RADFORD, Va. – Director of Radford cross country and track and field Brent Chumbley announced the hiring of Mackenzie Wartenberger Tuesday afternoon as the assistant track and field distance coach and cross country coach.

"We are thrilled to have Mackenzie join our staff," said Chumbley. "Her experience as an athlete and as a coach will make an immediate impact on our program. She has hit the ground running with recruiting and making our cross country schedule. I expect major improvements in the distance program in a couple of years."

Wartenberger comes to Radford after spending four seasons at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as the assistant cross country coach and distance coach for the track and field team. Wartenberger also assisted with the middle-distance strength and conditioning workouts, and all aspects of recruiting.

"I am honored and extremely excited to join the Highlanders cross country and track and field program," said Wartenberger. "Radford is a leader in educational excellence and with our staff and the talented student-athletes we have in our program, I know we will continue to grow and develop our reputation for athletic excellence."

During her time with the 49ers, Wartenberger helped the men's and women's teams to ten Atlantic-10 titles, two USA National Championships qualifiers, nine NCAA Championship qualifiers, two Atlantic-10 individual champions and four Atlantic-10 runner-ups. Under her leadership as the assistant cross country coach, her student-athletes excelled in the classroom after earning NCAA All-Academic Cross Country teams for the men and women.

During her collegiate career (2005-09), Wartenberger competed at the University of California at Berkeley in the 800m and 1500m. She was an NCAA qualifier, USA Track and Field Championships qualifier and 2009 Mt. Pac Indoor Conference Champion in the 800m. She was also a three-time Academic All-American (2007-09).