Lyle Weese (center) named Big Sky's top track coach in 2024
Photo by: Garrett Becker
Lyle Weese Earns 2024 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track & Field Men's Coach of the Year Honors
5/23/2024 12:01:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
Former Bobcat star joins his predecessor as MSU's conference coach of the year award winners
BOZEMAN, Montana – Lyle Weese, Montana State's Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, became the second coach in Bobcat history to earn Big Sky Conference Outdoor Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year honors on Thursday, the league announced.
Weese earned the award on the strength of Montana State's second-ever outdoor conference championship, which his team won in thrilling fashion in Bozeman. The Bobcats clipped No. 11 Northern Arizona in the final event of this year's conference outdoor meet at the Bobcat Track and Field Complex, the 4 x 400 meter relay, to capture the crown. MSU finished with 186 points to the Lumberjacks' 185.
Montana State's sixth-year head coach becomes the first MSU graduate to earn the honor, joining his former coach and immediate predecessor Dale Kennedy (2005) as Bobcat coaches on the Big Sky Coach of the Year list. Kennedy also won women's outdoor honors in 2003 and indoor honors in 1983 and 2001.
The Dillon product completes his 10th season mentoring the program's distance runners in 2023-24, as well. Weese directed the MSU men's teams to top three finishes in nine of 10 possible championship appearances, including four runner-up finishes, before breaking through with this year's championship. The MSU women's squad totals eight top-three finishes, including five runner-up showings. Under his direction six Bobcat individuals earned a total of 12 All-America honors, while MSU has claimed 52 individual Big Sky Championships and three relay titles.
Before leading the MSU track and field program to such rare achievements, Weese racked plenty of those up as a Bobcat student-athlete himself. He was a four-time All-America and three-time Big Sky Champion as a distance runner in the Blue and Gold.
This weekend, Weese leads a school-record contingent of 23 student-athletes into competition at the NCAA Championships First Round meet at Fayetteville, Arkansas.
#GoCatsGo
Weese earned the award on the strength of Montana State's second-ever outdoor conference championship, which his team won in thrilling fashion in Bozeman. The Bobcats clipped No. 11 Northern Arizona in the final event of this year's conference outdoor meet at the Bobcat Track and Field Complex, the 4 x 400 meter relay, to capture the crown. MSU finished with 186 points to the Lumberjacks' 185.
Montana State's sixth-year head coach becomes the first MSU graduate to earn the honor, joining his former coach and immediate predecessor Dale Kennedy (2005) as Bobcat coaches on the Big Sky Coach of the Year list. Kennedy also won women's outdoor honors in 2003 and indoor honors in 1983 and 2001.
The Dillon product completes his 10th season mentoring the program's distance runners in 2023-24, as well. Weese directed the MSU men's teams to top three finishes in nine of 10 possible championship appearances, including four runner-up finishes, before breaking through with this year's championship. The MSU women's squad totals eight top-three finishes, including five runner-up showings. Under his direction six Bobcat individuals earned a total of 12 All-America honors, while MSU has claimed 52 individual Big Sky Championships and three relay titles.
Before leading the MSU track and field program to such rare achievements, Weese racked plenty of those up as a Bobcat student-athlete himself. He was a four-time All-America and three-time Big Sky Champion as a distance runner in the Blue and Gold.
This weekend, Weese leads a school-record contingent of 23 student-athletes into competition at the NCAA Championships First Round meet at Fayetteville, Arkansas.
#GoCatsGo
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