Ray Walker was named the Trojans’ new Cross Country/Distance Head Coach in July 2016.
 
Walker comes to Little Rock from Abilene Christian University where he spent the last two years as the Wildcats’ distance coach. In 2016, ACU won the Southland Conference Championship in cross country under Walker’s guidance to become the first program at Abilene Christian to win a league title since the school became a Division I member in 2013.

As the distance coach at Abilene Christian, Walker coached the distance runners in disciplines from 800 meters up through 10K. He developed training regimens, recruited student-athletes and managed operations at competitions.
 
One of his distance runners, Alexandria Hackett, won the Southland Conference championship in the 5K both indoors and outdoors and also won the outdoor 10K. She broke three school records indoors (mile, 3K, 5K) and also shattered the Wildcats’ outdoor 5K record. Hackett also began her distance dominance in the Southland Conference earlier in the year when she won its cross country title by nearly a full minute. He also coached Daniel Block, an 800-meter runner who was the indoor Southland champion in 2014 and 2015.
 
Walker has some experience with student-athletes on the Rebsamen Golf Course, as his women’s cross country team won the Little Rock Invitational last season. His team was also the second-place Division I team at the Chile Pepper Festival in 2015 and came in third at the Texas A&M Invitational last year.
 
Walker’s efforts with the distance program helped earn ACU’s head track and field coach, Keith Barnier, the league’s Coach of the Year honor at the end of the season. His Wildcat women’s track and field team was the Southland Conference runner up indoors last year.
 
Before his time with Abilene Christian, Walker was an assistant coach with the Cleveland Mustangs AAU track program, tailoring workout programs for athletes and conducting weekly practices. He was also a volunteer coach at Euclid High School while working with the Mustangs.
 
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Walker ran cross country and track at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio. He remains the school record holder in the 800 indoors and outdoors and also holds the school’s 600 meter record, its 1K record and its 4x800 relay records indoors and outdoors.
 
He earned his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame College with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He followed that with a Master of Education in Kinesiology, Sports Recreation and Management from Hardin-Simmons University.