Jessica Cooper enters her ninth season as head men's and women's track and field coach and her seventh season as director of Grove City's cross country programs in 2025-25.
In 2024-25, Cooper earned Presidents' Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in both indoor and outdoor track and field after helping guide the Wolverine thinclads to four conference titles. Both the men's and women's programs swept the indoor and outdoor titles during the 2024-25 season.
Grove City produced a pair of NCAA Championships qualifiers in both indoor and outdoor competition. Senior Lydia Bennett earned All-America honors in the mile at the indoor championships by finishing seventh while junior Alex Mitchell qualified in the 400 meters.
Bennett then took second in the 1500 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, marking the best-ever national finish by a member of the Grove City women's track and field program. Senior thrower Ryan Lenhart added a 12th-place finish in the discus at the national meet.
Grove City teams won three Presidents' Athletic Conference titles under Cooper's direction during the 2023-24 academic year. The women's cross country team earned the league crown in the fall while the men's indoor track and field team won the program's first conference title in February 2024 at Youngstown State University. In April 2024, the men's outdoor track and field team repeated as conference champion.
In spring 2023, the Grove City men's track and field team captured the Presidents' Athletic Conference outdoor title while the women's team posted a strong third-place finish. Junior Gabe Dunlap earned Field MVP honors, freshman Alex Mitchell captured Newcomer of the Year and Cooper earned the conference's Coach of the Year award.
Dunlap later advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships in the javelin and also won the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Championships title in the decathlon. Senior Emma Vezzosi won the AARTFC title in the heptathlon.
Overall, six Grove City athletes earned All-Mid-Atlantic Region recognition from the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in spring 2023.
Grove City's indoor track and field teams had strong performances in the 2022-23 campaign, with the women's team taking second at the conference championships and the men's team earning third. Vezzosi had a meet-best 34 individual points as the women's team set eight school records at the indoor conference championships.
Mitchell earned Newcomer of the Year at the indoor conference championships as he (400 meters) and Nick Gustafson (shot put) set school standards at the meet.
The 2022 track and field season featured numerous highlights for the Grove City programs. The women's track and field team won the Presidents' Athletic Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championship titles while the men's squad earned runner-up in both meets.
Cooper earned the conference's Coach of the Year award for both women's indoor and outdoor track and field in 2022.
In February 2020, Cooper guided Grove City's men's and women's track and field teams to a pair of runner-up finishes at the Presidents' Athletic Conference Indoor Championships. Senior Katlyn Adams earned the league's Women's Field MVP award while junior Seth Ray won that award on the men's side.
In 2021, Grove City's outdoor teams both posted strong performances at the conference championships, hosted at Robert E. Thorn Field. The men's team took second overall by recording 133 team points, the squad's highest output in nine years. Meanwhile, the women's team also took second, the best finish for the program since 2015. Adams and Ray both earned respective Field MVP awards at the outdoor championships.
A highly-decorated coach and multi-sport athlete, Cooper came to Grove City after spending three seasons as assistant track and field coach at her alma mater, Westminster. She helped guide the Titans to 2016 Presidents' Athletic Conference titles in both women's indoor track and field as well as men's outdoor track and field.
Prior to returning to Westminster, Cooper worked four years (2009-2013) as assistant track and field coach at Washington & Jefferson College. In 2010, she earned the USTFCCCA Division III Mideast Men's Assistant Coach of the Year award after helping the Presidents win their first-ever conference title.
In 2011, Cooper helped the W&J women's team earn the conference title. Her coaching career began during the 2008-09 season as assistant track and field coach at Carnegie Mellon University.
As a student-athlete at Westminster, Cooper excelled in both track and field and volleyball. As a senior in 2008, she became Westminster's first NCAA All-American in women's track and field by placing third in the high jump at the national championships.
She also earned the conference's Field Most Valuable Performer honor that spring after winning the conference title in the high jump and placing second in the triple jump. She owns Westminster's indoor and outdoor records in both the high and triple jump.
In volleyball, Cooper earned the conference's MVP award in 2007 as well as First Team All-PAC honors after leading the Titans to the league title. She earned three letters in volleyball at Westminster. Westminster inducted Cooper into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
Cooper owns USATF Level 2 certification and USTFCCCA strength and conditioning credentials. She graduated from Westminster with her bachelor's degree in history in 2008. In 2009, she completed her master's degree in library and information science at the University of Pittsburgh.
