Leo Mayo enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Wesleyan men's and women's cross country programs in 2024. He is also an assistant coach for the Wesleyan track & field programs - coaching mid-distance and distance runners.
In each of his first three competitive (non-COVID) seasons at Wesleyan, the women's cross country team has seen an individual qualify for the NCAA Championships as Miranda Graves '23 competed in 2021 and Stephanie Ager '26 earned a spot as a first-year in 2022 and sophomore in 2023. The Cardinal women have placed Top 10 at the NCAA Mideast Regional in each of his first three seasons at Wesleyan while the men placed 8th at the 2023 NESCAC Championship and 7th at the 2023 NCAA Mideast Regional, both of which are the highest-finish at each respective meet since 2015.
Mayo brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and accolades to Wesleyan. He was hired as the first-ever head coach of the American International College (AIC) men's and women's cross country and track & field teams in August 2006 and has served in that role for 15 seasons. On May 8, 2021, his women's track & field squad claimed its first-ever Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Championship.
During his time at AIC, Mayo led the cross country programs to four Northeast-10 Conference titles (2014-16, 2019), two NE-10 indoor track & field championships (2015-16), and two NE-10 outdoor track & field crowns (2016, 2021). He also coached five national champions (four in track, one in cross country); one Division II Cross Country National Athlete of the Year; 10 NE-10 Cross Country Male Athletes of the Year; four NE-10 Cross Country Female Athletes of the Year; and a total of 120 Division II All-Americans (107 in track, 13 in cross country).
Additionally, Mayo has been named the NE-10 Cross Country Coach of the Year four times; the USTFCCCA East Region Cross Country Coach of the Year twice; the NE-10 Indoor Track Coach of the Year three times; the USTFCCCA East Region Indoor Coach of the Year three times; the NE-10 Outdoor Track Coach of the Year once; and the USTFCCCA East Region Outdoor Track Coach of the Year twice.
Prior to his tenure at AIC, Mayo served as the head cross country coach/assistant track coach at Bloomfield High School. He was also a physical/health education teacher for six years at the elementary school and middle school levels.
Mayo was an excellent athlete as well and competed on the cross country and track & field teams at Central Connecticut State University from 1997 to 2002. He was a two-time Northeast Conference All-Conference Team selection and was named All-IC4A Country in 2001. Mayo also set the school record in the indoor and outdoor 3,000m.
Mayo received his Bachelor of Science in Education at CCSU in 2002 and a Master of Education at AIC in 2011. He has served on the USTFCCCA Division II Cross Country Executive Committee since 2015 and was on the Northeast-10 Conference Cross Country Chair from 2014 to 2019. Mayo is USATF Level 1 and Level 2 certified.
