Kevin Hadsell Biography

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Kevin Hadsell Biography

Courtesy: Toledo Athletics
Release: 08/23/2007

Kevin Hadsell begins his ninth year as head coach of the men[apos]s and women[apos]s cross country programs, and his fourth year as the Director of the Men[apos]s and Women[apos]s Track and Field/XC programs at the University of Toledo. Over the last 14 years, Coach Hadsell has established himself as one of the top, most sought-after coaches in the country. His dedication to recruiting, development of his runners and motivating his athletes to great heights in both their academic and athletic careers is unmatched.

In 1998, Hadsell was hired to be the head cross country coach for a men[apos]s and women[apos]s program that had perennially been at the bottom of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and NCAA Division I regional and national rankings. The women[apos]s program had finished last in the MAC 13 of 18 years and the men[apos]s program had never finished in the top-half of the conference in over 50 years of competition. In just a short time, Hadsell has turned the women[apos]s program into one of the top cross country and distance programs in the country. In 2003, Hadsell was named Director of Track and Field and Cross Country and the women[apos]s track and field program has enjoyed immediate improvement under his leadership.

In the last six years, Coach Hadsell[apos]s athletes have won three (3) MAC Runner of the Year selections in cross country and two (2) MAC Runner-up as well as four (4) MAC Athletes of the Year in track and field. All totaled, between cross country and track, Coach Hadsell has coached nineteen (19) MAC Champions and fifteen (15) MAC runner-up finishers. His athletes have been designated All-MAC thirty-eight times (38). In addition, over the same time period, he has had seven (7) different women represent the University of Toledo at the NCAA Championships in cross country or distance events. His total number of different women who have hit the regional or provisional standards on the track, in the distance events, over his career at Toledo is nine (9) which is more than double the next best MAC school over that same time. Coach Hadsell[apos]s athletes now hold three (3) all-time MAC Records (Indoor: 3000m, 5000m; Outdoor: 3000mSC) and seven (7) all-time MAC Meet Records (Cross Country: Individual; Indoor: Mile, 3000m, 5000m, Long Jump; Outdoor: 3000mSC, 5000m). Coach Hadsell has had three (3) different athletes names All-American a total of five (5) times.

In 2005-06, the Rockets were MAC Runner-up in cross country and backed that up with an 8th place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship which was the highest for any MAC program. During the indoor track season, the team improved to 6th place at the Indoor MAC Championships and had an All-American in the long jump with junior April Williams. Outdoors, the Rockets tied MAC Champion Akron for 13th place at the NCAA Mid-East Regional Championships which was the best for any MAC program. At the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Rockets were represented by April Williams in the long jump and triple jump and Ebba Stenback in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Stenback finished 8th in that event and was named All-American. Toledo was the only MAC program to be represented at all three NCAA Championships during the 2005-06 school year.

In 2003 Coach Hadsell led three-time All-American, Briana Shook, to the USA Track and Field Championship and a #9 World Ranking in the 3000-meter steeplechase with her win at the World Championship Trials in Palo Alto, CA. Shook the went on in 2004 to be the NCAA Runner-up in the event and to set the new, and current, American Record in the event with her 9:29.32 clocking in Belgium. Shook set a new out-of-season all-time collegiate record as well. She finished the 2004 season as the #4 ranked runner in the World. Her time of 9:29.32 is also the 6th fastest time ever recorded in World history.

The 2001 and 2002 cross country seasons have seen the program reach new and unprecedented heights. In 2001 the women[apos]s team won their first-ever Mid-American Conference Championship and finished fourth at the NCAA Great Lakes Region championship. The team[apos]s MAC title came only three years after having finished last among 13 schools in Hadsell[apos]s first season as the head coach. The team[apos]s fourth-place finish at the 2001 NCAA Regionals also earned them a national ranking of No.28 in the final NCAA Division I women[apos]s cross country coaches[apos] poll and a No.28 ranking in the NCAA Division I women[apos]s national computer rankings as well. In 2002, the Rockets won their second-straight MAC Championship and finished the regular season as the 26th-ranked team in the NCAA, narrowly missing a bid to the NCAA Championships as a team. In 2003, a rebuilding year, the Rockets were the MAC Runner-up in cross country and then went on to finish 7th at the NCAA Regionals and avenged their loss to Ball State as they were, once again, the top MAC school.

