The 2020-21 season will be Shannon Houlihan's ninth season as the Head Track and Field Coach at St. Catherine University. She is also an Assistant Cross Country Coach. With Houlihan at the helm, the Wildcats have enjoyed tremendous success, both nationally and in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). In the past five seasons, Houlihan's team has claimed four MIAC individual titles at both the conference indoor and outdoor championships, while two more individuals have earned All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Houlihan spent two seasons serving as an assistant coach with the Wildcats, coaching the sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers on the track team before taking over the program in 2012-13. During that time, the Wildcats set five school records in the sprint events and had five All-MIAC performers and one conference champion.
Prior to joining the Wildcats, Houlihan spent two seasons as an assistant track and field coach at Smith College. She was the event coach for the sprints, hurdles and jumps. While at Smith, Houlihan also earned a Master of Science in Exercise and Sport Studies.
Before working at Smith, Houlihan was an assistant track and field coach at Williams College. As the jumps coach at Williams, she was a part of the of 2007 NCAA Women's Indoor National Championship team and coached four NESCAC Individual Champions and three NCAA All-Americans.
Houlihan's coaching career began in Pennsylvania where she served one year at each Washington & Jefferson College and Lafayette College. Combined at both institutions, Houlihan worked with five conference event champions and four national qualifiers.
Houlihan graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 with a degree in art history. While at Oberlin, she was a two-time national qualifier in the triple jump and was captain of the track and field and field hockey teams.
