| WyomingAthletics.com | WEB |
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Randy Cole enters his fifth season with the Wyoming track and field program after completing his fourth season at the helm of the cross country program. During this time, the Wyoming harriers have improved into the upper half of the MWC, and have provided numerous individual highlights. Among those highlights includes having the opportunity to accompany sophomore Mark Korir to the 2006 NCAA National Cross Country Championships where Korir became the first UW All-American in 11 years. In Cole's first cross country season, he was named the 2004 Women's Mountain West Coach of the Year. So far he has coached two National Qualifiers, three All-Mountain Region performers, four All-MWC performers and one All-American in the hill and dale sport. As the distance coach for the UW track and field program, Cole has used his knowledge to coach one All-American, two National Qualifiers, four Regional Qualifiers, four Conference Champions, 12 All-Conference performers, two school record holders and 29 top five All-Time performers. Before accepting his current position at Wyoming, Cole guided the Kansas State cross country teams from 1997-2003. He led the Wildcats women's cross country program to three straight regional championships (1998, 1999, 2000) and a Big 12 Conference championship in 1998, the first ever in program history. He was named Big 12 Conference Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1998 and was named the Midwest Region Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year three of his last four seasons at Kansas State. In Coles' six years with the KSU cross country program, he coached 11 All-Americans, 23 All-Midwest Region honorees and 17 Big 12 All-Conference performers. On the track, Cole guided ten distance runners to All-America honors, six to indoor Big 12 individual titles and five toward outdoor Big 12 individual titles. Also, eight distance school records were established during his time at KSU. Before his tenure at Kansas State, he served as the head cross country coach at Barton County Community College in Barton, Kan. from 1985-1997. While at Barton County he took control of the track and field program in 1991 and held that position until 1997. He was named National Junior College Athletic Association Cross Country Coach of the Year ten times and the Region VI Coach of the Year 12 times. In March of 2002, he was inducted into the NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame. Cole's leadership took the Barton County cross country and track and field programs to national dominance. The women's team captured four national titles in cross country, eight titles in outdoor track and field and seven indoor track and field titles. His men's program had 23 top-five national finishes under his direction. Cole's resume speaks volumes for his knowledge of track and field, and he knows what it takes to build a dominant distance program. The foundation of his success can be seen when looking at his accomplishments as a student-athlete. He was an intricate part of a Cal Poly program that won NCAA Division II national championships in cross country in 1978 and 1979, and track and field titles in 1979 and 1980. Cole is USATF Level II certified in endurance events and is the NCAA Women's Mountain Region cross country representative. |
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