The women[apos]s program has only five losses to another MAC school at the NCAA Regionals since 1999. Since Hadsell[apos]s arrival, the Rockets have posted a 112-37 (.752) record in championship meets (MAC, NCAA Regional) vs. other MAC schools including an amazing 105-10 (.913) since the 2000 NCAA Regional. Over the last six years, the Rockets have produced more All-NCAA Region selections (11) than any other MAC Program. In 2002, Briana Shook became the first MAC female to ever win the NCAA Regional Championship and be named NCAA Regional Runner of the Year. Four of the last six year, the Rockets were the top MAC program at the NCAA Great Lakes Cross Country Regional.

For his efforts at building the program, Hadsell was named the 2001 and the 2002 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year and the 2001 and 2002 Ohio Collegiate Coach of the Year. The men[apos]s program had their highest-ever finish at the NCAA Regionals with their 18th-place finish and their first-ever wins over Ohio University, Ball State and Bowling Green. In addition, the 2002 men[apos]s team finished 5th at the All-Ohio Championships, their highest-ever finish.

In addition to excelling on the cross country course and on the track, the Rockets have enjoyed even greater success in the classroom. The women[apos]s program has been named to the Academic Team All-America list "with distinction" for the last three years. In 2001-02, the women[apos]s team boasts an amazing 3.69 GPA which is the third highest in the country. It is the highest ranking ever by a Mid-American Conference school. Of the two schools ranked higher than the Rockets academically in 2001, neither of them were ranked higher than the Rockets athletically.

In addition, five Rocket women have been named to the NCAA Division I Academic All-America team for cross country and track: Briana Shook (2001,2002), Sara Vergote (2001) and Chris Tye (2003), April Williams (2006) and Ebba Stenback (2006). The Rocket women are one of only two Toledo sports teams to ever have a team GPA over 3.60 (a feat they have accomplished four times) and have led the entire athletic department eight of the last twelve semesters.The men[apos]s program has also enjoyed academic success under Hadsell[apos]s leadership. The 2001 men[apos]s team was named to the Academic Team All-America list "with distinction" for the first time in the school[apos]s history. Their team GPA of 3.36 was the 10th highest in the country. The Rocket men have had the highest team GPA of any men[apos]s sport at Toledo three of the last four semesters. The Rocket men have also enjoyed a steady climb up the MAC ladder as they finished 6th in 2003 which is their best-ever finish at the MAC Championships in school history.

Many of Hadsell[apos]s athletes, over the years, have been selected to international competition. In 1996, two of his athletes (Angela Murphy and Catherine Conder) were selected to the World University Games in track and field. In 2000, Katherine Smyth ran for New Zealand at the World Cross Country Championships. In 2003, Abraham Habte ran for Eritrea at the World Cross Country Championships and Briana Shook was selected by USATF to run at the Ekiden Relay Championships for the United States.

Prior to Hadsell[apos]s arrival, he was the assistant coach at Columbia University from 1997-98 and the assistant coach and assistant sports information director at Coastal Carolina University from 1993-97

Coach Hadsell[apos]s Women[apos]s Cross Country Record at Toledo
Year	MAC	NCAA Region	NCAA*
1998	13 of 13	Did Not Compete	--1999	8 of 13	15 of 32	--	47th2000	4 of 13	6 of 31	29	12th2001	1 of 13	4 of 32	28	3rd2002	1 of 13	8 of 31	26	N/A2003	2 of 13	7 of 32	30	N/A2004	5 of 13	11of 32	__	N/A2005	2 of 13	8 of 32	__	47th	

Coach Hadsell[apos]s Men[apos]s Cross Country Record at Toledo
Year	MAC	NCAA Region	NCAA*
1998	12 of 12	Did Not Compete	--1999	12 of 12	Did Not Compete	--2000	12 of 12	28 of 31	--	--2001	11 of 12	20 of 31	--	13th2002	 7 of 12	18 of 31	--	--2003	 6 of 12	19 of 32	--	N/A2004	 9 of 10     Did Not Compete	__2005	 9 of 10     Did Not Compete	__

Coach Hadsell[apos]s Women[apos]s Track and Field Record at Toledo
	Indoor	Outdoor	Indoor	OutdoorYear	MAC	MAC	NCAA	NCAA2004	10 of 13	10 of 13	N/A	20th2005	  10 of 12    12 of 12	N/A	N/A2006	  6 of 12	  9 of 12	13th 	N/A

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