Bio

Christopher Lawrence joined the Emmanuel staff in March of 2021 as the Head Coach for the Men's and Women's Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field programs. He becomes the program's first full-time male head coach and just the third coach in program history for all six of the teams. 

Along with his Head Coaching responsibilities, Lawrence will work in partnership with Bon Appetit and the company’s regional nutrition staff as Emmanuel's Fitness and Nutrition Advisor and develop nutritional plans for students that align with their individual training regimen, personal health goals, or sport. He will also create, oversee and organize new fitness programs that will be open to the entire Emmanuel community.

In his first full year on staff, Lawrence mentored a total of three Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) All-Conference runners during the cross country campaign. He helped guide the Women's Track & Field program to a GNAC Runner-Up finish in the 2022 Indoor Track & Field Championship before leading the Saints to the 2022 Outdoor Track & Field Championship crown, the first outdoor title in program history. Seven Saints won individual events as well as three relay teams with two individuals qualifying for the NCAA Division III New England Regionals. Lawrence was named the 2022 GNAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year and under his leadership, EC also had the GNAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Athlete & Rookie of the Year in AJ Godios.

Lawrence joined the Saints after last serving as an Assistant Athletic Director and Head Cross Country Coach at Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama. He was the inaugural coach of the Tigers for three years where he started both Cross Country programs. While at the MMI, he was named the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2017-18 when he led both the Men’s & Women’s teams to the school’s first ACCC/NJCAA Region 22 title. He also coached three NCJAA Academic All-Americans during his stint at Marion Military.

Prior to his time at Marion Military Academy, Lawrence held many positions in the running community, most notably working on Team Kirani out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he was an Assistant Coach to two-time Olympic medalist Kirani James. Under Lawrence’s coaching guidance, James captured the gold medal in the 400m event in the 2012 London Olympics with a time of 43.94 seconds and followed it up with a silver medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic games.

Since 2015, Lawrence has owned and operated LJF Sports Management where he was the Director of Track for Birmingham City Schools. He also serves as a personal Track & Field trainer and coaching educator under this role. He worked as a personal trainer for former NFL cornerback Javier Arenas, helping Arenas improve his 40 yard dash time from 4.79 seconds down to 4.52 seconds, increasing his draft status from a late third rounder to the 50^th overall pick (second round) of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Lawrence enjoyed an extremely successful stint as a high school coach at Holy Spirit High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama during the 2015-16 academic year. While teaching honors chemistry during the day, he also served at the Football and Track coach and guided his student-athletes to four individual Alabama 2A State Championships in the 100m, 200m, Long Jump and Triple Jump events.

Along his coaching journey, Lawrence has had stops at University of Michigan, Marygrove College and University of Alabama serving in the roles of Sprints Coach (Michigan), Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator (Marygrove) and GA/Volunteer Assistant Coach (Alabama). At Alabama, Lawrence was on staff for back-to-back NCAA National Championships in the 400m event in 2009 and 2010 and also worked as a Volunteer Assistant with the Crimson Tide football program.

A native of San Diego, CA, Lawrence received his Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology and his Master's in Sports Management, both from the University of Alabama. He holds a USATF Level One Certification in Coaching, a USATF Level Two Certification in Sprints, Hurdles, and relays and is also USTFCCCA Certified in Head Coaching.

(Last updated June 2, 2022 - 5:10 PM)