Mike Gentile enters his fifth season as a member of the men’s and women’s track and field coaching staff in the fall of 2017.
A former assistant coach at Chestnut Hill College and head coach for Homer-Center High School’s boys and girls cross country/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 NAIA 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 Wildcat’s track and field team and in 2007 he continued to grow the Wildcat’s athletic offerings with the development of the Homer-Center High School’s indoor track program. Gentile changed the direction of the programs 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. 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 traditionally dominated by larger schools, and in 2009 the program saw its first state medalists on the track with a 5th place finish in 4 x 800m relay with a time of 9:35. Most notably, Gentile developed and coached two-time Penn Relays Championship of America mile winner, New Balance and Footlocker All-American, 10 time State Champion, all-time indoor mile record holder, outdoor 800m and 1600m State record holder, Angel Piccirillo. Gentile also helped develop 5 time State Champion and multiple New Balance All-American, Kennedy Weisner, to the second fastest all-time AA 800m and 1600m runs.
In 2013, Gentile joined the coaching staff at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, where he coached sprinters, jumpers and throwers. Gentile was an integral part in helping the men’s team win the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference Team Championship. Gentile also helped the Griffins amass All-Conference competitors in the long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus, 110 hurdles and the conference champion 4x100m relay team.
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.
Updated: 11/30/2017
