RIVER FOREST, ILL. -- Chris Dvorak was named head coach of the cross country program and assistant coach of the track and field program in the fall of 2025.
"We are excited to have Chris on our coaching staff here at Concordia University Chicago," Interim Director of Athletics Kathy Gebhardt noted. "Chris not only comes to CUC with excellent coaching experience, but his commitment to integrating the Christian faith into the student-athlete experience also makes him a great fit for this role."
Dvorak's coaching career spans multiple states and programs, where he has developed a reputation for building cohesive, competitive teams through collaborative leadership and evidence-based training. Most recently, he served as the Head Boys' and Girls' Track Coach at Indian Creek High School in Shabbona, Illinois. Prior to that, he contributed as an Assistant Cross Country and Track Coach at Plano High School, emphasizing the integration of athletic and academic success for student-athletes.
Additional previous coaching roles include positions at Washington High School in Iowa and Crest High School in Kansas, giving him valuable experience managing and developing distance runners from the ground up. In addition to his coaching credentials, Dvorak is a dedicated educator, spending more than a decade teaching across various high schools, most recently as an English teacher at Indian Creek High School.
Dvorak graduated with his BS in Education from Emporia State University in 2011 and his MA in English from the University of Northern Iowa in 2024. He currently resides in Yorkville with his wife Jessica, who is a DCE at Cross Lutheran, and their two children Noah (8) and Lucy (11 months).
