Track And Field Director Position to be Named After Longtime Coach Dale Kennedy
2/16/2019 6:41:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field
Montana State University and Bobcat Athletics announced today a $1 million gift in support of the MSU track and field program in honor of former head coach Dale Kennedy. In honor of this gift, the head track and field coaching position will formally be named the Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field/Cross Country, the first endowed coaching position in a Big Sky Conference athletic department
BOZEMAN – Montana State University and Bobcat Athletics announced today a $1 million gift in support of the MSU track and field program in honor of former head coach Dale Kennedy. In honor of this gift, the head track and field coaching position will formally be named the Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field/Cross Country, the first endowed coaching position in a Big Sky Conference athletic department.
The anonymous gift will provide necessary endowment resources to the track and field and cross-country programs to help their students excel in the classroom and in competition.
"We are grateful for this transformational gift to the track and field and cross country programs," said Leon Costello, Montana State Director of Athletics. "This endowment will provide funding to meet the strategic initiatives of the program and enhance the experience for its student-athletes. It is fitting it will bear the name of Dale Kennedy."
Dale Kennedy, who was part of the Montana State track and field and cross-country programs for almost four decades, announced his retirement as the Bobcats' head coach on June 18, 2018. Originally hired by legendary MSU Women's Athletic Director Ginny Hunt in 1981, Kennedy built a squad that contended on an annual basis at Big Sky meets.
Kennedy's first championship team was the women's 1983 indoor track team, which captured the Mountain West Conference crown. His teams would eventually win nine conference championships between cross country and track and field, with most coming in the Big Sky Conference as the league began to sponsor the sports.
"For me it was living out a dream," Kennedy said. "It was all I could have really hoped that I could do with my career. I wanted to go somewhere, stay put and continue to develop a program. Along with that, the program developed me. It was a two-way street. It's been really an honor to have been at Montana State and to have had this opportunity."
Kennedy oversaw 115 individual conference champions during the outdoor season and had 92 student-athletes claim gold medals throughout the indoor season.
MSU's success continued at the turn of the century, with 13 Bobcat men qualifying to compete at an NCAA indoor or outdoor championship meet since 2000. Ten women also made it to the national stage during that time, including two-time national champion pole vaulter Ellie Rudy, who competed for the Bobcats while Kennedy was in charge of the program.
One of his pupils was current Bobcat head coach Lyle Weese. The Dillon, Montana, native earned All-American status on four occasions during his career for the Bobcats from 1998 to 2003. Weese returned to Bozeman in 2009 as a volunteer assistant coach. He took over leading the distance events at Montana State in 2014 before assuming head coaching duties in the fall of 2018.
"I am honored to have my title as the director of the Bobcat track and field and cross country program associated with coach Kennedy," said Weese, the Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field/Cross Country. "I wouldn't be in this position without all of the things coach Kennedy did for me. He played a significant role in helping me become who I am today and helped teach me how to become a coach. He's played a significant role in the lives of so many Bobcats and I hope to replicate the success he had and build upon that foundation."
Under Kennedy's guidance, Montana State remained competitive year-in and year-out at the conference level.
Combining his 37 indoor and outdoor seasons in charge of the MSU women's track and field program, Kennedy's teams completed top-three showings at the Big Sky meet 22 times. His men's teams were equally impressive. Leading the men's squad for 18 years and a combined 36 indoor and outdoor seasons, Kennedy's teams placed among the top three in the standings 14 times.
Kennedy had a lasting impact on not only the Bobcat running programs and its student-athletes, but also on Montana State University and the community of Bozeman. Kennedy's teams were well-regarded within the Athletics department for their work in the classroom and the amount of time the team spent volunteering. His squads regularly topped the department's team GPA and had multiple U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team selections yearly.
The Montana State track and field teams earned nine College Sports Information Directors Association Academic All-America honors under Kennedy's tutelage and 21 student-athletes were selected as MSU's Big Sky Scholar Athletes of the Year.
"You go into this whole thing, especially after the first 10 years of my career, and I realized how important it is to be a difference maker," Kennedy said. "Not just in terms of a student-athlete's physical development, but their whole-person development. It became an important part of my philosophy as I progressed during my career. As a result, I really hope I made a difference in their lives."
