Head Track/Field & Cross-Country Coach Adam Kiesler Earns Contract Extension

6/3/2022 9:53:00 AM | Women's Track and Field

Under Kiesler’s leadership, Racer women’s track & field won both the OVC indoor and outdoor championships in 2022, for the first time since 1992

The Murray State University Board of Regents approved a contract extension for Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Adam Kiesler that will take him through 2026.

Kiesler, who just completed his fifth season as head coach (12^th overall at Murray State), has guided the Racer program to great accomplishments through excellent recruiting and player development.

After winning the 2022 Ohio Valley Indoor Championship in February, Murray State's first since 1992, Kielser's Racers also won the OVC Outdoor Championship (May 11-13, 2022) hosted by Murray State. The 2022 outdoor championship comes on the heels of winning the OVC outdoor title in 2019, MSU's first since 1992. Kielser was named OVC Coach of the Year after all three championships (2019 Outdoors, 2022 Indoors & 2022 Outdoors).

In the OVC indoor event in Birmingham, the Racers won four titles with Rachel Hagans taking the long jump and 60m events, while Pauly Jenna won the high jump and Dani Wright won the mile run. MSU had 10 additional finishes of second or third place and 22 instances of MSU student-athletes setting personal indoor records. Kiesler's OVC Coach of the Year honor was the first at Murray State since Coach Stan Narewski in 1992. Murray State's four OVC indoor championships have come in 1989, 1990, 1992 and 2022.

At the OVC outdoor championship, the Racers pushed to the team title on the strength of five event championships, including Hagans (long jump & 100m), Pauly (Heptathlon) and Amirr Evans (800m). The Racers also won the 4x100 relay championship with a team of Hannah Malone, Teliyah James, Jakayla McSwain and Hagans. The Racers had 15 finishes of second or third place and set 32 outdoor PR's, with Hagans setting the OVC Championship long jump record. Kiesler became the first MSU winner of the OVC Outdoor Coach of the Year award since Jenny Severns in 2013.

Rachel Hagans, Kiesler's second student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA Finals hosted in Eugene Oregon, is set to compete in the long jump (June 9). In 2012, as an assistant coach, Kiesler guided Alexis Love to the NCAA Finals in the 100m event.

About Murray State Athletics
Located in Murray, Kentucky, the athletics department of Murray State University is a NCAA Division I member and plays in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Racers have 15 programs including men's teams for baseball, basketball, cross country, football and golf and women's teams for basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball, as well as a mixed gender rifle team. Currently a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Racers join the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1, 2022. The Racers will become a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023.