Jeff Bolender has been at Cedarville University since 2001 and has been the head coach of the Yellow Jacket men’s and women’s track & field teams since the 2004 season. He was named the head women’s cross country coach in December, 2009.
Cedarville Women’s Track & Field Coaching Career:
- NCCAA Indoor Champions (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
- NCCAA Outdoor Champions (2007)
- 13-time NCCAA Track & Field Coach of the Year
- 2007 NAIA Outdoor National Runner-Up
- G-MAC Outdoor Champions (2015, 2016, 2017)
- G-MAC Indoor Champions (2016, 2017)
- Five-time G-MAC Track & Field Coach of the Year
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Cedarville Men’s Track & Field Coaching Career:
- NCCAA Indoor Champions (2006, 2007, 2020, 2025)
- NCCAA Outdoor Champions (2011)
- Six-time NCCAA Track & Field Coach of the Year
- G-MAC Outdoor Champions (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- G-MAC Indoor Champions (2015, 2016)
- Six-time G-MAC Coach of the Year
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Cedarville Women’s Cross Country Coaching Career:
- NCCAA National Champions (2015, 2017, 2019)
- Three-time NCCAA National Coach of the Year
- G-MAC Champions (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023)
- Eight-time G-MAC Coach of the Year
- 2022, 2023, 2024 All-Ohio Intercollegiate Champions
- NCAA Division II Midwest Region Runner-Up (2016, 2022, 2023)
- 2016 USTFCCCA Division II Midwest Region Coach of the Year
- NCAA Division II Championship: 2016 (11th), 2021 (11th), 2022 (7th), 2023 (10th), 2024 (16th)
- 10th place at 2010 NAIA Championship in his first season - the program’s 11th straight Top 10 finish
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Cedarville Women’s Cross Country Honor Roll:
- 2 NCCAA National Champions; 18 NCCAA All-Americans
- 4 CSC / CoSIDA Academic All-Americans®
- 5 NAIA Scholar-Athletes; 121 NCCAA Scholar-Athletes
- 11 USTFCCCA Division II All-Academic Teams
- 16 USTFCCCA All-Region runners
- 2 All-Ohio Intercollegiate Champions
- 1 Ohio Division II / NAIA Runner of the Year
- 2 Ohio Division II / NAIA Freshmen of the Year
- 4 Conference Individual Champions; 4 Conference Freshmen of the Year
- 79 All-Conference runners; 227 Academic All-Conference Team runners
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A four-year track & cross country performer before graduating from Cedarville College in 1991, Bolender later spent five years at Mount St. Clare College in Clinton, Iowa. He developed the school's track and cross country programs, and he served as chair of the Physical Education Department.
Prior to his tenure at Mount St. Clare, Bolender was a graduate assistant for two years at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He earned a Master of Science degree in education at the school in 1996.
Bolender taught health and physical education at Maranatha Christian Schools in Columbus, Ohio from 1991 through 1994 and was promoted to the position of athletic director his final year. He commuted to Cedarville during his first two years at Maranatha to assist with the Yellow Jacket distance running program.
Jeff and his wife, Sharie, who was an NCCAA All-America distance runner with the Lady Jackets, have three children and reside in Cedarville.
