LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.  – The Rider University Director of Cross Country, Track & Field Bob Hamer has announced the addition of Chinedu Amonu to the coaching staff as an assistant coach for the 2025–26 season.

Amonu comes to Rider with a wide-ranging background in collegiate coaching, data analysis, and athlete development. Most recently, he served as an assistant track and field coach at William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, where he helped guide student-athletes through data-driven training programs designed to enhance performance and promote leadership on and off the track.

Before his time at Penn Charter, Amonu spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania, where he coordinated practice logistics, developed individualized training plans, and helped student-athletes achieve measurable improvements in key performance metrics. During his tenure, his athletes saw a 30% increase in performance outcomes and consistently praised his collaborative coaching approach.

Amonu was a standout student-athlete at the University of Connecticut. During his senior year in 2017 at UConn, Amonu placed seventh in the 400-meters at the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship (47.72 sec) and captured the IC4A 400-meter indoor title in 47.59 seconds. Outdoors that year, he won the 200-meter dash (21.54) and anchored the 4×100 relay (40.29) at the Miami Hurricane Alumni Invitational. 

In his junior year (2016), he qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Regionals in both the 400 m and the 4×100 relay and placed second at The American in the 400 m in 46.04 seconds. 

"I am really excited for Chinedu to join our staff. He brings high level coaching and athletic experience that will be very helpful for our athletes." – Rider Director of Cross Country, Track & Field Bob Hamer.

In his role at Rider, Amonu will assist across sprints and hurdles squads.

Amonu earned his Master of Arts in Psychology with a concentration in Sports Psychology from Capella University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a minor in Psychology from UConn.