Bio

Matt Chovanec joined the Northwood University cross country and track & field coaching staff in the summer of 2026 as an assistant coach.

Chovanec came to Northwood after a long and successful tenure at Alma College, where he served as the head cross country and track & field coach beginning in 2014. During his time leading the Scots, Chovanec coached multiple NCAA Division III national qualifiers, All-MIAA honorees, MIAA champions and USTFCCCA All-Region performers.

His athletes at Alma included national qualifiers Erica Bigham, Bailey Hoffman, Kaitlyn Arnold and Ashley Halm. Halm became Chovanec’s first NCAA Division III All-American in 2015, finishing fourth in the 400-meter dash at the national meet. Arnold also reached the national stage in both cross country and track & field, earning NCAA Elite 90 honors during her standout career.

Chovanec also helped guide Alma student-athletes to numerous additions in the program record books, including several top all-time performances in cross country. In 2025, Alma’s women’s cross country team won the Lansing Invite, marking the program’s first meet victory in more than a decade.

Prior to his collegiate coaching career, Chovanec spent several years as a successful high school coach at Breckenridge High School. His teams won multiple league and regional titles, placed in the top 10 at the MHSAA state championships three times, and produced multiple individual state champions and all-state athletes.

A 1991 graduate of Alma College with a bachelor’s degree in history, Chovanec was a two-sport student-athlete in cross country and track & field. He was a four-time letterwinner, two-time All-MIAA honoree, team co-MVP and co-captain of the 1990 cross country team. He still holds Alma’s 10,000-meter run record with a time of 31:19.91.

Chovanec and his wife, Kimberly, reside in St. Louis, Michigan, with their three children: Hunter, Colton and Kyler.