Chris Bradford is in his seventh year as the head coach of the cross country and track and field programs at Cal Poly Pomona in 2024-25.
In the 2024-2025 season, Head Coach Chris Bradford led the women’s track and field team to their fourth straight CCAA Championship. Under his guidance, 12 athletes qualified for the national track and field championships, and 7 cross country athletes competed at nationals. He coached 5 All-Americans, and his teams broke 15 school records.
In the 2023-2024 season, Bradford led both the men's and women's teams to their second consecutive CCAA Championship title, earning recognition as the CCAA Coach of the Year. Under his leadership, 29 athletes earned All-CCAA honors, and 13 Broncos advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championships, where they brought home nine All-American awards. Bradford also guided 17 athletes to All-West Region accolades. Notably, Ryan Fields, one of his standout athletes, competed at the 2024 USA Olympic Trials, finishing 12th out of 32 hurdlers.
Named the 2022 CCAA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year, Bradford entered the 2022-23 campaign on the heels of leading the Broncos to their first CCAA Outdoor Track and Field championship since 1998 on both the men's and women's side in the spring of 2022. Showcasing the overwhelming amount of success the Broncos enjoyed in 2021-22, Bradford produced 11 All-Americans, 36 All-Region selections, 46 All-CCAA performers, 15 individual conference champions and 19 track and field athletes of the week, among many other athletic and academic accomplishments by his student-athletes in 2021-22.
Bradford came to Cal Poly Pomona with 14 years of coaching experience, spending eight seasons and as the head track & field coach at Western State Colorado University where he was responsible for every aspect of the program.
During his time with the Mountaineers, Bradford's teams compiled 11 top ten finishes in the NCAA DII Championships, he coached 18 NCAA DII individual champions and 111 DII All-Americans.
In 2017, Bradford was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Coach of the Year for the second time after leading his team to a conference outdoor championship. Bradford earned his first RMAC accolades in 2015, being named both the indoor and outdoor Coach of the Year after claiming both conference titles.
Bradford's teams have found success both on the track and in the classroom, being named the USTFCCCA Men's Scholar Team of the Year in 2012 and 2013. Also in 2013, Bradford's women's team won the Brechler Award for the highest GPA in the RMAC at 3.53.
Prior to Western, Bradford was the assistant track & field and cross country coach at Augustana College in South Dakota. He coached eight DII All-Americans and assisted in all aspects of the nationally ranked cross country teams.
Bradford earned a degree in Business Administration from Elmhurst College.
