fastest freshman time in the NCAA in the 2019 season.
Both Halvorsen (ninth) and Smith (17th) earned All-Region honors in the cross country season to help the Demon Deacons to their best regional team finish since 2005 (fourth).
Prior to Wake Forest, Chewens spent the past two seasons at Columbia University where she served as an assistant track & field and cross country coach. While at Columbia, Chewens coached a pair of student-athletes to All-Ivy League Honors at the Ivy League Cross Country Championships in both 2014 and 2015. In 2015, Chewens coached Natalie Tanner to All-Northeast Region Honors as she finished 14th at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships and earned a spot on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. In two years with the Columbia track teams, Chewens saw eight individuals advance to NCAA East Preliminaries in outdoor track, with Natalie Tanner earning Second-Team All-American Honors with a 15th-place finish in the 5k in 2016. The 2016 squad also had its best showing at the Ivy League Outdoor Track and Field Championships, scoring the most points since 2010, and matching the program record for points scored at the conference meet. During a pair indoor track seasons, Chewens saw three student-athletes garner All-Ivy League honors during the 2014-15 season, with Sarah Hardie claiming the title in the 1,000m in 2014-15 before repeating in 2015-16. The 2014-15 team would go on to finish second overall at the Ivy League Indoor Championships.
Before joining the Lions staff, Chewens served as an assistant coach at the University of Toledo. During the 2013-14 season, Chewens aided in the coaching of one NCAA Outdoor Track All-American honorable mention(Mackenzie Chojnacky - 3k steeple), as well as three NCAA Outdoor East-Prelim qualifiers.
Prior to her time at Toledo, Chewens spent time at UNC Greensboro as a cross country and track & field assistant coach. From the spring of 2012 until July 2013, UNCG saw three All-Americans on the track, one in cross country and six qualifiers in the NCAA Outdoor East-Prelims.
As a student-athlete, Chewens was a four-time letterwinner in both cross country and track at UNC Greensboro, earning Academic All-SoCon honors all four years, and was a part of UNCG's first SoCon Championship in 2011. Chewens graduated from UNCG in August 2011 with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and a concentration in sports medicine. She is originally from Cornwall-On-Hudson, New York.
Chewens is married to Ole Miss associate head coach for cross country and track & field, Ryan Vanhoy, and has one son, Hudson.
Michelle Chewens | Ole Miss Cross Country Career Notes (2019-Present)
Volunteer Assistant Coach, 2019-Present
- Led Rebel women to best cross country finish in program history in 2021 (10th)
- Coached Ole Miss women to best NCAA cross country finishes in program history three straight years in 2019 (21st), 2020 (12th) and 2021 (10th)
- Coached Ole Miss women to 2021 NCAA South Region team title (second in program history)
- Coached Ole Miss women to three straight SEC top-three team finishes, including two runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2021
- Led Ole Miss women to national rankings in 18 of 23 possible national polls during her tenure (Rebels only ranked 18 total times in women’s history prior to her arrival)
- Helped Ole Miss women record highest national ranking in program history (No. 9, Week 7, 2021)
- Coached first All-American in Ole Miss women’s cross country history (Sintayehu Vissa, 33rd place, 2021)
- 3 NCAA cross country team berths
- 9 NCAA All-South Region honorees
- 5 All-SEC runners
- 1 SEC Freshman of the Year (Skylar Boogerd, 2019)
- 1 SEC All-Freshman
- 14 USTFCCCA All-Academic
- 3 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Awards
Michelle Chewens | Ole Miss Track Career Notes (2019-Present)
Volunteer Assistant Coach, 2019-Present
- Helped lead Rebel women to best-ever NCAA Indoor team finish in combined program history in 2022 (T-6th), as well as most points scored indoors or outdoors (29)
- 1 NCAA Runner-Up (Sintayehu Vissa, Mile, 2021)
- 9 First or Second-Team All-Americans
- 12 NCAA points scored
- 10 NCAA qualifiers
- 22 NCAA East Region qualifiers
- Women’s distance runners have accounted for 24.5 percent of all Ole Miss women’s NCAA scoring since 2020
