WKU Athletics named Lee Wood as the Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Monday morning, filling the gap on the Hill left by the sudden passing of Brent Chumbley on Jan 30.

Wood has served as interim head coach since the position opened, leading the Hilltopper men’s team to a fifth-place finish in the 2025 Conference USA Outdoor Championship, their best finish since 2019.

“We are excited to name Lee Wood our next Director of Cross Country/Track & Field,” said WKU Athletics Director Todd Stewart in a press release. “Coach Wood guided the program admirably this spring following Coach Chumbley’s passing.”

Wood ran for Missouri Southern from 1998 to 2000 before transferring to the University of Arkansas, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Education with a concentration in Kinesiology and Exercise Science. He later obtained a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

“It is a great honor to be the next Director of Cross Country and Track and Field at WKU,” Wood. “This team has had a great amount of success and winning tradition in the past, and I’m ready to build on the foundation that has been set.”

Wood began his coaching career with 12 years of experience at the 7A high school level, winning seven state championships with Rogers High School and Heritage High School in Arkansas. He was scooped up by Western Colorado University, an NCAA Division II school, where he spent the first five years of his collegiate coaching career.

Before arriving on the Hill in December of 2023 to lead the WKU Cross Country and distance teams, Wood served as head coach at Drury University. As a Panther, he led over 70 athletes to break school records, leading the women’s team to their highest conference finish in program history.