Eric Putnam begins his second season as head men's and women's cross country and track and field coach at Marietta College in 2024-25. Putnam came to Marietta after a successful career at Shawnee State University.
In his first year at the helm several Pioneers enjoyed conference, regional and national success. Addison Painter was a two-time All-American in the long jump placing seventh indoor and fourth outdoor. Painter won OAC title in the long jump (indoor), triple jump (outdoor), and the 110-meter hurdles (outdoor). Emma Fehrman won the OAC women's indoor triple jump championship and four Pioneers earned All-Region accolades between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
At Shawnee State, Putnam put together a championship-caliber program. His men's cross country teams won the Mid-South Conference championship the last seven years and had seven top-10 finishes in the NAIA National Championships. He led his women's cross country teams to numerous conference championships and one top-10 finish (9th place in 2017) in the national finals. An excellent recruiter as well, Putman coached many individual national finishers and many All-American qualifiers during his tenure.
As the Shawnee State track and field coach, Putnam grew the program from club sport status when Shawnee State transitioned to the NAIA. In a short timeframe, he oversaw numerous conference championships for both squads and sent many qualifiers to the national championships.
Putnam enjoyed a very decorated running career as a collegiate athlete. A graduate of Ohio University, he ran cross country and track for the Bobcats, earning seven varsity letters. He earned All-Mid-American Conference honors seven times and was the individual MAC champion in the 1,500-meter run in 1996, running 3:48. He was co-MVP of the team in 1996 and was a three-time team captain.
Putman graduated from Ohio University in 1996 and then earned his Master's in Sports Administration from Xavier University in 2003 while he was serving as assistant coach for their running programs.
To this day, Putman still enjoys running on a competitive basis. He was the 2005 Run Ohio Grand Prix Co-Champion in 2005 and the 2006 Huntington Half Marathon Champion with a time of 1:09:04.
