Mark Christner returns as head coach of the Waynesburg University men's basketball team for the 2018-19 season, his ninnth year directing the Yellow Jackets.
He is coming off a 10-16 season this past winter that included a 6-12 mark in PAC play. Both marks saw multi-win improvements from the 2016-17 campaign. The Jackets also played one of the most brutal early non-conference schedules in the country, facing traditional national top-10 powers Whitman and Whitworth during a West Coast road trip to the State of Washington.
Highlights of the 2015-16 season included Christner picking up his first win over Thomas More and defeating perennial PAC powerhouse Saint Vincent in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It also marked the first time the Jackets beat the Bearcats on the road since before 1990. The 2015-16 campaign concluded with then-seniors B.J. Durham and D.J. Ritchie being presented with all-conference accolades.
After inheriting a two-win team in 2010, the program rose to register 18 wins during the 2014-15 season, including a 12-4 mark in conference play and an appearance in the PAC men’s basketball championship.
Christner directed the team to a nine-game win streak at the end of the regular season, extending through the semifinal round of the PAC Tournament. In the tournament, the Yellow Jackets earned victories over Grove City and Bethany, their third triumphs over each team during the 2014-15 campaign. After a 72-66 loss to Saint Vincent in the PAC Championship, Waynesburg ended its year with a berth in the ECAC South Tournament, its second consecutive postseason appearance.
Individually, then-seniors Jason Propst and Jacob Fleegle were named to all-conference teams. Propst earned a spot on the All-PAC first-team, while Fleegle enjoyed a second-team nod. Both standout forwards also eclipsed the 1,000-career-point as seniors.
During the 2013-14 season, the Yellow Jackets made their biggest improvements to that point under Christner by posting a 15-12 overall mark and a program-record nine wins in PAC action (9-7). As a result, Christner was honored as the PAC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. Waynesburg enjoyed a six-game win streak, its longest since the 2002-03 season, and the Orange and Black swept conference rival W&J for the first time since 2003-04.The 2-0 mark against the Presidents was the first time the Jackets swept any conference foe since 2006-07. Waynesburg went on to duplicate the feat against Grove City and Thiel, before ending the season with one of its biggest wins in recent years. The Jackets upended the two-time defending PAC champions from Saint Vincent 68-62 in the final game of the regular season.
Christner's Jackets continued their hot play into the postseason, where they both hosted and won their first PAC quarterfinal playoff game since 2005-06. Waynesburg defeated W&J, 62-58. The Jackets also qualified for an Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament for the first time in 16 years with a berth in the ECAC Southwest Tournament.
In 2012-13, the Yellow Jackets went 10-17 overall and 4-12 in PAC play, earning double-digit wins for the first time under Christner. Arguably the biggest victory of the season came on Saturday, Jan. 19, when the Jackets beat traditional PAC powerhouse Bethany 67-64. That triumph snapped a 22-game losing streak to the Bison. Waynesburg also received its highest individual accolades since the 2007-08 season when sophomore forward Jason Propst was honored as a second-team All-PAC pick. The biggest highlight of the 2011-12 season was a 69-57 win over Washington & Jefferson. With the win, Waynesburg snapped an 18-game PAC losing streak, and beat the Presidents for the first time since the 2004-05 season, a span of 14 games. The 2012 postseason featured another big win for the Jackets, a 63-57 victory over Westminster in the preliminary round of the PAC Tournament.
Christner’s debut campaign in 2010-11 saw the Yellow Jackets take steps in the right direction. During that season, the Jackets increased their win output from the previous season by four. Waynesburg's biggest highlight of the year came in the final regular season game, which saw the Yellow Jackets upset a 17-7 Geneva team.
Christner arrived at Waynesburg from a very successful Calvin College (Mich.) program. During his eight years (2002-2010) as an assistant men’s basketball coach and head men’s junior varsity coach, Christner helped lead the Knights to four berths in the NCAA Division III national tournament. During his time on the bench, Calvin posted an impressive 158-73 record and won three Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular season titles. Over that same stretch, the Knights won three MIAA tournament titles and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 2005.
Prior to working with the men’s team, Christner broke in as a coach at Calvin with the women’s basketball team from 1999 to 2002. In 2000, the Calvin women made it all the way to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
Along with his impressive coaching credentials at Calvin, Christner is affiliated with the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He has worked as a coach and administrator of multiple basketball tournaments and camps.
Christner earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999 from Calvin, where he majored in history and minored in physical education with an emphasis in coaching. He went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in physical education with a pedagogy emphasis in 2005 from Western Michigan University.
He is also an experienced teacher. Christner was a Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance, & Sport (HPERDS) instructor at Calvin from 2006 until he left the school, and was an adjunct instructor in the same program from 2004 to 2006. He also spent four years (2000-2004) as a social studies teacher at both the Creston Christian School and the Holy Spirit School in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Christner also serves as Waynesburg's Assistant Athletic Director in charge of compliance and player and coach development. He is married to his wife, Sara. They have a son Leo and two daughters, Elin and Nora.
