• ROSTER
• |
• COACHES
• |
• SCHEDULE
• |
• STATS
• |
• NEWS
• |
• ARCHIVES
• |
• PHOTOS

Gene Weis Hometown: Louisville, Ky. Position: Head Coach Birthdate: 12/15/1948 Experience: 8th Year Alma Mater: Murray State '72

A veteran of 22 years as a collegiate track and field coach, Gene Weis begins his eighth year in the Cardinal program and his seventh season as the Head Coach for the Men's Track & Field and Cross Country programs.

This past fall, Weis guided the Cardinal cross country team to a third-place finish at the Conference USA Championships, the program's highest finish in C-USA history. Since 1975, the Louisville men have finished higher than third just one time, which came in 1987 when the Cards placed runnerup in the Metro Conference. Two Cardinals, freshman Wes Seacat and sophomore Tim Kaiser, earned all-conference honors at the meet, marking the first time U of L has had two all-conference runners since 1987.

Prior to turning his attention to just the men's program two years ago, Weis spent four seasons as the coordinator of both the men's and women's programs. In that time he witnessed a significant growth and development of the entire operation. The team's size nearly tripled during Weis' tenure and the program was moved toward a more comprehensive "team" operation for the first time in history.

The women's program under Weis almost completely rewrote the school records in just the first three years alone. The 2000 squad set 30 new school records by itself, established three new Conference USA records, had three NCAA Provisional qualifying performances and easily eclipsed the school's previous best for most points at the conference championships. That year the women's team earned the school's first ever national "team" ranking.

To date, 71 school records have been rewritten or established under Weis' direction. He has also seen eight conference individual champions, nine Junior National qualifiers, five conference record holders, five NCAA Provisional qualifiers, plus an NCAA All-American and a Junior National All-American.

Prior to arriving at Louisville, Weis had coaching stints at the University of Kentucky, Bellarmine University (NCAA II) and Midway College (NAIA), accumulating nine years of head coaching experience at those schools. He was instrumental in the birth of programs at both Bellarmine and Midway College.

Recognized as an accomplished recruiter, Weis has been part of successful operations in each of his previous collegiate stops. Serving as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at the University of Kentucky, he helped the program's move to national prominence in the distance events, including a team NCAA National Championship, several individual National Champions, numerous All-Americans and several Olympic Trials qualifiers.

At Bellarmine, Weis developed a program that became the first small, private school to qualify for the NCAA II National Championships (cross country), only three years after the inception of the program. Later he took yet another squad to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Nationals, which at the time was the highest finish ever for a Bellarmine athletic team.

Weis has coached numerous event areas and has worked privately with a number of national and international class athletes, including several who have run under four minutes in the mile and have qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials and various U.S. National teams.

Boasting a strong commitment to academics, Weis has seen the development of his Cardinal squads in that area as well as on the athletic fields. Last year, nearly two-thirds of the men's track & field team earned a 3.0 or better grade point average in at least one semester. Twice a Cardinal Track athlete has been named the "Conference USA Student-Athlete of the Year," and several of the team's athletes have earned the C-USA Commissioner's Medal with cumulative grade point averages of 3.75 or better.

A 1972 graduate of Murray State University (KY) in psychology, Weis is the father of two children; a daughter, Shannon (26), and son, Sean (17). He was inducted into the Bellarmine Hall of Fame in 1982.