Kyle Kepler - Track & Field Coach - University of Utah Athletics

Kyle Kepler

Title:
Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach
Email:
kkepler@huntsman.utah.edu
Phone:
801-585-6858

Kyle Kepler enters his 21st year as the head coach of the Utah women's cross country and track & field programs and 27th season overall as a Division I head coach. Kepler's organization and attention to detail have allowed him to develop a solid foundation and create a competitive nationally recognized program that has steadily improved each year.

The Women of Utah were put on the spotlight in the summer of 2024 when Simone Plourde (CAN) and Josefine Eriksen (NOR) made their debut at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiads in Paris, France. Plourde competed in the 1500m race while Eriksen ran the lead leg in the women’s 4x400m relay inside a sold-out Stade de France. Eriksen helped Norway break its 4x400m relay record twice in 2024, once at the World Relays event to qualify for the Olympics and then once again at the European Championships ahead of the Summer Games.

Under Kepler, Utah qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships as a team for the first time in program history back in 2015 (26th-place) and has since repeated the feat in 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Women of Utah recorded their best finish at the championships in 2022 with a 12th-place finish – moving up four spots from 16th in 2019. The reloaded roster in 2023, which featured just two returners from the previous season, would perform beyond expectations and finished 13th-overall at the championships.

Utah’s 2015 squad recorded the program’s then highest finish at the NCAA Regionals (3rd) to become the first team to qualify for the NCAA Championships. That regional squad was led by Hannah McInturff’s fourth-place finish. That year’s team ended up in 26th at the NCAA Championships and paved the way for program for years to come. The following season Utah returned to the championships and moved up six spots to place 20th.

The 2019 squad made its splash on the national scene at the Joe Piane Invitational, going head-to-head with some of the nation’s best teams and came out victorious in a tight race against top-ranked Colorado. Following that inspiring performance, the Utes vaulted into the national rankings and checked in with their highest ranking in program history at No. 6. The Utes then went out and took third as a team at the Pac-12 Championships – their best finish at that point – behind top-10 finishes from Poppy Tank (6th), Bella Williams (7th) and Sarah Feeny (10th). Playing host to NCAA Mountain Regionals that year, Utah secured an at-large berth to the championships after finishing fifth in arguably the most challenging and deepest region in the country.

Utah’s 2021 squad tied the 2016 team for the fourth-highest finish in program history (20th) at the NCAA Championships after a successful season. The Utes took home the team title at the Dellinger Invitational before taking second at Pre-Nats (FSU Invitational). In postseason action, Utah came in second at the Pac-12 Championships, which was its highest finish ever since joining the league in 2011, behind a trio of top-12 finishes from Emily Venters (3rd), Cara Woolnough (7th) and Plourde (11th). The Utes then took fifth at the NCAA Regionals to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships.

Kepler and Co. had a season to remember in 2022-23, making history on the cross country side while breaking 16 school records with 30 new entries into the record book on the track side. In addition, the Women of Utah also captured the Drake Relays Cup for the first time in school history. Utah went on to finish at No. 9 in the final USTFCCCA Program of the Year standings – its highest finish ever in program history. Cross Country closed out the year ranked 12th while finishing 21st for indoors and 15th at outdoors.

In addition, the Utes saw Plourde and Venters join the professional ranks with both signing contracts to run for Nike.

The 2022 cross country season set the tone for the whole year as Utah kicked things off by sweeping the podium at the Roy Griak Invitational behind Venters’ first-career victory. After an eighth-place finish at a stacked Nuttycombe Invitational, the Women of Utah nearly made history at the Pac-12 Championships but ultimately finished second to Colorado after losing the tiebreaker while Venters and Plourde took home First-team All-Pac-12 honors. The tiebreaker went in favor of the Utes two weeks later at the NCAA Mountain Regional meet where it came in second to earn the program’s first automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Venters then became Utah’s ninth All-American in cross country, fourth under Kepler, when she crossed the finish line in 12th to guide the Utes to a program best 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

Kepler reloaded his roster in 2023 with newcomers Anna Peters and McKaylie Caesar leading the way for the Women of Utah alongside Morgan Jensen. With basically a new roster, the Utes surprised teams at the Griak Invitational after finishing second as a team behind the trio of Peters (3rd), Caesar (5th) and Jensen (9th) recording top-10 marks. Peters, a former Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year, would go on to be Utah’s top finisher in three of the five major races while Caesar led the Utes at the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships. The two went on to earn All-America honors – becoming the program’s first duo to do so. Meanwhile, Caesar became just the fourth Ute ever to run a sub-20 6k at the championships when she clocked in with a time of 19:56.7 to help Utah finish 13th-overall as a team.
Utah’s 2024 campaign saw the Utes capture the Dellinger Invitational for the second time in four years. It then went on to finish third as a team in its first-ever Big 12 Championships with Caesar and Erin Vringer earning All-Big 12 accolades. The Women of Utah earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships after finishing fourth at the NCAA Mountain Regionals that season and placed 19th as a team at the NCAA Championships for their sixth top-20 finish in program history.