- 91 SEC points scored
- Women’s distance runners have accounted for 32.1 percent of all Ole Miss women’s SEC scoring since 2020
- 6 SEC Champions (3 titles)
- Has claimed eight of the possible 10 standard school records (indoor/outdoor)
- 8 USTFCCCA All-Academic selections
- 2 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Awards
Women’s Top Indoor Times • Ole Miss, 2020-Present
800-Meter: 2:06.45 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2021)
Mile: 4:32.70 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2022) *School Record*
3K: 9:04.95 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2022) *School Record*
5K: 16:11.04 (Skylar Boogerd, 2022) *School Record*
Distance Medley Relay: 10:56.39 (Elkin, Eckford, Winn, Vissa; 2022) *School Record*
Women’s Top Outdoor Times • Ole Miss, 2021-Present
800-Meter: 2:01.06 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2022) *School Record*
1500-Meter: 4:08.72 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2022) *School Record*
5K: 15:54.46 (Skylar Boogerd, 2022) *School Record*
10K: 33:26.86 (Clio Ozanne-Jaques, 2021) *School Record*
3000-Meter Steeplechase: 10:05.75 (Kristel van den Berg, 2022)
Chewens owns more than a decade of coaching experience to her credit, helping mentor numerous All-Americans, conference champions and national qualifiers across an 11-year career that spans stops at UNCG, Toledo, Columbia and Wake Forest before helping turn the Ole Miss women’s distance runners into one of the premier programs nationwide.
Chewens’ cross country teams have been superb in all three of her seasons in Oxford, resetting the best NCAA finish in women’s program history each year – capped by a record 10th-place finish in 2021. Her cross country teams have finished at least third in the SEC in each of her three seasons – including two runner-up team finishes in 2019 and 2021 – and she coached the first cross country All-American in Ole Miss women’s history, Sintayehu Vissa, in 2021 (33rd place).
This success has put Ole Miss women’s cross country on the map nationally. In her three-year stretch with the Rebels, Ole Miss has ranked in 18 of the 23 possible national polls released during her tenure – which matches the 18 total rankings appearances in program history prior to her arrival.
On the track, her runners have proven versatile all the way from 10,000 meters down to the 800, having dismantled eight of the possible 10 standard event school records across the indoor and outdoor seasons. She has coached nine Rebels to All-American honors, won three SEC titles and qualified 10 athletes to the NCAA Championships and 22 to the NCAA East Regional. In total, her runners have scored 12 NCAA points – which accounts for 24.5 percent of all Ole Miss women’s NCAA scoring since her arrival. On a conference level, her runners have tallied 91 SEC points – which amounts to 32.1 percent of all conference scoring by the Rebel women in the same timespan.
In the classroom, Chewens’ Rebel teams have been excellent as well, earning a total 22 USTFCCCA All-Academic individual honors and five USTFCCCA All-Academic team awards across the track and cross country seasons.
The 2021-22 school year has been one for the ages for Chewens and the Rebel women from start to finish. The Ole Miss women began the year with the best cross country season in program history, which ended with the aforementioned record 10th-place team finish and the first-ever All-American honor by a Rebel woman from Vissa in 33rd place. The Rebels were a power all season long, averaging a season-long scoring spread of just 44.2 seconds en route to the third-ever SEC runner-up finish in program history and Ole Miss’ second-ever NCAA South Region title – giving Ole Miss the first men’s/women’s sweep at the South Regional since Florida State in 2012. The Rebels were ranked in all eight polls for just the second time ever, and rose to a program record No. 9 in the final release of the season.
Vissa also notched the top SEC finish ever by a Rebel women’s runner for First-Team All-SEC honors in sixth place, and was followed by Second-Team member Ryann Helmers in 14th place. A school record five Rebels earned NCAA All-South Region honors: Vissa, Helmers, Anna Elkin, Kristel van den Berg and Clio Ozanne-Jaques.
