Contact Information for Coach Brandt
Office phone: 419-358-3898
Email: brandtk@bluffton.edu
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Karen Brandt, who coached the Bloomsburg (Pa.) University women’s cross country team to the NCAA Division II national championship meet in 2007, has been named as Bluffton University’s new head coach of men’s and women’s cross country and track and field. |
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Brandt, who earned a master’s degree in American studies from the Pennsylvania State University Capital College, Harrisburg, in 1997, coached at Bloomsburg from 1999-2009. Her 2007 women’s cross country team finished 15th in the national meet, capping a season in which the squad was champion of both the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and the NCAA Division II East Region, and Brandt was conference and regional coach of the year. That team included the first female cross country all-American in school history.
During her decade at Bloomsburg, the Everett, Pa., resident coached three other all-Americans, two in the women’s 10,000-meter run and one, two-time honoree in men’s cross country; four national cross country championship qualifiers; eight female qualifiers for the national track and field championship; eight PSAC track champions; and numerous all-PSAC and all-region cross country runners, all-conference track athletes, and all-academic individuals and teams honored by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. |
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After leaving Bloomsburg, Brandt coached at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne from 2009-10 and, last year, was an English and mathematics teacher in a residential program for girls in Warfordsburg, Pa. Her year-plus at Indiana Tech produced 35 NAIA national qualifying performances and seven all-American finishes in two indoor track seasons; 17 national qualifiers and seven all-Americans in one outdoor track season; and one male national qualifier in one cross country season.
A five-time qualifier for the Boston Marathon, Brandt has also coached track and cross country at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., from 1998-99, and at Lower Dauphin High School in Hummelstown, Pa., from 1991-97. From 1989-98, she taught English and public speaking at Elizabethtown (Pa.) Area High School.
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Contact info for Coach Hill
Office phone: 419-358-3031
E-mail: hillj@bluffton.edu
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Jordan Hill is currently in her third season at Bluffton University as the graduate assistant for the cross country and track and field team.
Hill was a four-year letter winner for NCAA Division III Baldwin-Wallace College, competing in the 55m, 300m, 4x200 and 4x400 indoors and the 100m, 200m, 4x100 and 4x400 outdoors. She earned All-Ohio Athletic Confference and All-Ohio honors for both the indoor and outdoor seasons multiple times and helped the Yellow Jackets capture three OAC titles and three All-Ohio championships in four years. In the spring of 2009, Hill received the Paul “Sparky” Adams Most Outstanding Female Athlete award and was named the B-W Most Outstanding Sprinter.
In May 2009, Hill graduated with a B.A. in Communications and minors in public relations and marketing, and is currently pursing her master’s degree in organizational management at Bluffton University.
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Contact info for Coach Jim Brandt
Office phone: 419-358-3031
E-mail: brandtj@bluffton.edu
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James Brandt will be coaching alongside his wife, Karen Brandt, the recently-named head cross country and track and field coach at Bluffton University. During their coaching tenure at Division II Bloomsburg University (Bloomsburg, PA), the Brandts saw much success with the distance-based program of the Huskies. Their achievements included four All-American athletes; the first women’s team to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference cross country championship, the NCAA East Region championship, and to earn a team berth at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship.
Prior to their time at Bloomsburg University, the Brandts coached at Lower Dauphin High School (Hummelstown, PA) where they rebuilt their teams to cross country division champions and saw individuals advance to state podium positions in both track and cross country.
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The Brandts are also currently coaching two post-collegiate athletes who started running for them as 9th graders at Lower Dauphin. Both are competing at the marathon distance with one qualified for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials. She accomplished this goal by running 2:45 in only her second marathon. As part of her training plan, she ran 57:54 in the Army Ten Miler.
Both Karen and Jim have set their sights on developing the Bluffton University cross country and track and field teams into a perennial power in the HCAC. Additionally, they will work to motivate their student-athletes toward top academic success as well. |
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Travis Lepley is currently in his ninth season as the throws coach for the Bluffton track team. He has a level one certification from USA Track & Field. Lepley returned as a coach after spending four years as a member of the Bluffton track and field program as well as four-year player on the football team. A 2003 graduate of Bluffton University, majoring in mathematics with an integrated math license, Lepley served as the Student Senate President for the 2002-03 school year. Lepley was selected as a tri-captain of the 2003 track team, was a member of the 2000 HCAC championship football team and was named honorable mention All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2001 and 2002 as a center on the offensive line. |
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Lepley is currently teaching mathematics at Lima Perry High School where he serves as an assistant coach for the Perry varsity football team. He resides in Lima with his wife, Kelly, a Bluffton graduate who is currently the varsity volleyball coach at Columbus Grove High School. |
