Honors & Accomplishments
• Has guided Cornell men’s and women’s polo to a combined 14 national titles and 37 national championship appearances.
• All-time winningest coach in Cornell history for any sport, entering 2018-19 with a combined 988-333-25 record (.743).
• Teams have combined to win 47 USPA Northeast Regional titles.
Coaching Experience
• Head Coach, Cornell University (1985-present)
• Assistant Coach, Cornell University (1981-1985)
Playing Experience
• Cornell University (1977-1981)
• Four-year starter
• Three-year captain
• Two-time national runner-up
Education
• B.S., Agricultural Engineering, Cornell (1981)
At Cornell
David Eldredge '81 has been the on sidelines as the Peter B. Orthwein '69 Head Coach of Polo since 1985 as one of the legendary collegiate polo coaches in the nation. He has guided his teams to a combined 14 national titles and 37 national championship appearances and is fast approaching 1,000 combined wins – more than any coach in any sport in Cornell history.
Eldredge has posted a 988-333-25 combined record (.743) with the two programs, including 518-147-17 with the women's squad and a 470-186-8 mark with the men. He has posted just two sub-.500 record in his combined 66 seasons of coaching on East Hill.
The women's program has been the premier program in the country since its first year in 1971-72. Cornell has played in 33 of 46 national final matches, capturing 15 national titles and 18 runner-up finishes. During his 33 years in the arena, Eldredge’s team has won 24 regional titles and has only missed the national tournament twice. Out of 31 tournament appearances, he has coached the team to 24 finals matches with 12 national titles and 12 runner-up finishes. The men have had similar success by winning 23 regional crowns and again only twice not qualifying for the national tournament while appearing in the national finals 14 times with two national titles and 12 runner-up finishes.
The women’s team made the national finals in six straight seasons from 2011-16, winning three titles (2011, 2015, 2016) during that span and posting a 102-18 record. The Big Red has won nine of the last 10 Eastern Regional crowns, 16 of the last 20 and 24 overall. The men's program has won 14 of the last 16 regional titles and has advanced to the national semifinals for 15 consecutive years. His 1992 and 2005 squads won USPA national titles and 12 other squads finished as the national runner-up.
Eldredge has the distinction of coaching his wife Karen ‘90, and both daughters (Kailey ‘14 and Emma ’17) to national championships. The Eldredge women are not only the first mother/daughter combination to hold the title, but the first mother/daughter/daughter combination. The 2011 Big Red women, including his daughter Kailey, posted the only unbeaten season of his career with a 21-0 campaign capped by a national championship.
Playing Career
Eldredge was a three-year captain and four-year starter as an undergraduate on the polo squad, helping the Big Red into the National Championships each year, finishing as national runner-up twice. Eldredge graduated in 1981 with a degree in Agricultural Engineering. He went on to win four USPA Arena Open Championships in the mid 1990’s while attaining a high of a seven-goal arena handicap and a four-goal outdoor handicap.
Personal
Eldredge and his wife, Karen, who played polo at Cornell, winning titles in 1987 and 1988 and served as an assistant coach for the women's team for 23 seasons, have two daughters who both played for the Big Red. His father, Halsey, played polo at Cornell in the mid-40s, while his brother, Charles, was captain of the Cornell team from 1973-77.
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Watch Coach Eldredge on the Sidelines
* Updated September 2018
