Joe Koch

Contact Coach Koch
E-mail: jkoch@po-box.esu.edu
Phone: (570) 422-3054

Joe Koch is in his 21st year as head cross country coach at East Stroudsburg University and has been at ESU for 22 years. He has been the head men's track and field coach for 18 seasons and turned the reigns of the women's track and field program over to long time assistant coach Chris Merli last year.

Koch has been the women's cross country coach since 1987 and took over the men's program in 1989. He has sent 17 individual runners and two teams (1989 men and 1999 women) to the NCAA Division II championships. Vanessa Andes, a 2007 graduate, earned All-America honors with a fifth-place finish as a sophomore.

Koch's track and field athletes have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success over the past two decades. The track program has produced 25 All-Americans, and high jumper and current assistant coach Karen (Way) Gaita is the Warriors' lone national champion under Koch, winning the title in 1991. Koch was chosen as the NCAA Women's Regional Coach of the Year and the ECAC Division II Co–Women's Coach of the Year in 2002. He was also honored as the ECAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year and the PSAC Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1994. Koch was the ECAC Men's Coach of the Year in 1990 when his squad won the ECAC indoor championships.

The Hackensack, N.J. native ran track and field and cross country for four years at the University of Delaware and was captain of the Blue Hens' cross country team as a senior in 1979. Koch lives in East Stroudsburg with his wife Deborah, son Matthew Edward (13) and daughter Kristen Joann (11).

Chris Merli

Contact Coach Merli
E-mail: cmerli@po-box.esu.edu
Phone: (570) 422-3249

Chris Merli is in his 11th season as an assistant coach at East Stroudsburg University. Merli is also ESU's head women's track and field coach and was an assistant for the last 10 seasons.

Merli is a full–time assistant coach in both sports. At track and field practices, Merli works primarily with the sprinters, hurdlers and long and triple jumpers. His athletes have broken numerous school records, won conference titles and qualified for the nationals during his decade on the staff.

Merli has USA Track and Field Level II certification. He was a head track and field coach at Red Bank Catholic (NJ) and an assistant at Pocono Mountain, and ran on an ACC championship team at Maryland. Merli and his wife, Theresa, have been married 32 years and have four children.