NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State Director of Track & Field/ Cross Country Jeff Bovee announced the hiring of Daniel Stults as the assistant distance coach for the Redbirds on Friday afternoon. Stults joins the ISU staff after spending the previous two seasons as the assistant distance coach for the Bradley track & field and cross country programs. He will replace Jon-Michael Brandt who is stepping away from the profession to spend more time with his family.
"Danny comes to ISU with a wealth of experience with programs that have qualified for the NCAA championships at both Oklahoma State and at Bradley," Bovee said. "He is a proven recruiter and can step right in and work alongside me to help take our distance program to the next level. He is an Illinois native and we can attack recruiting in the state of Illinois and in the Midwest where there is a plethora of distance running talent."
With stints at Bradley and Oklahoma State, Stults brings 11 years of Division I coaching experience to Illinois State and is a USA Track & Field Level I certified coach. Stults also serves as an USTFCCCA executive committee member for NCAA Division I cross country.
"I'm thrilled to join Coach Bovee's staff and the Redbird family," Stults said. "It's an incredible opportunity to work with a program seeing success in every event discipline on a national level. I look forward to helping push the team to greater degrees of achievement and continuing the strong tradition of success at ISU."
During his two-year tenure at Bradley, Stults made an immediate impact guiding the Braves to multiple team championships and individual accomplishments in both cross country and track & field. Bradley's cross country program claimed three Missouri Valley Conference team titles and set a Valley record for lowest points with 17 on the men's side while Stults was on staff. Additionally, Stults helped the Braves' men's cross country team to a runner-up finish at the 2018 NCAA Midwest Regional, qualifying the team for their first ever NCAA Cross Country Championship where they placed 24th as a team.
On the track, Stults coached three individuals and the 4x400m relay to school records, had a combined 27 All-Valley performances and saw two individuals and a relay be crowned MVC Champions.
Prior to joining the Braves, Stults spent three seasons (2015-18) as the Director of Operations for the Oklahoma State cross country and track & field programs. As OSU's Director of Operations, Stults assisted with all on-campus recruiting activities, helped plan and implement daily practices and served as the race director of the Cowboy Jamboree and the 2015 Big 12 Cross Country Championships. Stults also successfully bid and designed the course for the upcoming 2020 NCAA Championship.
From 2009 to 2012, Stults was a volunteer assistant coach where he helped the Cowboys to three-straight Big 12 men's cross country titles (2009, 2010, 2011), back-to-back National Championships in 2009 and 2010 and a national runner-up finish in 2011.
"Danny will be an excellent fit with our staff and he will be instrumental in helping our program continue to win more MVC titles and qualify more individuals and teams to the NCAA meet," Bovee said.
A two-time all-conference runner for Southeast Missouri State from 2004-09, Stults helped the Redhawks to three Ohio Valley Conference Championships. Stults earned bachelor's degrees in both economics and psychology in 2009 from Southeast Missouri State before completing his master's in business administration from Oklahoma State in 2011.
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