Mark Connolly, who has provided guidance for the men’s and women’s track and field programs since their ascension to varsity status eight years ago, enters his eighth year at the helm of program in 2024-25 and 14th overall season with the track & field teams. He was promoted to head coach in August of 2018 after holding an interim tag for the 2017-18 season.
Connolly, who helped build both programs from the ground up when he began his tenure as an assistant coach back in 2010, has played a major role in recruiting and coaching six All-Americans, a six-time national champion, and many more New England and Northeast-10 Conference champions over that span while leading both teams to tremendous success as part of a historic 2017-18 campaign.
As the program's interim head coach during the 2017-18 season, Connolly helped usher in a new era for the program when Merrimack Stadium opened last fall, representing the program’s first home facility that gave the nearly 100 student-athletes between both teams the capability to train and compete on campus. Connolly scheduled and ran the first-ever home meet during the outdoor season, which saw many of the program’s alumni return to campus for a momentous occasion while supporting the current Warriors.
Several Warriors garnered significant individual accolades this past season, headlined by two All-Americans, 10 conference champions and a New England champion. Merrimack also enjoyed top-five team finishes at three out of the four conference championship meets it competed in over the course of the year, as well.
Additionally, Connolly’s Warriors earned 11 all-region honors across 18 events during the indoor season, while 10 more did likewise across 13 events during the outdoor circuit. Rising senior Michaela Pernell was named the NE10 Female Track Athlete of the Year during the indoor season, while graduating senior John Braga '18 earned similar accolades as the NE10 Male Field Athlete of the Year for the outdoor season and also was named the USTFCCCA East Region Field Athlete of the Year after graduating as a four-time NE10 Decathlon champion.
Connolly has been part of the program since its inception in 2010, and since then has helped mold the team into an annual contender in both the NE10 and New England circuits. His ability to connect with student-athletes of all levels has helped develop Merrimack into one of the most well-rounded teams in the conference while also playing a key role in guiding some of the nation's elite athletes.
He helped coach six-time national champion Carly Muscaro '17 into the most decorated student-athlete in school and league history, and her 2016-17 season that featured four national titles and the Honda Award for best overall female student-athlete in NCAA Division II will go down as one of the greatest ever by a student-athlete at Merrimack College. He did the same for Braga, who is the only male to qualify for the NCAA Championships in school history, as well as the 4x400-meter relay team in 2015-16 that was comprised of four All-Americans and qualified for the indoor national championships.
Prior to his arrival at Merrimack, Connolly brought coaching experience from Lynn English High School, where he focused on sprint and field events. He is a USATF Level 1 Certified coach who has served for six years as coach and clinic instructor in the summer youth program for Merrimack Valley Striders Running Club and Going the Distance.
Connolly is a 1987 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, where he majored in Economics. He holds an MBA from Boston College’s Carroll School of Business. Connolly was a captain of the 1987 Crusaders’ indoor and outdoor track teams and held the Holy Cross school record in the 500 meters for 21 years.
Prior to Holy Cross, Connolly graduated from Austin Prep where he captained the cross country, basketball and outdoor track teams. He was the recipient of the Austin Prep Scholar-Athlete award and was named track and field MVP of The Catholic Conference in 1983.
A native of Andover, Massachusetts, Connolly resides in nearby Wilmington with his wife, Becky, and their two children, Joseph and Fiona.
