Matt Chovanec, will enter his 12th season as the Head Cross Country/Track and Field Coach in the Fall of 2025. He was named to his current position on July 25, 2014.
During his time as the head coach at Alma, Chovanec has coached two national qualifiers in Kaitlyn Arnold and Ashley Halm, as well as multiple All-MIAA selections.
In 2024, the women's cross country team placed 6th at the MIAA Championships, and took 23rd inat NCAA Regionals. The Scots men took 7th in the MIAA, and 39th at NCAA Regionals. Chloe Colton ran the 8th quickest 5k in the history of the women's program, with Melanie Werner, Sophia Dech, and Lawren Brawt all placing, or improving their standing in the record books. Chovanec had eight men place in the top 21 in program history for the 6k, with Will Maginity running the 3rd fastest time.
In 2023, Chovanec coached the men's cross country team to a 5th place finish at the MIAA Championships, with the team placing 28th at NCAA Regionals. His women's squad placed 7th in the MIAA, bouncing back to a 27th place finish at NCAA Regionals. Lawren Brawt and Chloe Colton broke into the Top 21 lists in Scots history for the women's 5k and 6k, while Braxton Lamey moved into the Top 5 in the men's 5k, 6k, and 8k.
In 2022-23, Chovanec coached Ericka Bigham to a pair of individual MIAA Championships in the Indoor and Outdoor 400 Meters. Bigham was also named USTFCCA All-Region in the Indoor 400 Meters. He also coached Andrea Taghon to an individual MIAA Championship in the outdoor 110 meter hurdles. Under his guidance, Taghon was the first Alma College Woman to run sub-10 seconds in the event.
The 2017 cross country season saw Chovanec lead the men and women's teams to 5th place finishes at the MIAA Championships. Chovanec also coached Hannah Garn and Chelse Van Spronsen to second team All-MIAA honors as well as Garn earning All-Region honors.Chovanec coached Arnold to her second straight MIAA title in the 1500 meter run in 2017, as well as coaching her to All-Region in track and field.
The 2016 cross country season saw Chovanec again coaching the Scot women to a third place finish at the championship meet, and seeing Kaitlyn Arnold earn first team All-MIAA honors, as well as qualifying for nationals again, where she finished in 67th place. Arnold also earned the Elite 90 award for the second time in her career as a Scot.
In the 2016 track and field season, Chovanec coached Kaitlyn Arnold to the NCAA Division III National Meet in the 5000 meter run, where she finished 12th. Arnold was also the receipient of the NCAA Elite 90 award. The Elite 90 Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships. Arnold, an integrative physiology and health science major, carried a 4.0 GPA and was selected out of the nine student-athletes at the national meet with perfect GPAs. Chovanec also coached multiple MIAA champions both indoor and outdoor. Austin Rodriguez won the long jump both indoors and outdoors. Erin Goggins was the pole vault champion indoors, while Shelby Niedzwiecki earned the indoor long jump championship. Arnold was also the MIAA champion in the 1500 meter run at the outdoor field day.
The 2015 Cross Country season saw Chovanec coach the Scot women to a third place finish at the MIAA Championship meet behind nationally ranked Hope and Calvin. Kaitlyn Arnold also earned All-MIAA first team honors at the meet.
During the 2015 indoor track season, Chovanec coached his first All-American when Ashley Halm finished in fourth place in the 400 meter dash at the NCAA Division III National Meet. In the outdoor portion of the 2015 season, the Scots had three women earn conference championships in their respective events at the MIAA Field Day. Blair Secord in the shotput, Ashley Halm in the 400 meter dash, and Mary Chambers in the 200 meter dash.
In his first season as the head coach in 2014, Kaitlyn Arnold earned first team All-MIAA honors in cross country, an All-Region selection, and was a qualifier for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Nationals. Arnold finished in 68th place out of 240 runners at the meet. Misty Godley also earned All-MIAA honors when she was named to the second team at the MIAA Championship. For the men, Adam Sanchez took home first team All-MIAA honors as well as running his way to All-Region.
Chovanec graduated from Alma College in 1991 with a B.A. in History. While at Alma, Chovanec was a two-sport, four-time letterwinner in track & field and cross country. Chovanec earned All-MIAA honors twice, team co-MVP once and served as a co-captain for the 1990 cross country team. Chovanec holds the Alma College 10,000-meter run record with a time of 31:19.91.
Prior to taking the reins of the Scots' running program, Chovanec served as a high school coach at Breckenridge (Mich.) High School. With the Huskies, Chovanec coached two individual state champions and had his track teams place in the top ten at the MHSAA state championships three times. He coached 18 all-state athletes and the boy's team won four consecutive league and regional titles from 1992-95. In addition, his 1994 team was the Class C state runner-up.
Chovanec's cross country teams qualified for the state meet four out of eight years he was coach, including winning the MHSAA Boys Class C Regional title in 1998. During his tenure, he coached two all-state athletes and a girl's state champion in the 100 meter dash and long jump.
Chovanec has been coaching at Alma College in some capacity since 2002, including serving as the men's head track & field coach from 2004-2006.
A former social studies and physical education at Breckenridge High School, Chovanec and his wife, Kimberly, reside in St. Louis with their three children: Hunter, Colton and Kyler.
