Search

Central Michigan University

CMU Chippewa Athletics
 100 Rose Center Mount Pleasant, MI 48859
Division 1 Michigan Midwest
Public Very Large National competitor
I'm interested in this program!

Coaches

Email coach

Jeremy Groves

Jeremy Groves was named to lead the Central Michigan soccer program in December 2018, becoming the sixth head coach in program history.


In his first season at the helm, Groves led the Chippewas to a 7-6-4 finish including 4-5-2 in the Mid-American Conference. It was CMU’s first winning season and its first league-tournament berth since 2016.


After the 2020 fall season was cancelled due to COVID-19, Groves’ CMU squad posted a 5-4 record in the spring of 2021 while playing against conference-only opponents. In 2021, Groves' Chippewas finished 9-8-1 overall and 6-4-1 MAC, earning a MAC Tournament berth.


CMU's Megan Logue and Maria Kaschalk each earned All-MAC Second Team honors in 2021. In spring, 2021, forward Jaelyn Dobrowolski was recognized as the MAC Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Chippewa since 2009 to earn the honor. Senior forward Natalie Belsito was named First Team All-MAC while Kaschalk received second team recognition.


Groves, who hails from Leeds, England, served as volunteer assistant coach during the 2018 season at Kentucky after leading Murray State to unprecedented success, building the Racer program into a dominant force in the Ohio Valley Conference.


In four seasons under Groves, Murray State posted a sterling 50-21-6 record including 32-3-5 in the OVC. From 2015-17, Murray State went unbeaten (25-0-5) in OVC play, including a spotless 10-0-0 mark in 2015, becoming the first team in conference history to go undefeated in league play.


Groves was named the OVC Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2017 and led the Racers to three consecutive OVC regular season championships and two conference tournament titles.


At Murray State, Groves recruited and coached the first and only three-time OVC Offensive Player of the Year, Harriet Withers. During his four years as head coach, Groves' teams featured 14 players who received All-OVC recognition.


Groves’ 2017 team posted a program-best 15-2-2 record, which included an 11-game unbeaten streak. MSU attained a program- and conference-record RPI of 21 and received votes in the United Soccer Coaches and TopDrawerSoccer.com national polls for four consecutive weeks.


From 2010-13, Groves served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Morehead State, where he helped the Eagles to the OVC regular season championship in 2010 and league tournament titles in 2010 and 2013.


Prior to Morehead State, Groves coached at his alma mater, Kentucky. He was an assistant coach with the women's program from 2006-07 and then assisted with the men's program from 2007-10.


Groves initially played collegiately at Virginia Intermont, earning NAIA All-America honors in 2001, before transferring to Kentucky. In Lexington, Groves was a member of two Mid-American Conference championship squads and the 2003 team which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.


Groves earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in kinesiology and business from Kentucky and is working toward his master’s degree in teaching, coaching and sports leadership.


Before his collegiate career, Groves played for his hometown club, Leeds United, in addition to Rotherham United and York City.


Groves and his wife, Melissa, have three sons, Aidan, Jaxson and Owen.

show more
Email coach

Keyton Wheelock

Keyton Wheelock joined the Central Michigan soccer program as an assistant coach in January 2021.


In her first season on the sidelines, the Chippewas posted a 5-4 record exclusively against MAC opponents in the spring of 2021. Forward Jaelyn Dobrowolski was recognized as the MAC Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Chippewa since 2009 to earn the honor. Senior forward Natalie Belsito was named First Team All-MAC while senior midfielder Maria Kaschalk received second team recognition.


Wheelock, a Michigan native, spent the 2016-19 seasons as the head coach at Louisiana Monroe. In 2016, she was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year after leading the program to its first conference tournament appearance. She mentored goalkeeper Brooke-Lynn Scroggins, who in 2016 earned First Team All-Sun Belt honors while ranking first in the nation with 133 saves and seventh with an average of seven saves per game.


Wheelock served as an assistant coach at South Alabama from 2013-15 and in 2015 earned the United Soccer Coaches South Region Mooch Myernick College Assistant Coach of the Year Award after the Jaguars finished 18-3-2 and defeated LSU in an NCAA Tournament opener.


She helped lead the Jaguars to two Sun Belt Conference regular season championships and three league tournament titles. With Wheelock on the Jaguar staff, South Alabama players collected three Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Awards and two league defensive player of the year awards.


Wheelock started her college coaching career at Division II Tusculum College in Greenville, Tenn. She also has coached club soccer in Traverse City and in St. Paul, Minn. and holds several certifications from United Soccer Coaches.


She earned a bachelor’s degree with a major in kinesiology from Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn., and her Master of Arts in education from Tusculum.


Wheelock, who hails from Traverse City and graduated from Traverse City West High School, played one year at South Dakota and then was a three-year letter winner at Concordia. She earned All-North Sun Intercollegiate Conference honorable mention in 2008.

show more
Email coach

Leslie Gillies

Leslie Gillies joined the Central Michigan Soccer staff in July 2023 after a 13-year tenure at the University of Tennessee at Martin, with the last nine seasons under the title of Associate Head Coach for the Skyhawks.


During her tenure at UT Martin, the Skyhawks put together six combined Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) championships with four regular season titles (2012, 2013, 2018, 2021) and two tournament crowns (2011, 2012). Gillies has helped guide players to 24 All-OVC first team honors, 12 honorees on the second team and 22 on the All-Newcomer team. The Skyhawks have also boasted two OVC Offensive Players of the Year, four OVC Defensive Players of the Year and three OVC Freshmen of the Year.


Gillies was instrumental in building UT Martin into a conference power as she helped lead the Skyhawks to a piece of conference history in 2013. UT Martin picked up its fourth consecutive OVC title - including two regular season and tournament championships - after rattling off an 8-2 record in conference play to win their second consecutive season crown. The Skyhawks became the first team in conference history to pull off such a streak.


Prior to UT Martin, Gillies spent three seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA II Carson-Newman University (TN), helping the Eagles to a 40-14-2 record (including a school-record 20 wins in 2009), three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and two South Atlantic Conference regular-season and tournament titles.


Gillies played collegiately with two years spent at the University of Alabama at Birmingham before transferring to Carson-Newman for the remainder of her career. Gillies went on to graduate from Carson-Newman in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in applied psychology.


A Marietta, Ga. native, Gillies was a four-year letterwinner at Sprayberry High School, where she was an all-star selection in the state of Georgia.

show more

College Bound Athletes

Showcase Tips

Are you ready for your next college showcase?
I have had a profile on SINC Soccer for 4 years, and it helped me to organize my information so that I was ready when the recruiting process started. I had selected some schools using your site when I was 13 and that helped to start the conversation with those schools and find out about their ID camps, and when UNC made an offer I was prepared.
- Maggie PierceWhat are others saying?