NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Jeff Bovee announced the hiring of Jon-Michael Brandt as the assistant distance coach Friday. Brandt joins the Redbird staff after spending the last three years as a volunteer assistant coach at Iowa, where he previously excelled as a student-athlete as well.
Brandt brings three years of Division I coaching experience with him to Illinois State. While his three years were all spent at Iowa, Brandt was exposed to a wide range of experiences and coaching styles, having learned under three different distance coaches. This, combined with his experience in Division I as both a coach and a student-athlete, made Brandt the perfect fit.
"Coach Brandt has proven himself to be very respected and loyal to several very good coaching mentors in our sport," said Coach Bovee. "Larry Wieczorek, Layne Anderson, and Randy Hasenbank are all excellent coaches, and he has been able to work with each of them as a student-athlete and a volunteer coach at Iowa over an eight-year span."
Brandt is a USA Track and Field Level I certified coach. During his coaching career at Iowa, he 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 also helped guide his athletes to seven indoor and seven outdoor top-10 marks on the Iowa record boards as well as three school records.
"This is an amazing opportunity to work with Coach Bovee and his staff," Brandt said. "I can tell the entire staff has a vast amount of pride for both the program and school. I am thrilled to be a part of this team and help the program achieve the high goals that Coach Bovee has set for it."
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.
"Because of his experience, Coach Brandt will be able to share his knowledge as a Division I distance runner and coach in the Big Ten with our student-athletes here at Illinois State," Bovee said. "His skill-set is a very good fit with our staff and we look forward to continuing to build a program that regularly contends for Valley championships and sends student-athletes to the NCAA Championships."
As a student-athlete, Brandt was involved off of the track as well, serving as the cross country team's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative during 2013-14. He graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in interdepartmental studies in 2014.
"I would personally like to thank all of my mentors for their support and guidance throughout the last three years. I am very grateful for them and the assistance they have provided," said Brandt. "I would also like to thank my wife, Laura, for standing next to me and for all her support along this journey. We are delighted to join the Redbird family."
With the addition of Brandt, the Redbirds complete their coaching staff for the 2017-18 campaign in preparation for the upcoming season.
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