Amanda Harris begins her third season as head cross country coach at North Georgia College & State University. 

In her second season at the helm of the cross country program, Harris led the men's team to a fourth place finish and the women's team to an eighth place finish at the Peach Belt Conference Championships. Both programs debuted at the NCAA South Atlantic Regional with the men placing 15th and the women coming in 18th.

In her first full season as head coach of the Saints cross country program, Harris guided the men to third place finish at the Peach Belt Conference Championships, and the women to a sixth place finish. She also coached sophomore Alan Schmitz to the Peach Belt All-Conference Team, with his top ten finish at the championships.

The 27-year old head coach came to North Georgia from Savannah, where she was a high school math teacher and the Bradwell Institute High School head cross country coach.

At Bradwell, she reduced the overall average of the team’s times by 15 percent, quadrupling the number of runners and taking her teams to high finishes at the regional tournaments. She took two teams that had never placed to second and third place finishes in the men’s and women’s regional, earning a berth in the State Cross Country Meet. Many of her runners qualified for state and achieved running scholarships to the next level.

Harris is no stranger to the Peach Belt Conference, earning experience as a four-year runner at Armstrong Atlantic State University. She was the anchor of the team that finished third each year in the PBC.  Harris’ highlight as a collegiate runner came in a third place finish in an invitational, and receiving academic achievement awards her junior and senior seasons. 

After her collegiate running career, Harris continued as a nationally ranked age group triathlete.  The pinnacle of her running career was a personal record at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI where she finished well above her incoming ranking.

Harris graduated from AASU with a B.S. in Early Childhood Education.  She is currently working towards her Master’s in Exercise Science with an emphasis on Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention, which she is due to complete in December.

A native of Hampton, VA, she is married to Christopher Harris, a US Army Captain stationed at Dahlonega’s Ranger Camp as a company commander. The couple had their first son, Michael, in October 2006.