Men's Lacrosse
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- cjw5@lehigh.edu
Head Coach Chris Wakely enters his third season as the head coach of Lehigh’s lacrosse program, compiling a 10-18 record over his first two seasons, with a 5-9 record each year. A veteran coach with experience at Villanova, coach Wakely and his staff will work hard to bring the same success he enjoyed at other levels of lacrosse to the Division I level. Last season coach Wakely added a significant accomplishment to his coaching resume, mentoring the top scorer in all of Division I, Tony Lowe.
A 1990 graduate of the University of Virginia, Wakely earned a bachelor’s degree in history while starting four years as a midfielder for the Cavaliers. He was among the school and ACC leaders in assists and overall points. Wakely set the school record for games played in a career with 53, and was a member of the 1988 NCAA Final Four team.
Wakely comes to Lehigh from Elizabethtown College where he founded the first men’s lacrosse program in school history. In just one year Wakely coordinated the recruitment of 32 student-athletes to launch a varsity program that will begin its first season in the spring of 2002.
Prior to his stint at Elizabethtown, Wakely served six years as head coach at Widener University. During his tenure, he led the Pioneers to MAC Championships in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. Widener was undefeated in conference play for all five of those years and earned USILA National Rankings in 1999 and 2000. He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 1996, 1998 and 2000, and led the Pioneers to the Division III National Tournament in 2000.
Fifty-one Widener players earned honors under Wakely’s guidance. He developed two USILA Division III All-Americans, four USILA Academic All-Americans, five USILA Division III North-South All-Stars, two MAC Players of the Year, and 38 All-MAC Conference All Stars. Wakely also won the conference’s coach of the year award three times, in 1996, ’98, and 2000.
While at Widener, Wakely was an Admissions Counselor for the first three years and served as an Assistant to the Athletic Director in his last three. In the latter he was responsible for all issues regarding compliance, eligibility, facilities, scheduling, work-study and team travel.
Wakely began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Villanova University in 1992. While with the Wildcats he designed and implemented offensive strategies and philosophies for team and extra-man offensive sets. He also served as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Wakely and his wife Danielle reside in Bethlehem, Pa., with their son, Jack and daughter Katharine.
