Chris Hammer is in fourth season with the women's triathlon program during the 2021-22 school year. Hammer helped guide D&E successfully through its inaugural season in 2018.
The Senators concluded a shortened 2020-21 campaign that took place in the spring. D&E ended the year with a second place team showing at the Hyco Lake Traiathlon Festival.
Hammer guided the Senators to an excellent 2019 season, which saw Natalia Hidalgo Martinez capture the individual Division II crown at the National Championships in Tempe, Ariz. on November 16, 2019, finishing third overall among all competitors. Hammer, who won the USA Triathlon NCAA DII Coach of the Year in 2019, helped led D&E to a team victory in the East Region Qualifier and a second-place showing at the 2019 National Championship race.
The 2019 season also saw D&E compete in its first home race in program history, as Hammer worked with other members of the athletic department to organize the "Senator Splash-N-Dash" event in September 2019 as part of Homecoming Weekend. A world-class athlete himself, Hammer returned to the world stage as a competitor, earning a bronze medal at the International Triathlon Unit (ITU) Paratriathlon World Championships held August 29-September 1, 2019 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
During the inaugural campaign, Hammer led the Senators to a fourth place finish among all Division II programs, and saw the programs first meet champions with Sophie Schöppl's wins at the Ridgewood Try a Tri for Hospice and Baltimore Triathlon Festival.
Hammer joined Davis & Elkins after competing as a USA Paratriathlon National Team member since 2013. Hammer has competed as a Paralympian in the last two Paralympics; London 2012 and Rio 2016.
In Rio, Hammer finished fourth overall in the Paratriathlon on September 10. In London, the Troy, Michigan native finished ninth in the 1,500-meter race and 10th overall in the Marathon.
In his Elite Triathlon career, Hammer has three bronze medal finishes at the ITU Paratriathlon World Championships in 2014, 2017 and 2019. In total, of the 31 International Paratriathlon events that Hammer entered, he has finished on the podium 23 times, including 10 gold medals, eight silver medals and five bronze. He is currently ranked third in the world.
Hammer worked for four years as a graduate assistant at the University of Utah. While at Utah, Hammer provided sport psychology consulting for local athletes in the Salt Lake City area and also taught classes at the University of Utah in the exercise and sport science department.
Prior to Utah, Hammer was an assistant coach for the Cross Country and Track & Field programs at Eastern Washington University. Hammer worked with the distance runners from August 2010 to June 2012 while in Cheney, Washington. He also worked as the Assistant Director of the University Fitness Center while at EWU.
Hammer was a five-time NCAA Division II All-American at Grand Valley State from 2004 to 2009, earning four All-American honors in Track and one honor in Cross Country. Hammer is also a four-time Academic All-American.
During his time with the Lakers, Hammer also was named the recipient of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) Commissioner's Award in 2007 and 2008.
After graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics and Secondary Education in May of 2010, Hammer went on to earn his Master's Degree from Eastern Washington University in Physical Education: Sports and Recreation Administration in June of 2012. He has since earned a PhD in Sport and Exercice Psychology in 2018 as well as an MBA in 2020, both from the University of Utah. As it relates to his work in sport psychology, Hammer has been published in peer-review journals, has written edited book chapters as well as a coaching education chapter.
While at Utah, Hammer was twice been named the recipient of Legacy Scholarship through Unites States Olympic Committee Tuition Grant Program (2014, 2016), and was a 2017 Utah Governor's State of Sport award nominee, while also being named the Association for Applied Sport Psychology 2016 Conference Student Travel Award recipient. He was also named the Department of Exercise and Sport Science Outstanding ESSF Instructor in April 2014.
Hammer holds Level 2 coaching certification from USA Triathlon. He also serves as a member of the USA Triathlon Nationals Coaching Committee.
In addition to his role as te D&E triathlon coach, Hammer also coaches a group of Denver-based marathoners, all of whom qualified for and competed in the 2021 USA Olympic Marathon Trials.
Christopher, an active member of the athletic department's "Culture Committee", and his wife Amy have two daughters and the family resides in Elkins.
