Mike Gentile joined the Chestnut Hill College men’s and women’s track and field coaching staff as an assistant prior to the inaugural 2014 season. A former head coach for Homer-Center High School’s boys and girls cross country and track and field teams, Gentile has been instructing the fundamentals for more than 20 years.
During his high school career at Penn Hills High School near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gentile posted PR’s of: 51.2 sec for the 440; 1:55.1 for the 880; 4:21.4 for the 1600; and 16:02 for the Cross Country 5K. Due to injury, Gentile was unable to compete collegiately for Westminster College, in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, opting to lend his services to the team as a student-assistant coach from 1988 to 1992. Gentile was part of a staff that saw several student-athletes qualify for NIAA National Championships in cross country and helped direct student-athletes to school records in cross country, 3K steeple chase and the 800m.
After college, Gentile coached athletes in his spare time as he pursued a career in communications. During this time he also worked with teens in the mental health field and completed his elementary and special education certificate at St. Francis University of Pennsylvania. In 2003, Gentile resumed his coaching career by assuming boys and girls cross country head coaching responsibilities at Homer-Center High School. The following year, 2004, he expanded his domain by taking on the head coach role for the Wildcats track and field team and in 2007 he continued to grow the Wildcats athletic offerings with the development of Homer-Center High School’s indoor track program. Under Gentile’s direction, the Wildcats achieved the school’s first women’s conference championship in track and field, as well as, several runner-up finishes in the Heritage Conference for cross country and track and field. The Wildcats also achieved multiple runner-up finishes in the Indiana County Championships that were usually dominated by larger schools. Most notably, Gentile developed and coached a two-time Penn Relays Championship of America winner, 10 time State Champion, all-time indoor record holder, outdoor 800m and 1600m State record holder. Gentile changed the direction of the program by annually qualifying athletes for the PIAA State Championships in the 300m hurdles, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m, 4 x 400, 4x 800, shot put, discus and cross country until his departure in the fall of 2013.
Gentile graduated from Westminster College in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. He also has earned his certificate in elementary and special education from Saint Francis University of Pennsylvania in 2002. He currently resides in Indiana, Pennsylvania, with his wife and three sons.
