Jon-Michael Brandt enters his third year as the assistant distance coach for Illinois State track & field and cross country.

Brandt has played an integral part of developing the distance squad into a powerhouse. During the 2019-20 indoor track & field season he coached four individual MVC Champions and one relay to an MVC title and guided 10 student-athletes to 17 All-MVC accolades. Grace Beattie (5,000m), Rachel Hickey (mile/distance medley relay), Hattie Plumb (800m/distance medley relay) and Jack Anstey (800m) all took home Valley titles, while Audrey Harrod, Annie Moore, Kimathi Johnson, Nick Swartzendruber, Jake Gillum and Kevin Koski earned all-conference honors in either individual events, as a member of a relay or both.

Beattie, who placed second in the 5,000m in 2019, won her first Valley indoor title with a time of 16:50.96 and went on to compete in the mile, where she scored two points with a seventh-place finish, and the 3,000m. Plumb's 800m title was her second-straight indoor championship and third 800m title overall in her career. She also helped the distance medley relay win the gold and anchored the third-place finishing 4x400m relay. Rounding out the women's distance group Valley Champs was Hickey, whose win in the mile was her first ever MVC individual title. She also anchored the distance medley relay that weekend, walking away with two gold medals.

Harrod and Moore both earned gold medals and All-MVC honors as members of the MVC Champion distance medley relay team, while Harrod also earned her first individual All-Valley accolade, placing third in the 800m.

On the men's side, Anstey won the MVC 800m title and helped the men's distance medley relay to a second-place finish. With a time of 1:52.14, Anstey won his second-consecutive 800m title, winning the outdoor title in the event in 2019. Anstey's win in the 800m marked his fourth-straight Valley title in an individual event.

Johnson, Gillum and Swartzendruber joined Anstey on the Redbirds' second-place finishing distance medley relay team to earn All-Valley honors, while Johnson also finished third in the mile to reach the podium individually.

During the 2019 cross country season Brandt led Hickey to an eighth-place finish at the Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships for the second-consecutive year. On the men's side, Matt Blanco posted an All-Valley Honorable Mention performance, placing 11th overall under Brandt's guidance.

Brandt played a large part in Hickey's success at both the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships and the U20 PanAmerican Games in 2019. Hickey, who had redshirted her first collegiate outdoor season, recovered from an injury just in time to compete at the USATF U20 Championships, qualifying for the meet in the 1,500m based on her 1,000m time from the indoor campaign. 

Having never competed in the 1,500-meter, Hickey ran to an impressive 4:30.93 to finish second and qualify for the U20 PanAmerican Games. She went onto earn the silver in the 1,500m at PanAms with a personal-best time of 4:26.83 that currently sits No. 5 all-time in ISU track & field history.

During her first collegiate indoor campaign, Brandt coached Hickey to the school record in the 1,000m at 2:49.01. Beyond the track, Hickey has earned All-MVC honors twice in her career and was named the recipient of the MVC's prestigious Elite 17 Award in 2019.

Brandt has helped Jack Anstey reach multiple milestones throughout the 2019 track & field season. During the 2019 indoor campaign, Anstey ran only the second sub-four minute mile in Illinois State track & field history at the Iowa State Classic. His time of 3:59.66 ranks second all-time in Illinois State history, behind only 2002 NCAA Indoor Champion Christian Goy.

During outdoor, Brandt coached Anstey to a First Team All-American finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 1,500-meter run. Anstey, who finished seventh with a time of 3:42.73, was the first non-field athlete to earn First Team All-America honors since 2000 when Goy also finished in the top-8 in the 1,500-meters.

In addition to becoming an All-American, Anstey also set the ISU school record in the 1,500-meters at the NCAA West Prelims, running a time of 3:41.81 to punch his ticket for the NCAA Championships.

Brandt also helped four other distance and mid-distance runners to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims in 2019, including: Kimathi Johnson (800-meters), Kyle Mattes (10,000-meters), Grace Beattie (3,000-meter steeplechase) and Hattie Plumb (800-meters). 

In 2018, Brandt helped the Redbirds claim three Missouri Valley Conference titles, including an Indoor Championship sweep (ISU’s first since 1999) and an outdoor women’s Valley title. Brandt helped his student-athletes clinch two individual MVC Championships and nine All-Valley performances. He also helped three Redbirds’ qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round.

Among the two individual title winners was J.D. LaFayette, who Brandt helped guide to his second indoor 800-meter MVC title, and his first since 2016. With the victory, LaFayette was also named the MVC’s Elite 17 Award winner for the second time of his career. He would go on to receive CoSIDA Academic All-American Second-Team honors, and finished his career as a three-time Academic All-American.

During the outdoor season, the Redbirds’ 3,000-meter steeplechase runners played an integral role in helping the Redbird women claim the Valley crown, as Grace Beattie and Lindsey Lewis both received all-conference honors, placing second and third, respectively. Beattie also went on to compete at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, as her qualifying time of 10:19.77 ranks fifth all-time in ISU history.

Brandt helped coach Jack Anstey and Kyle Mattes to outstanding seasons as well, as they both qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round in their respective events.

Anstey had arguably the best track and field season of his young career. Not only was he crowned the 2018 Valley 1,500-meter Champion, but he advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Anstey also notched the second-fastest 1,500-meter time in Illinois State history (3:43.22), and now sits second only to MVC Hall-of-Famer Christian Goy.

Mattes had a strong junior track and field season, earning All-Valley honors in both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs and competing in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, but had an even better cross country campaign. In 2017, Brandt assisted Mattes in becoming the first Redbird to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in 15 years.

Brandt helped guide Mattes through a spectacular 2017 cross country season, which included earning All-Valley honors for the third time in as many years and receiving All-Region accolades after a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional. His spectacular individual performances fueled the rest of the Redbird men’s team, who placed third in the Valley and 12th in the region in 2017. At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Brandt helped coach Mattes to a 99th-place finish and the fourth-fastest 10K time in Redbird cross country history (30:41.93).

Brandt joined the Redbird staff in 2017 after spending three years as a volunteer assistant coach at Iowa, where he excelled as a student-athlete as well. During his coaching career at Iowa, Brandt assisted in mentoring top talent, including Kevin Lewis, who was a 2015 indoor national qualifier and Second-Team All-American, along with three NCAA Outdoor Championship qualifiers. Brandt helped guide his athletes to seven indoor and seven outdoor top-10 marks on the Iowa record boards, as well as three school records. He is also a USA Track and Field Level I certified coach.

Before joining the Hawkeye staff, Brandt was an integral member of the Iowa Track and Field and Cross Country program as a student-athlete. A six-time letter winner for the Hawkeyes, Brandt competed in the cross country circuit and in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs on the track. In 2012, he was named the team’s Most Outstanding Cross Country Runner before being a team captain for both programs in 2014 during his senior season.

Brandt graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in interdepartmental studies in 2014. A native of Winona, Minnesota, Brandt resides in Normal, Illinois, with his wife, Laura, and daughter, Edith.