Set to begin her third season as MSU Denver's head women's soccer coach, Tracy Chao led the 2018 Roadrunners back into the national rankings for the first time since 2015, peaking as high as No. 7, and the team eventually recorded its best season since 2014 by going 10-7-1 overall. Chao became Metropolitan State University of Denver's head coach in 2017 after spending the previous five seasons at the Division I College of Charleston. Chao led the Roadrunners to a tie for fourth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at 8-5 in 2018. Forward Reigna Banks earned RMAC co-player of the year as well as all-region first team recognition, while forward Gabriella Gamboa earned All-RMAC second team. The Roadrunners made the RMAC tournament for the second straight year, making a first-round exit. In her first season, Chao led the team to an 8-9-0 overall record and a RMAC record of 7-5, good for fifth in the league. Banks and midfielder Elise Boisnard both earned All-RMAC first team recognition, while goalkeeper Erica Torres made the All-RMAC second team. Previously, Chao joined the College of Charleston staff as an assistant coach in 2012 and was named associate head coach in 2015. At College of Charleston, Chao participated in numerous activities including coordinating recruiting, travel and budgetary responsibilities, equipment management, and operations. During her tenure, four student-athletes were named all-conference and four were named academic all-conference. The Cougars set a school record with a nine-game winning streak in 2016. The Cougars also qualified for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.   Prior to joining the College of Charleston staff, Chao served as the assistant women's soccer coach at Colorado.  During her tenure in Boulder, Chao had a wide range of duties and saw the program qualify three times for the Big 12 Tournament, including an NCAA Tournament appearance, and assisted with a program that produced multiple all-conference players and eventual draft picks. While at Colorado, Chao served as the head coach of the Colorado Force of the United Soccer League's W-League, the longest standing and highest level of women's soccer leagues in North America. Chao was also the long-time head coach of the Colorado Storm Soccer Association, a member of Colorado Youth Soccer, United States Youth Soccer and Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). From 2005 through 2008, Chao was the top assistant coach at Northern Colorado. Chao previously worked at Wake Forest, her alma mater, as an assistant to the senior women's administrator and director of women's basketball operations. In these roles, Chao maintained and refined recruiting and telephone logs for each of the coaches as well as performing upkeep of ACC and NCAA regulations.  Chao played at Wake Forest as a defender and goalkeeper and earned four trips to the NCAA Tournament with a Sweet 16 appearance in 1999. During the 2000 season she was named to Soccer America's team of the week and was named Wake Forest's most valuable player as she was 9-8-2 with three shutouts, a 1.41 goals-against average, and a .746 save percentage. Later, Chao played for the Fort Collins Force and the Mile High Edge, both W-League teams.  Chao holds a United States Soccer Federation "B" Coaching License and National Soccer Coaches Association of America State Diploma and State Goalkeeping Diploma. She earned her bachelor's degree from Wake Forest in sociology, and her master's degree from Northern Colorado in sport & exercise science, sport administration.