Vissa took that energy onto the track immediately, helping lead the Rebel women to a historic indoor campaign that saw five school records tumble. The Ole Miss women finished tied for sixth at the national meet with 29 total NCAA points – the best finish indoors in combined program history and the most national points scored ever by a Rebel team, indoors or outdoors. Of those 29, the Rebel women’s distance runners accounted for 11 – led by a national runner-up finish by Vissa in the mile. Vissa also ran anchor on the sixth-place distance medley relay team, the highest finish ever by the Rebel women in both events.
At the SEC Indoor Championships, Vissa was once again the catalyst, helping Ole Miss win their first-ever SEC titles on the track indoors in both the mile and the DMR – both coming via SEC meet record performances. The DMR team of Anna Elkin, Jayda Eckford, Loral Winn and Vissa – the same team that went to NCAAs – shattered their own Ole Miss record to win at 10:56.39, establishing a new conference meet record that also put the Rebels No. 12 in NCAA history.
Outdoors in 2022 has already been a tremendous success for the Rebel women’s distance crew, with 14 entries into the NCAA East Regional and yet another SEC title and SEC meet record from Vissa in the 1500-meter at 4:08.72 – the 16th-fastest time in NCAA history. Skylar Boogerd also claimed a medal at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Oxford, with Skylar Boogerd snaring silver in the 10K to become the second runner-up in the event in women’s program history.
The 2020-21 season was Chewens’ first full one in Oxford and was a strong one to boot, highlighted by the first NCAA berth in the DMR in women’s program history. That squad of Loral Winn, Toni Glatz, Sintayehu Vissa and Maddie King set the school record and finished eighth overall for First-Team All-American status. Across indoor and outdoor, 12 of Chewens’ athletes scored at the conference meet. Outdoors, Clio Ozanne-Jaques took full advantage of her last season with the Rebels, earning another SEC medal to her credit with a bronze in the 10K before smashing the school record at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at 33:26.86 to earn Honorable Mention All-American status.
In cross country, the Rebel women again had their highest national finish to that point with a 12th-place showing – a nine-spot improvement over the previous record of 21st set in 2019. Three Rebels would have broken the top individual national finish record, led by a 49th-place showing by Anna Elkin – who was also a Second-Team All-SEC finisher alongside Victoria Simmons.
The 2019-20 campaign was cut short due to the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic, but Chewens’ first season with the Rebels was a strong one anyway. Ole Miss recorded its highest national finish to that point in 21st place, and earned an auto bid to the national meet following a second-place finish at the NCAA South Regional. Skylar Boogerd was named SEC Freshman of the Year on an SEC runner-up squad, while Victoria Simmons earned the first of her two career Second-Team All-SEC nods.
Prior to Ole Miss, Chewens spent three seasons as the head women’s cross country coach and an assistant track coach at Wake Forest beginning in the 2016-17 season under head coach John Hayes.
Chewens made an immediate impact in her first season with the Demon Deacons. The women’s cross country team finished sixth at the ACC Championships, a large improvement from the 12th place finish in 2015. The success continued as the women’s program improved from 12th to 5th place at the Southeast Cross Country Regional, just 23 points shy of an NCAA auto-bid. At the end of the season, two members in Ellie Abrahamson and Mimi Smith earned All-ACC Academic Team honors for their performances both inside and out of the classroom.
During the Indoor track and field season, Chewens coached two Indoor All-ACC performers in Ellie Abrahamson (3,000m run) and Kathryn Lazarchick (mile). Both athletes would earn All-ACC Academic honors at the end of the season.
In the outdoor season, Abrahamson would go on to finish second in both the 5,000m run and 3,000m steeplechase at the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships while both Abrahamson and Lazarchick represented Wake Forest at the NCAA East Preliminary. Abrahamson, under the guidance of Chewens, capped her senior season with a school-record performance at the NCAA Championships, where she finished seventh in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:56, earning All-American honors.
