Cross Country
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- mitchellrc@umkc.edu
Clif Mitchell returned to Kansas City in 2022, following a three-year tenure as the Roos’ assistant coach from 2008-11. In his current role, Mitchell will work with sprinters, mid-distance and distance runners.
“I’m very excited to be back at Kansas City, working with Coach Shirley,” Mitchell said. “This program has won five conference titles since 2013, and we have a very good, young core group that we can build around and continue winning championships.”
From 2016-22, Mitchell was an Assistant Coach at Jenks High School in Tulsa, Okla. He helped lead the Trojans’ Girls’ team to back-to-back Class 6A State Championships in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, his girls’ 4x800m relay team broke a 38-year-old record, running a 9:18.32. The following year, the same quartet shattered their own record, running 9:12.04.
Mitchell also coached current Roo Ally Ryan at Jenks, helping her win the 2017 state title and break the state record in the 800m with a time of 2:09.28, making her the first Oklahoman to break the 2:10 mark. The following year, Ryan broke the state record mark in the 1600m, inning a 4:51.55.
Prior to his time at Jenks, Mitchell was an assistant coach at Tulsa from 2011-16. He helped lead the men’s team to a Conference USA Indoor Championship in 2012, and a runner-up finish in 2013. Among his mentees were Bryce Robinson, eight-time NCAA All-American and Team USA member, Audrey Jean-Baptiste, an Indoor All-American in the 400m and Team Canada member and Katherine Camp, four-time Conference USA 800m Champion, Outdoor All-American and Team New Zealand member.
During Mitchell’s initial stint at Kansas City, he recruited and signed KC Hall of Fame and Olympian, Courtney Frerichs. The women’s cross country teams that he coached improved in the Summit League standings in each of his first three years, and Cosmas Ayabei won the 2010 Summit League Men’s Cross Country Championship. Mitchell coached Roo student-athletes to 22 school record, 19 All-Conference honors and three conference championships.
Mitchell earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from Tulsa in 2006, earning a master’s in the same discipline from Kansas in 2008. During his time at Tulsa, Mitchell was a member of the track & field/cross country team. During his junior season, he twice broke the school record in the 600-yard run.
Originally from Edmond, Okla., Mitchell graduated from Edmond Memorial High School in 2002. He was a decorated athlete, earning all-state and all-regional honors in track, breaking the 4x400m state record, winning a cross country state championship and earning all-conference honors in basketball.
Clif is married to fellow Assistant Track and Field Coach April Mitchell. The pair live in Olathe, Kan., and have two children, Dylan and Morgan.
