Chris Bucknam serves as Head Coach for University of Arkansas's Cross Country program in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 2025 John McDonnell Program of the Year 2024 John McDonnell Program of the Year 2021 John McDonnell Program of the Year 2017 John McDonnell Program of the Year 2023 NCAA Indoor National Coach of the Year 2013 NCAA Indoor National Coach of the Year 2013 John McDonnell Program of the Year 34-time SEC Coach of the Year Chris Bucknam announced his retirement in December of 2025 during his 18th season as the head coach of the nationally dominant Arkansas men’s cross country and track and field program. A veteran in the coaching ranks, Bucknam became the Razorback head coach on June 27, 2008, following a 25-year career at Northern Iowa.
As head coach at Arkansas, Bucknam has enjoyed tremendous success in the form of 34 Southeastern Conference championships, 10 NCAA regional titles, and 384 All-America honors, guiding the Razorbacks to 89 individual SEC event titles. The SEC team titles Razorback squads have claimed under Bucknam include 12 in cross country, 12 during indoor, and 10 in the outdoor season. Heading into the 2026 track and field season, Bucknam has guided the Razorbacks to 14 SEC Championships among the 17 that have been contested dating back to the 2020 SEC Indoor, while the 2020 SEC Outdoor meet was not held due to covid. The current run by Arkansas includes four consecutive years (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) of sweeping the conference indoor and outdoor team championships.
