John Elliott enters his first year in 2025 as head coach of the Pace University women's cross country team. In addition to his coaching duties with the cross country team, Elliott is heading into his third season as assistant coach of the softball team. Overall, Elliott brings a vast knowledge of cross country and softball with over 19 years of coaching and team leadership experience.
The Walden, N.Y. native comes to Pace with a long history of coaching dating back to his experience as the head coach of the Orange County Cyclones travel softball team from 2003 to 2016. While there, the Cyclones won over 30 tournament championships including the 2013 USSSA 16U New York State Championship. That year, the team ranked 8th nationally and in 2014 they claimed the USSSA 18U Connecticut State Championship. In his final year with the team, Elliott led the squad to the Big League East Regional Championship.
After 13 years at the helm of the Cyclones, Elliott became the assistant coach at Mount Saint Mary’s College (2015-21). During his time there, he helped win four straight Skyline Conference Championships including several NCAA tournament victories in both 2016 and 2018.
Following his six-year stint with Mount Saint Mary’s he moved on to assistant coaching at Montclair State University (2021-23). While there, Elliott was also the recruiting coordinator where he assessed team structure and devised recruiting strategies. Throughout his time as a university coach, Elliott holds a 188-133 record.
A 1999 graduate from Farleigh Dickinson University, Elliott earned his bachelor's degree in criminal justice. He spent twenty years as a police officer with four years in the New York City department (1999-03) and 16 years in the Ossining department (2003-19).
