Distance Coach Andrea Grove-McDonough

Andrea Grove-McDonough begins her first year as assistant women’s Track & Field and cross country coach. Responsible for cross country and the middle distance/distance events on the track, Grove-McDonough looks to build a distance corps that is competitive in the BIG EAST Conference to contribute to the program’s dominance in the league.

Before beginning her coaching career at UConn, Grove-McDonough enjoyed a highly successful professional career in which she won two National Titles and competed internationally in every event from the 800m to the 10,000m. In 2008 Grove-
McDonough won the Canadian Olympic Trials in the 10,000m and posted the 7th fastest time in Canadian history in the event. During her twelve years as a professional athlete, Grove-McDonough was a seven time National Team Member, a finalist in the 1,500m at the 1999 World University Games in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and has recently been selected to represent Canada at the 2008 Chiba Ekiden relay in Japan. In cross country, Grove-McDonough finished ninth at the 2007 Canadian World Cross Country Trials.

Throughout her athletic career Grove-McDonough has garnered an impressive record of six top-three finishes at the Canadian National Championships. Grove-McDonough was ranked second in Canada in the 5,000m in 2002, 2006 and 2007 as well as being the
No. 1-ranked 10,000m runner in 2008. She holds personal bests of 2:07.12 for 800m, 4:11.04 for 1,500m, 15:31.29 for 5,000m and 32:29.86 in the 10,000m.

Grove-McDonough was also a standout performer throughout her collegiate career at the University of Minnesota, culminating with a fifth place finish in the 1,500m at the 1996 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where she earned All-American status. She also represented the University of Minnesota in the mile at the 1995 Indoor NCAA Track & Field Championships. Grove-McDonough was a team captain for the Gophers from 1994-1996 and an All-Big Ten Academic Selection. She holds a degree from the University of Minnesota in Human Resource Management.

Grove-McDonough returned to the collegiate scene in 2007 when she helped coach the men’s and women’s cross country squads at the University of Montana. She began coaching and managing elite level athletes in the middle and long distance events beginning in 2006, including coaching an athlete that represented Canada at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships in Ireland.

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Grove-McDonough has lived in Missoula, Montana for the past twelve years and now resides in Mansfield, Conn. with her husband, former All-American decathlete, Troy McDonough.