Tom Chorny - Track & Field, Cross Country Coach (2024)

Miami University Director of Athletics David Sayler tabbed Tom Chorny as the Director of Track & Field/Cross Country in 2016.

Under Chorny’s leadership, Miami earned the 2018 Mid-American Conference championship in men’s cross country for the first time since 1998, going on to claim the crown again in 2022. The RedHawks also captured the 2021 men’s outdoor track and field MAC championship, a trophy they had not won since 1993.

Miami student-athletes on Chorny’s teams continue to succeed not only in competition, but also in the classroom. The RedHawks program has consistently been recognized by the USTFCCCA as All-Academic, including last year (men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s track and field, women’s track and field).

The 2022-23 season saw Miami sweep the individual titles at the MAC Cross Country Championships for the first time ever, as Obsaa Feda won the men’s race and Carmen Riano came in first in the women’s race. Both runners went on to earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors, with Riano advancing to the national meet for the first time. The RedHawk men earned the MAC team championship, while the Miami women placed fourth at the MAC meet. Chorny’s runners produced a total of three First-Team All-MAC selections, three Second-Team picks and a MAC Freshman of the Year winner (Patrick Wills) to go along with eight Academic All-MAC honorees. For his efforts, Chorny was named MAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.

In the indoor season, Miami’s women posted their first top-five finish as a team since 2012, with Riano winning the 3,000-meter race en route to picking up First-Team All-MAC recognition. The RedHawks also collected a pair of Second-Team All-MAC awards and 15 Academic All-MAC selections.

For the 2023 outdoor campaign, four RedHawks qualified for NCAA East Prelims, with three going on to become All-Americans (Ava Nuttall, second team in 10K; Carmen Riano and Charlie Harders, honorable mention in steeplechase). Ryan Smith was named MAC Men’s Most Outstanding Field Performer after scoring 24 points across four events, including the discus title. Miami women also finished first in the steeplechase (Riano), 5K (Riano) and 10K (Nuttall) at the MAC meet, with the women’s team coming in third place and the men in fourth (including Harders' steeplechase win for a third straight spring). Ten RedHawks were named All-MAC (four on the First Team), 10 received Academic All-District honors, and 19 qualified for the Academic All-MAC squad.

In 2021-22, the RedHawk women finished second and the RedHawk men came in third at the MAC cross country meet. Three Miami runners placed in the top 10 at the women’s meet: Carmen Riano (third place), Ava Nuttall (eighth), and Katie Vitou (ninth). On the men’s side, Anthony Camerieri came in sixth. All four student-athletes received All-MAC honors, to go along with 13 Miami runners being named Academic All-MAC.

During the women’s indoor track season, Lotti Roemer won the mile to highlight Miami’s performance at the MAC championships, while the team finished seventh in the league. The outdoor season saw Charlie Harders and Carmen Riano sweep the steeplechase races at the MAC meet, with Riano also finishing atop the podium in the women’s 5000 and Finley Mclear winning the men’s 800. The RedHawks finished fourth as a team in the men’s meet and fifth in the women’s competition. Seven Miami student-athletes competed in the NCAA East prelims, highlighted by Riano, who advanced to the national meet and finished as an All-American in the steeplechase (14th place). 37 different RedHawks on the track and field team were recognized as Academic All-MAC between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

The 2020-21 academic year was highlighted by the RedHawk men finishing second in the MAC cross country meet and first in the conference’s outdoor track championships. Miami had four All-MAC performers in cross country, a MAC individual champion in the women’s indoor pentathlon (Sarah Bruns), and a myriad of MAC outdoor champions. Olivia Bechtel won the 200 and 400 at the MAC meet that spring, Charlie Harders won the steeplechase, Sean Torpy won the 1500, Finley Mclear won the 800, and Miami’s 4x400 relay team also took first place. Chorny was named MAC Men’s Coach of the Year after the RedHawk men brought home the team title. Miami also fared exceedingly well on the national stage, with Finley Mclear taking second in the indoor 800m and 4th in the outdoor 800m. The RedHawks’ DMR team (Sean Torpy, Luke Finnegan, Andrew Schroff, Chris Torpy) picked up All-American honors as well, claiming eighth at the NCAA indoor championships. In addition, Sean Torpy became Miami’s first Academic All-American since 2008.

