KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Tommy Whittaker has been named the new Cross Country Head Coach and Assistant Track and Field Coach at Truman State ahead of the 2025-2026 academic year.
 
"I am very excited to become the Head Cross Country and Assistant Track and Field Coach for Truman State University," Whittaker said. "Thank you to Director of Athletics Signe Coombs, Track and Field Head Coach Leslie Hardesty, and the hiring committee for believing in me to take over and assist these amazing programs. I am eager to get to work for the Bulldog family."
 
Whittaker arrives at Truman State from Purdue University Northwest (Ind.), where he was named Associate Head Track & Field Coach in December 2021 before taking over as Head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach in July of 2022. During his time at PNW, he led the team to seven conference champions (Men's Heptathlon, Men's 60m, and Men's and Women's Triple Jump) and two national qualifiers (Men's Triple Jump and Men's High Jump) within the first three years of inception. This led to the first ever Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) champion in any sport in PNW history.
 
Additionally, Whittaker recruited the largest class in PNW history across all sports, signing over 80 student athletes in his first year and keeping the roster at more than 80 student athletes in each of his years. He was also the GLIAC representative for the NCAA Coaches Connection group from Cross Country and received his Level I USTFCCCA Certification in Combined Events in 2022.
 
Prior to Purdue Northwest, Whittaker ascended from graduate assistant through interim head coach at McKendree (Ill.), where he focused primarily on sprints, hurdles, relays, middle distance, and distance athletes. With McKendree's track & field program, Whittaker helped guide 13 student-athletes to All-Midwest Region honors as well as helped lead seven student-athletes to NCAA Division II Championships. During his time with the Bearcats, Whittaker coached the NCAA runner-up in the 400m in 2021, tying the highest finish at NCAA Championships in McKendree history.  While leading the cross country teams, McKendree received its first conference Athlete of the Week honor in school history under Whittaker. On the academic side, the women's team was one of 130 programs to be listed on the All-Academic team list with a 3.63 team accumulative GPA, while the men's team was one of 79 to make the list with a team GPA of 3.15 for the 2018-19 academic year.
 
Before his time at McKendree, Whittaker served as a volunteer assistant coach for the track & field programs at Maryville University (Mo.) for three years where he assisted with sprints, hurdles, middle-distance, and jump programs. During his stint at Maryville, he coached numerous athletes to NCAA provisional qualifying standards and all-conference honors.
 
Whittaker was on the track & field team at Saint Louis University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science with a Concentration in Inter-Professional Education in 2015 and then went on to complete his doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2017. In addition, he graduated with his Master of Science in Athletic Training from McKendree in 2021.