Nebraska Wesleyan University Athletics

Previously an All-American for the Prairie Wolves, Chris Baum has been an assistant coach for the track and field team at Nebraska Wesleyan since 1991 coaching the high jump and pole vault.

After dominating the collegiate level as an athlete, Baum turned to coaching the Prairie Wolves. Baum has coached a total of 41 All-America awards and six national titles. He was also recognized as a winner of the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2004.  In the fall of 2011, Baum was inducted into the NWU Athletic Hall of Fame as he won the Spirit of the Plainsmen Award. 

In 2024, he turned Eli Mackowski into one of the best high jumpers in the country. Mackowski was the national runner up indoors in the high jump while becoming a conference champion outdoors. In the pole vault, Emily Druse vaulted to all-time top 10 performances in school history while becoming the outdoor A-R-C Champion outdoors in the pole vault.

A three-time Conference Champion and All-American himself, Baum is a 1991 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health (K-12). He has earned his master’s degree in education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he studied post-secondary athletic administration.
           
Baum also currently works as a physical education instructor at Humann Elementary School. He and his wife, Stephanie, have two children Jacob and Avery.