Jeff Raymond is transitioning to a new role in 2020-21 after a successful 11-year career guiding Grace's track and field programs. He will serve as an Assistant Athletic Director and Assistant Sports Information Director, working in an administrative role to serve Grace's student-athletes.
Raymond served for more than a decade as a head coach for the Lancers, overseeing both cross country and track and field programs for many years. Raymond experienced tremendous individual and team success. He has sent numerous participants to the NAIA championships in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.
That success climaxed in 2021, the final season in Raymond's coaching career. The men's and women's track and field teams had a groundbreaking year. Grace sent 13 men and 11 women to the NAIA outdoor championships, producing three All-American events (doubling the program's previous All-American tally). The men ended the year ranked No. 18 in the NAIA. Additionally, the men's squad claimed the 2021 NCCAA outdoor national championship -- the first title in program history; the women were the national runners-up. Raymond and his staff were named the NCCAA National Track and Field Staff of the Year as a result.
Raymond's teams have completely rewritten the record books over his tenure. His cross country and track/field student-athletes have been equally stellar in the classroom with 83 NAIA Scholar-Athletes in the his first nine years.Â
Raymond’s track and field teams have made major revisions to Grace’s record books. During the 2014 track season, Raymond's team set 13 new school records during the indoor and outdoor season and tied a 14th record as well. Raymond has also had 40 events qualify for the NAIA National Championships since 2011. During the indoor 2020 season, Grace had 13 events qualify for the NAIA National Championships.
In 2013 the Lancers' 4x800 relay team qualifed for indoor and outdoor NAIA Nationals. The foursome finished ninth in the indoor meet and 12th in the outdoor meet, representing Grace's best finishes at NAIA Nationals in over a decade.
During the 2012 season, Raymond’s outdoor track team had six runners compete at the NAIA Nationals – their largest representation in a decade.
In the 2016 NCCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Grace’s men’s and women's track team earned five All-American awards. Grace upped that mark in 2017, earning eight NCCAA All-American nods at the outdoor championships. In 2019 the Lancers had 10 NCCAA All-Americans at the outdoor meet, held at Grace.
Overall he has coached six NCCAA national champions, three of which came in 2019.
In 2019, Grace's track and field teams made waves at the NCCAA Outdoor Championships. The men's team placed a (then) program-best fourth place at the national meet, and the women were 10th (fourth-highest, best in a decade).
In 2018, Grace had one NCCAA national champion (Thomas Hickerson, javelin) and sent six athletes to NAIA Outdoor Nationals, including a fourth-place showing from All-American Isaac Stuckey.
He has coached and recruited three NCCAA Wheeler Award winners (Jonathan Rex, 2014; Donovan Graham, 2015; Macallister Seitz, 2017) -- the highest individual award the NCCAA gives out for athletic and personal achievements.
Prior to Grace, Raymond served at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill., where he was the institution’s athletic director and head track and field coach for six years.
At Trinity, Raymond led the track and field program to its best seasons in school history, including new school records in virtually every event. During his time there, Trinity produced numerous NCCAA All-Americans, a pair of NCCAA national champions, and the winner of the prestigious NCCAA Wheeler Award. Raymond was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Track Coach of the Year in 2009.
Before he arrived in Palos Heights, he was an assistant coach in the track and field programs at the University of Georgia, Taylor University and Westmont College (Calif.).Â
As an athlete, Raymond ran track at Taylor University for four years and broke three school records. He is a four-time NCCAA All-American, and he won NCCAA national titles in the 400 meters, 400 meter hurdles and 4x400 meter relay in 1986. He still sits in Taylor’s top 10 in the triple jump and 400 meter hurdles.
Raymond graduated from Taylor University with a degree in physical education and health. He went on to earn his master’s degree in sports management at the University of Georgia.
Raymond and his wife, Deborah, have one son, Elijah.
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