Chip Schneider enters his 24th season as head coach for Men’s Track and Field and 19th season for Women’s Track & Field in 2026. He also serves as the Director of Cross Country.
During the 2026 campaign, the men's program placed 3rd at the WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Schneider coached the men's team to a fourth-place finish, scoring 32 points, while landing eight All-Americans at the 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships. Including, coaching Gage Stankiewicz to a NCAA Division III National Championship in the shot put. At the 2026 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Blugolds placed T-seventh with points. Blake Postler became the second NCAA Division III student-athlete to record a 400-meter hurdle time under 50 seconds at 49.88 seconds, earning a National Championship.
On the women's side, the program finished 2nd at the WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Schneider coached the women's team to a 24th-place finish, scoring points, while Kayla Behnke earned an All-America award in the weight throw at the 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships. At the 2026 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Blugolds placed T-seventh with 25 points. The Blugolds concluded their season with their second consecutive top-10 performance at Outdoors and ten All-American performances.
The Blugolds have been among Division III's elite track & field programs under Schneider's guidance, winning five team national championships since 2015. The Blugold men have been crowned indoor national champions three times (2015, 2016, 2022) and outdoor national champions twice (2019, 2022) with Schneider leading the program. In all, the Blugold men and women have placed in the top 10 at the national championships 32 times with Schneider in charge.
Schneider's teams have produced 39 individual national champions, five relay national champions, more than 200 individual All-Americans, more than 50 All-American relay squads, more than 170 conference champions and nearly 150 school record holders.
Schneider is a four-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III Coach of the Year, earning Indoor Coach of the Year honors in 2015 and 2016 and Outdoor Coach of the Year honors in 2019 and 2022. He is also a three-time winner of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year Award (2008, 2017, 2019) in addition to winning WIAC Women's Indoor Coach of the Year once (2008). Schneider was also the NCAA Midwest Region Men's Indoor Head Coach of the Year in 2020.
Schneider earned his bachelor’s degree at UW-Platteville in 1995. He was the national champion in the long jump and in the 400-meter hurdles, eight-time individual All-American, four-time UW-Platteville track and field most valuable athlete, and three-time captain. In 1994, he was named the UW-Platteville Student Athlete of the Year. He also earned Wisconsin State University Conference (WSUC) Academic All-Conference honors. Schneider was inducted into the UW-Platteville Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013 and was also named to the WIAC All-Time Track and Field Team.
Before coming to UW-Eau Claire, Schneider was a graduate assistant coach at UW-La Crosse. He coached hurdles, long jump, triple jump, and sprints for the 2002 men’s indoor and outdoor NCAA Division III National Champions. He coached for two seasons at UW-Platteville, once in 1995-1996 and again in 1999-2001 for sprints, hurdles, and jumps. Schneider was a lead instructor at the University of Wisconsin Learn-By-Doing Camp between 2007-2009 in hurdles and sprints.
Chip and his wife Joanna reside in Eau Claire. They are the parents of Drake Schneider, an NCAA Division 1 Track & Field All-American (400m hurdles) and graduate of Montana State University.
