Maria Henly joined Franklin & Marshall as a full-time cross country and track & field assistant coach prior to the 2026-27 season. Henly brings nearly 10 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, having most recently served as an associate head coach at Ursinus where she helped the bears capture two Centennial Conference Outdoor Track & Field team championships (2023, 24) on the men’s side.
Henly brings a vast knowledge of coaching multiple events to the Diplomats’ staff. In addition to working with distance runners as a cross country coach, she was instrumental in helping Ursinus develop numerous all-conference and all-region performers in the sprints, jumps, and hurdles during the track & field season. She was also vital in the team’s recruiting efforts that resulted in back-to-back conference championships.
As a part of the Centennial Conference Coaching Staff of the Year, Henly helped the Bears set three Centennial Conference records and four school records during her tenure. She additionally coached the 4x400 relay team to a Penn Relays Championship for the first time in school history before that group went on to place 12th at the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships.
Prior to joining the staff at Ursinus, Henly served as the head men’s and women’s cross country and track & field coach at Chestnut Hill University for two seasons. During those two seasons, she recruited a class of 28 student-athletes while the team broke seven school records. Chestnut Hill additionally had eight student-athletes earned all-conference accolades between the cross country and track & field teams.
Before making a jump to the head coaching ranks, Henly got her start in coaching at the Division I level as she worked at St. Joseph’s (Pa.), Xavier, and Temple. At each of these institutions, Henly worked extensively with the cross country teams and distance runners while assisting in several other events.
Henly earned her bachelor’s degree in health education and secondary education from Appalachian State in 2016 where she was a member of the Mountaineer cross country and track & field teams. She was a part of three conference championship teams during her undergraduate career, capturing Southern Conference team championships in outdoor track & field and cross country before leading her team to the Sun Belt Indoor Track & Field Championship as a senior.