Before 2019-20 competition was cut short by the pandemic, Miami seized top-three finishes in the MAC men’s and women’s cross country meets for the third year in a row. The RedHawk men were runners-up, while the women came in third place. David Coffey (first team), Ryan Sharkey (second team), and Emma Bryant (second team) were named All-MAC that fall. Miami finished seventh in the MAC indoor championships, the program’s best mark since 2013. Olivia Bechtel led the way with a first-place finish in the 400.

2018-19 brought Miami its first MAC men’s cross country team title in 20 years. Chorny was named Coach of the Year, with five RedHawk men earning All-MAC honors. On the women’s side, Alesha Vovk was a first-team All-MAC pick as the RedHawks came in third at the MAC cross country meet. The Miami women finished 10th in the MAC in the indoor championships, but came in sixth at the outdoor meet, with the Miami men taking third. Danielle Collier (javelin), Olivia Bechtel (400), and the women’s 4x400 relay each took first at the outdoor meet, while the Torpy brothers led the way for the men. Sean Torpy won the 800, 1500, and 5000 races, with Chris Torpy taking first in the steeplechase. Sean Torpy was named MAC Men’s Most Valuable Performer, and Bechtel was recognized on the women’s side for Most Outstanding Performance. Both Torpy brothers went on to become NCAA All-Americans that spring: Sean was 17th in the nation in the 800, and Chris was 14th in the 1500. Danielle Collier took 10th place at the national meet in the javelin, also becoming an All-American.

In 2017-18, Chorny’s second year at the helm, the women’s cross country team improved to third place in the MAC after finishing seventh the previous season. Two RedHawk women and four men were recognized as All-MAC that fall. During the spring, Miami took first place in two men’s (800, 1500) and two women’s (10,000, 4x400 relay) track events. Maria Scavuzzo was credited with the Most Outstanding Performance (women’s) at the meet. Chris Torpy also took 23rd place in the 1,500m at the national championships, becoming an All-American for the first time.

Chorny took over in 2016-17 and helped the RedHawks to a second consecutive runner-up finish at the men’s cross country championships. Matt Bromley, David Coffey, and Andrew Dusing won All-MAC honors for the Miami men, with Maria Scavuzzo joining them on the women’s side. Scavuzzo went on to represent the Red and White at the NCAA championships that fall. In track, four RedHawks became NCAA All-Americans: Dusing (6th place, outdoor, 1500m), Amelia Strickler (10th, indoor, shot put), Danielle Collier (22nd, outdoor, javelin), and Martha Szekely (17th, outdoor, hammer). The RedHawks finished fifth as a team at the men’s and women’s MAC outdoor championships, with Stephen Biebelhausen (1,500), Collier (javelin), Szekely (hammer), and Alexus Jimson-Miller (100h) winning individual titles.

Chorny, a 1999 graduate of Indiana University, helped the Hoosiers in a volunteer coaching capacity from 2007-13 before becoming an assistant at Miami. He helped mold three Big Ten champions, 23 NCAA Regional qualifiers and 11 All-Americans in the steeplechase during his coaching stint in Bloomington while also managing the Indiana Running Company.

A standout distance runner, Chorny enjoyed a competitive career filled with accolades at all levels of the sport. He was a four-time Michigan High School Athletic Association state champion and a 1994 Footlocker National Finalist at Fruitport High School. Collegiately, Chorny was a three-time All-American and continued his career professionally after graduation.

In the pro ranks, Chorny won the steeplechase at USA Track and Field Championships in 2001, earning a spot on Team USA at the World Championships and Goodwill Games that year. He achieved a world ranking as high as No. 35 in the steeplechase in 2002 and remained in the top 40 to 2004. He was also a member of the Nike Farm Team and Oregon Track Club from 2004-06.

Chorny earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Indiana in 1999.