Eric Putnam in his fourth year as head men's cross country coach led the Shawnee State Bears to an 11th place in the 32 team field at the NAIA national championship. This was their highest finish in school history. Keegan Rathkamp became the first runner in men's team history to become and NAIA All-American finishing 10th place. This was the second time in four years that the men's team has qualified to nationals with Putnam has head coach.  

During Putnam's four years as head cross country coach, the men have finished no less then 3rd at the AMC championship. They have also been ranked in the top 25 poll every on of those years.

Prior to joining Shawnee State, Putnam coached Chillicothe high school to a district championship in 2003 and a district runner-up finish in 2004.  Two Chillicothe runners qualified for the state championship meet in 2003.

Putnam served as assistant cross country and track coach at Xavier University from 2001 – 2003.  Both men and women’s cross country team enjoyed their most successful seasons during his tenure. 

Putnam also enjoyed a very successful collegiate running career at Ohio University.  From 1991 – 1996 he ran cross country and track and field, earning seven varsity letters.  He earned All-Mid American Conference honors seven times.  He was the individual MAC champion in the 1500 meter run in 1996 running 3:48.  He was co-MVP of the Ohio University track team in 1996 and was voted team captain three times.

Putnam established many accomplishments through his high school career at Chillicothe High School.  He was a four-time state individual qualifier in Division I, including a state runner-up finisher in 1989.  He was also a three-time state qualifier in track and field, including 4th inn the 1600 meter run and 5th in the 3200 meter relay in 1991. 

Putnam has been winning road races at various distances all over Ohio for more than a decade.  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. Putnam has also won the Shawnee State Bear run a record 10 times.

Putnam resides in Portsmouth with his wife, Krista.  They had their first child, Charles in May 2006.

Blake Jones has spent nine years with the Shawnee State University cross country program. He spent four as an athlete and this will be his fifth now as the men's assistant coach. As an athlete, Jones best season was in 2004 when he was 19th place in the AMC/Region IX-X championship meet where the Bears finished 2nd place. Blake also ran his best time of his collegiate career at the 2004 NAIA national championship where the Bears finished 18th in the 28 team field.

As the men's assistant coach, Jones has seen the team develop into a consistently ranked cross country program in the NAIA. Jones has also continued to be a competitive runner, winning dozens of road races all over the region. This past fall, in his first Marathon in Columbus, Jones ran 2:39:15 and finished 16th place overall. That time was good enough to qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon. Blake is currently a member of the Columbus Running Company.

Jones graduated from Shawnee State with a bachelors degree in Sports Management.