By the end of the season, both Abrahamson, aside from her school-record performance, and Lazarchick cracked the top five all-time performance list at Wake Forest. Abrahamson took the third-place spot in the 5k with a time of 16:01 while Lazarchick landed fifth in the 1500m with a time of 4:20. Abrahamson also earned All-ACC Academic Team honors.
In her second cross country season with the Deacons, the team took fifth at the ACC Championships, the best finish since 2003. Samantha Halvorsen had a breakout sophomore season under Chewens that culminated in All-ACC honors after finishing 14th overall. The team went on to take sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional in a field that included five national ranked teams. Halvorsen earned All-Region honors after finishing 20th. Chewens also had three women named to the All-ACC Academic Team at the end of the season while the team was named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team.
Halvorsen’s success under Chewens’ coaching continued into the outdoor season as she became Wake Forest’s first female NCAA qualifier in the 10,000m since 2005. Halvorsen finished 16th at the National Championships to earn Second Team All-America honors. From the beginning of the season to the NCAA finals, Chewens helped Halvorsen shave nearly a minute off her 10k time to finish the season fourth on the Wake Forest all-time list.
Chewens’ influence can be seen in other distance runners, as three of her student-athletes qualified for the 2018 East Preliminary. Also under Chewens in 2018, Mimi Smith earned Second Team All-ACC honors in the 5,000m at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Eliza Lukens-Day 16:24 5k No. 10 All-Time.
Her last season in 2019, Chewens mentored four All-ACC runners. Indoors was highlighted by Samantha Halvorsen’s 16:07.40 in the 5K (No. 2 school history), and Halvorsen carried that to the outdoor season with an All-ACC performance in the 10K. She qualified for the national meet in the 10K following an eighth-place finish at the NCAA East Regional at 33:32.32. Halvorsen would go on to earn Honorable Mention All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Halvorsen was one of four Wake Forest athletes to qualify to the East Regional, alongside Hannah Brookover and Elise Wright in the 3000-meter steeplechase, and Mimi Smith in the 5K and 10K. Wright’s 10:10.09 in the steeple ranked as the second-fastest freshman time in the NCAA in the 2019 season.
Both Halvorsen (ninth) and Smith (17th) earned All-Region honors in the cross country season to help the Demon Deacons to their best regional team finish since 2005 (fourth).
Prior to Wake Forest, Chewens spent the past two seasons at Columbia University where she served as an assistant track & field and cross country coach. While at Columbia, Chewens coached a pair of student-athletes to All-Ivy League Honors at the Ivy League Cross Country Championships in both 2014 and 2015. In 2015, Chewens coached Natalie Tanner to All-Northeast Region Honors as she finished 14th at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships and earned a spot on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. In two years with the Columbia track teams, Chewens saw eight individuals advance to NCAA East Preliminaries in outdoor track, with Natalie Tanner earning Second-Team All-American Honors with a 15th-place finish in the 5k in 2016. The 2016 squad also had its best showing at the Ivy League Outdoor Track and Field Championships, scoring the most points since 2010, and matching the program record for points scored at the conference meet. During a pair indoor track seasons, Chewens saw three student-athletes garner All-Ivy League honors during the 2014-15 season, with Sarah Hardie claiming the title in the 1,000m in 2014-15 before repeating in 2015-16. The 2014-15 team would go on to finish second overall at the Ivy League Indoor Championships.
Before joining the Lions staff, Chewens served as an assistant coach at the University of Toledo. During the 2013-14 season, Chewens aided in the coaching of one NCAA Outdoor Track All-American honorable mention(Mackenzie Chojnacky - 3k steeple), as well as three NCAA Outdoor East-Prelim qualifiers.
Prior to her time at Toledo, Chewens spent time at UNC Greensboro as a cross country and track & field assistant coach. From the spring of 2012 until July 2013, UNCG saw three All-Americans on the track, one in cross country and six qualifiers in the NCAA Outdoor East-Prelims.
