Saint Joseph's University

Since the Fall of 2019, Tarello has served as the Associate Head Coach of Track and Field and Cross Country at Saint Joseph's, specializing in coaching the middle distance athletes. Under Tarello's guidance, SJU's middle-distance program has flourished, with numerous athletes breaking records, earning All-East honors, and making significant impacts at both the conference and national levels.

"I've known Chris for 30 years and held him in high regard in his last decade or so at Monmouth," said men's cross country and track and field head coach Mike Glavin. "We are elated that we were able to get Chris to consider St. Joe's as the next place he could be the best he can be, and thus make our student-athletes the best they can be."
 
During his tenure at Saint Joseph’s, Coach Tarello has coached six All-East performers at the IC4A Championships and helped set school records in both the indoor and outdoor men’s 4x800m relay, as well as the women’s outdoor distance medley relay. He has also mentored multiple conference medalists on both the men’s and women’s teams. The men’s 4x800m relay has finished in the top four at every conference meet since Tarello’s arrival, and the team has earned medals at the Penn Relays in both 2023 and 2024.
 
Prior to joining SJU, Tarello spent 11 years at Monmouth University in the same role, where he established himself as one of the premier middle distance coaches in the region. His coaching career has also included extensive experience at the high school level, where he coached track and field and cross country at several schools, including Lincoln Sudbury (Sudbury, Mass.), Sacred Heart High School (Vineland, N.J.), Shawnee High School (Medford, N.J.), and Cherokee High School (Marlton, N.J.).
 
Noteworthy Athletes Coached:

• Allie Wilson: A 4x All-American in college with a personal best of 2:02.56 in the 800m, Wilson went on to become the 2024 U.S. Indoor Champion in the 800m and earned a spot on the U.S. Paris Olympic Team.
• Dylan Capwell: A 6x All-American and the 2016 NCAA Runner-Up in the 800m (1:46.70).

 
In the 2023-24 season, Tarello guided several Hawks to the Saint Joseph’s all-time top 10 lists. Jayden Greene and Owen Moelter moved up to second and third, respectively, on the school’s indoor 800m leaderboard. The pair also helped set the indoor 4x800m relay record at the IC4A Championships, where they finished second. Moelter additionally climbed to sixth on the all-time indoor 1000m list. On the women’s side, under Tarello’s guidance, Tess Crossan and Majken Lutzen both entered the top 10 in the 800m (4th and 10th, respectively). Lutzen also moved into the top five in the 1000m, becoming the fourth-fastest Hawk in the event while setting a Denmark U20 National Record. In the outdoor season, Lutzen broke the school record in the 800m with a time of 2:08.59. The men’s outdoor 4x800m relay team captured gold at the Atlantic 10 Championships and later finished second at the IC4A Outdoor Championships.
 
In the 2022-23 season, Coach Tarello helped guide Gavin Campbell to a fourth-place finish in the indoor 1,000m. The Hawks also claimed the IC4A Outdoor Championship in the 4x800m relay, setting a new school record with a time of 7:24.86. Individually, Jayden Greene ranked ninth on the school’s all-time 800m list.
 
In his first year with the men's and women's track and field and cross country programs in 2019-20, Tarello worked closely with the distance groups. Highlighted in his efforts were the individual accomplishments of Zach Michon, who won the 2019 A-10 Cross Country Championship individual title as well as both the mile and 3000m individual titles at the 2019-20 A-10 Indoor Track and Field Championships en route to being named the meet's Most Outstanding Track Performer.
 
At Monmouth, Coach Tarello transformed a small Division I middle distance group into a nationally recognized program. Acknowledged as the 2019 USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Women's Assistant Coach of the Year, Tarello coached 76 individual and relay conference champions across the Northeast Conference and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. His athletes set 21 individual and relay meet records, claimed 13 ECAC/IC4A championships, and earned two bronze medals in the 4x800m relay at the Penn Relays' Championship of America.
 
Over his 11 years at Monmouth, Tarello helped coach a program that captured 19 conference track and field team titles, including the IC4A team title in 2015.
 
In addition to his college coaching experience, Tarello has a long history of coaching at the high school level. From 2005-2008, he served as head coach at Lincoln Sudbury, leading the team to the Nike Team National Northeast Regional Cross Country Championship title and a sixth-place finish at the Nike Team National Championship in 2007. He also coached at Sacred Heart High School, Shawnee High School, and Cherokee High School, where he honed his ability to develop young talent.
 
Beyond coaching, Tarello has significant expertise in developing and leading camps and clinics. He is the primary principal of RunningWorks, Inc., which offers camps and clinics designed to help athletes improve their skills.
 
A 1992 graduate of Shawnee High School, Tarello was a multiple-time Meet of Champions qualifier in the 800m. He went on to graduate from Rider University in 1997, where he was an eight-time IC4A All-East selection, a multiple-time conference champion, and the program's current record-holder in the 4x400m relay.
 
Chris resides in Brick, N.J., with his wife Cindy, who was also a successful cross country and track coach, and their twin daughters, Mia and Ryan.