The anonymous gift was announced at the celebration for the career of coach Kennedy hosted by the Montana State Bobcat Club on Saturday, Feb. 16, in Inspiration Hall, located on the second floor of MSU's Norm Asbjornson Hall.
The anonymous gift will provide necessary endowment resources to the track and field and cross-country programs to help their students excel in the classroom and in competition.
"We are grateful for this transformational gift to the track and field and cross country programs," said Leon Costello, Montana State Director of Athletics. "This endowment will provide funding to meet the strategic initiatives of the program and enhance the experience for its student-athletes. It is fitting it will bear the name of Dale Kennedy."
Dale Kennedy, who was part of the Montana State track and field and cross-country programs for almost four decades, announced his retirement as the Bobcats' head coach on June 18, 2018. Originally hired by legendary MSU Women's Athletic Director Ginny Hunt in 1981, Kennedy built a squad that contended on an annual basis at Big Sky meets.
Kennedy's first championship team was the women's 1983 indoor track team, which captured the Mountain West Conference crown. His teams would eventually win nine conference championships between cross country and track and field, with most coming in the Big Sky Conference as the league began to sponsor the sports.
"For me it was living out a dream," Kennedy said. "It was all I could have really hoped that I could do with my career. I wanted to go somewhere, stay put and continue to develop a program. Along with that, the program developed me. It was a two-way street. It's been really an honor to have been at Montana State and to have had this opportunity."
Kennedy oversaw 115 individual conference champions during the outdoor season and had 92 student-athletes claim gold medals throughout the indoor season.
MSU's success continued at the turn of the century, with 13 Bobcat men qualifying to compete at an NCAA indoor or outdoor championship meet since 2000. Ten women also made it to the national stage during that time, including two-time national champion pole vaulter Ellie Rudy, who competed for the Bobcats while Kennedy was in charge of the program.
One of his pupils was current Bobcat head coach Lyle Weese. The Dillon, Montana, native earned All-American status on four occasions during his career for the Bobcats from 1998 to 2003. Weese returned to Bozeman in 2009 as a volunteer assistant coach. He took over leading the distance events at Montana State in 2014 before assuming head coaching duties in the fall of 2018.
"I am honored to have my title as the director of the Bobcat track and field and cross country program associated with coach Kennedy," said Weese, the Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field/Cross Country. "I wouldn't be in this position without all of the things coach Kennedy did for me. He played a significant role in helping me become who I am today and helped teach me how to become a coach. He's played a significant role in the lives of so many Bobcats and I hope to replicate the success he had and build upon that foundation."
Under Kennedy's guidance, Montana State remained competitive year-in and year-out at the conference level.
Combining his 37 indoor and outdoor seasons in charge of the MSU women's track and field program, Kennedy's teams completed top-three showings at the Big Sky meet 22 times. His men's teams were equally impressive. Leading the men's squad for 18 years and a combined 36 indoor and outdoor seasons, Kennedy's teams placed among the top three in the standings 14 times.
Kennedy had a lasting impact on not only the Bobcat running programs and its student-athletes, but also on Montana State University and the community of Bozeman. Kennedy's teams were well-regarded within the Athletics department for their work in the classroom and the amount of time the team spent volunteering. His squads regularly topped the department's team GPA and had multiple U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team selections yearly.
The Montana State track and field teams earned nine College Sports Information Directors Association Academic All-America honors under Kennedy's tutelage and 21 student-athletes were selected as MSU's Big Sky Scholar Athletes of the Year.
"You go into this whole thing, especially after the first 10 years of my career, and I realized how important it is to be a difference maker," Kennedy said. "Not just in terms of a student-athlete's physical development, but their whole-person development. It became an important part of my philosophy as I progressed during my career. As a result, I really hope I made a difference in their lives."
The anonymous gift was announced at the celebration for the career of coach Kennedy hosted by the Montana State Bobcat Club on Saturday, Feb. 16, in Inspiration Hall, located on the second floor of MSU's Norm Asbjornson Hall.
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