As a student-athlete, Chewens was a four-time letterwinner in both cross country and track at UNC Greensboro, earning Academic All-SoCon honors all four years, and was a part of UNCG's first SoCon Championship in 2011. Chewens graduated from UNCG in August 2011 with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and a concentration in sports medicine. She is originally from Cornwall-On-Hudson, New York.
Chewens is married to Ole Miss associate head coach for cross country and track & field, Ryan Vanhoy, and has one son, Hudson.
Michelle Chewens | Ole Miss Cross Country Career Notes (2019-Present)
Volunteer Assistant Coach, 2019-Present
- Led Rebel women to best cross country finish in program history in 2021 (10th)
- Coached Ole Miss women to best NCAA cross country finishes in program history three straight years in 2019 (21st), 2020 (12th) and 2021 (10th)
- Coached Ole Miss women to 2021 NCAA South Region team title (second in program history)
- Coached Ole Miss women to three straight SEC top-three team finishes, including two runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2021
- Led Ole Miss women to national rankings in 18 of 23 possible national polls during her tenure (Rebels only ranked 18 total times in women’s history prior to her arrival)
- Helped Ole Miss women record highest national ranking in program history (No. 9, Week 7, 2021)
- Coached first All-American in Ole Miss women’s cross country history (Sintayehu Vissa, 33rd place, 2021)
- 3 NCAA cross country team berths
- 9 NCAA All-South Region honorees
- 5 All-SEC runners
- 1 SEC Freshman of the Year (Skylar Boogerd, 2019)
- 1 SEC All-Freshman
- 14 USTFCCCA All-Academic
- 3 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Awards
Michelle Chewens | Ole Miss Track Career Notes (2019-Present)
Volunteer Assistant Coach, 2019-Present
- Helped lead Rebel women to best-ever NCAA Indoor team finish in combined program history in 2022 (T-6th), as well as most points scored indoors or outdoors (29)
- 1 NCAA Runner-Up (Sintayehu Vissa, Mile, 2021)
- 9 First or Second-Team All-Americans
- 12 NCAA points scored
- 10 NCAA qualifiers
- 22 NCAA East Region qualifiers
- Women’s distance runners have accounted for 24.5 percent of all Ole Miss women’s NCAA scoring since 2020
- 91 SEC points scored
- Women’s distance runners have accounted for 32.1 percent of all Ole Miss women’s SEC scoring since 2020
- 6 SEC Champions (3 titles)
- Has claimed eight of the possible 10 standard school records (indoor/outdoor)
- 8 USTFCCCA All-Academic selections
- 2 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Awards
Women’s Top Indoor Times • Ole Miss, 2020-Present
800-Meter: 2:06.45 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2021)
Mile: 4:32.70 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2022) *School Record*
3K: 9:04.95 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2022) *School Record*
5K: 16:11.04 (Skylar Boogerd, 2022) *School Record*
Distance Medley Relay: 10:56.39 (Elkin, Eckford, Winn, Vissa; 2022) *School Record*
Women’s Top Outdoor Times • Ole Miss, 2021-Present
800-Meter: 2:01.06 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2022) *School Record*
1500-Meter: 4:08.72 (Sintayehu Vissa, 2022) *School Record*
5K: 15:54.46 (Skylar Boogerd, 2022) *School Record*
10K: 33:26.86 (Clio Ozanne-Jaques, 2021) *School Record*
3000-Meter Steeplechase: 10:05.75 (Kristel van den Berg, 2022)
| COACHING CAREER | ||
| Year(s) | School | Position |
| 2019-Pres. | Ole Miss | Volunteer Assistant Coach - Distance |
| 2016-19 | Wake Forest | Head Women’s Cross Country Coach / Assistant Track Coach |
| 2014-16 | Columbia | Assistant Track & Field and Cross Country Coach |
| 2013-14 | Toledo | Assistant Track & Field and Cross Country Coach |
| 2011-13 | UNC Greensboro | Assistant Track & Field and Cross Country Coach |
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