Chantel Ray

Biography

Former Big Ten Champion Chantel Ray enters her fourth year on the Syracuse track and field staff in 2025-26, assisting Associate Head Coach Dave Hegland with the sprinters and hurdlers. In her time at Syracuse, at least one sprinter/hurdler has qualified for the NCAA Championships annually, including Jaheem Hayles, who was a three-time USTFCCCA First Team All-American during that stretch. This past season, Iaunia Pointer finished her season as a USTFCCCA Second Team All-American in the 200-meter dash. Ray, a Hampton, Virginia native, joined the Orange from Southern Illinois University where she was the Assistant Coach and Director of Operations for the track and field team. During her time as a Saluki, Ray was involved in all phases of the day-to-day operations of the track and field office. Her responsibilities included making travel arrangements, scheduling, meet management, serving as a liaison with academics and assisting with alumni and community service events. On the track, she coached SIU to finish near the top of the Missouri Valley Conference in all three seasons with the program. Both the men and women's programs were runner-ups at the MVC indoor meet in 2020, the women also finished second in both the indoor and outdoor meets in 2021, and again at the MVC indoor championships last season. Prior to assisting at Southern Illinois, Ray earned her degree in sport industry from The Ohio State University, while also being a Big Ten Champion on the track. As a Buckeye, s