Aug. 21, 2007

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Saint Louis University department of athletics today named Jon Bell interim men's and women's cross country/track and field head coach, effective Aug. 27. He replaces Mike Nelson, who recently resigned to become head coach of Marquette's cross country program.

"Our goal in this hire was to find someone who would help produce a seamless transition for our student-athletes, and Jon was the obvious choice," senior associate director of athletics Doug McIlhagga said. "He has all the tools to effectively lead the cross country and track and field squads during the upcoming academic year."

"Coach Nelson did great job building the program, and I am excited about the opportunity to continue that work," Bell said. "We have a terrific group of student-athletes, and together we will continue to improve and eventually compete at a high level in the Atlantic 10 Conference."

Prior to joining the Billikens as a volunteer assistant coach last year, Bell spent a season as assistant track and field coach at Utah Valley State. There, he was a recruiting coordinator for the NCAA Division I insitiution and assisted in all facets of the program. Bell worked with four student-athletes who broke school records, and one who claimed an NCAA Independent championship.

Bell was a graduate assistant coach at Emporia State (Kan.) University from 2003 to 2005. He coached two NCAA Division II All-American long jumpers and sent 10 student-athletes to the NCAA Division II National Championships. Bell began his coaching career at his alma mater, St. Mary's (Minn.) University, in 2002. He also served as head girls' track and field coach at Winona High School in 2003.

After graduating from St. Mary's with a bachelor's degree in 2002, he went on to earn a master's in health, physical eduation and recreation from Emporia State in 2005.