On the track, the Utes have had an individual compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships six different times (2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023) with Langley Iverson (2011), Amanda Mergaert (2013), Grayson Murphy (2017, 2018), Feeny (2019), Plourde (2023) and Venters (2023) all earning All-America honors. The 2024-25 indoor campaign saw Utah’s DMR squad of Bri Rinn, Kyla Martin, Emily Martin and Erin Vringer run the sixth-fastest time in NCAA history (all conditions) when it posted a time of 10:42.56 at the Husky Classic. That same crew went on to earn First-Team All-America honors at the NCAA Championships behind a mark of 10:53.50 for fifth-overall.
Feeny was a first-team honoree after finishing eighth overall in the mile at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships. It was the first All-American honor for Feeny and the third consecutive indoor All-American for the Utes. The 2023 indoor season saw Plourde and Venters both take home First-Team All-America honors after the pair recorded top-five finishes in the 3000m and 5000m, respectively. Plourde’s fourth-place finish was Utah’s top individual finish ever at the indoor championships.

The outdoor track season has seen an ample amount of success with 142 individual qualifiers for the NCAA West Preliminaries under Kepler. The 2023 team sent 12 qualifiers to the championships – which at the time was a program record. The 2025 squad bested that mark two years later, sending 13 individual qualifiers with a total of 15 after including both relay teams. Utah’s 4x100m relay team was the first in program history to qualify for the regional round and NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, the 2013 and 2022 squads sent the fourth most qualifiers with 10 athletes in each of those years. The 2021 season was also the first time since 2009 that Utah had a 4x400m relay team qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries.

As a program, Utah has sent 29 student-athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championships and have had multiple competitors at the national meet nine different times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). Additionally, the 2024 season saw Utah send its first-ever 4x400m relay team to the championships. A year later, the 2025 campaign saw more history being made with Utah advancing two to the 10000m championships while its 4x100m relay team qualified for the first time program history.

Mergaert, who is one the most decorated Utes in program history, was also named the 2011 USTFCCCA Mountain Region Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Meanwhile, Murphy was a five-time All-American, including two first-team All-America honors in the 3000 steeplechase, two second-team All-America honors in the indoor 5000m and a 2017 cross country All-America recipient.

Mergaert (2011-13, 1500m) and Chelsea Shapard (2007-09, 400m hurdles) still stand as the only two to be three-time NCAA Championship qualifiers. Tank became the first distance runner since Jill Molen (1982) to run both the 5k and 10k at the 2021 outdoor championships. Venters then joined Tank and Molen on that shortlist in 2023 when she finished second in the 10k and third in the 5k. Meanwhile, Venters and Plourde became the only teammates to garner multiple All-America accolades in the same outdoor season in 2023.

In total, the Utes have had 14 different student-athletes garner 21 All-America honors both indoor and outdoor seasons on top of several honorable mention selections under Kepler.

During Utah's six years in the Mountain West Conference under Kepler, Utah student-athletes won nine outdoor conference titles and two indoor titles. Chelsea Shapard was a three-time 400m hurdles outdoor champion. In that time, Utah earned 23 outdoor and 20 indoor All-MWC honors.

Kepler's influence on his student-athletes is not just visible on the track, but also in the classroom. His cross country teams have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors 18 times while his track teams have earned honors 15 times. His athletes have combined for 138 individual honors from the USTFCCCA between track and cross country.

Lauren Endersen was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2008 and 2009, while Rosalie Waller earned honors in 2014. Cara Woolnough was the latest Ute to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2022. Woolnough also became the first Utah cross country and track & field student-athlete and third student-athlete from Utah to ever earn the NCAA Elite 90 Award after graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA in biomedical engineering. During its time in the Pac-12 (2011-24), the cross country and track & field team has had three student-athletes receive the Pac-12 Post Graduate Scholarship.

Prior to coming to Utah, Kepler served as Northern Iowa's head men's and women's cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for two seasons. He was on staff at UNI for a total of seven years, serving as an assistant cross country coach for five years prior to being named head coach in 2003. Kepler was named the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2003 after leading the Panthers to a MVC title. The Panthers won 12 MVC titles among cross country and indoor and outdoor track during his tenure with the Panthers. He coached nine All-Americans at UNI, and 15 athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships between track and cross country.

At UNI, he served as the meet manager for the 2003 NCAA Cross Country Championships and Pre-Nationals meet. Kepler was also named the meet director of the annual A. D. Dickinson Relays, one of the largest high school indoor meets in the nation.

Kepler competed at Northern Iowa, taking part in both cross country and track and field for the Panthers and served as a team captain during the 1997-98 school year. As an athlete, Kepler was a member of five MVC championship teams. He earned all-conference honors nine times during his collegiate career, was a two-time all-region cross country selection and a six-time Academic All-MVC honoree.

Kepler holds both master's and bachelor's degrees from Northern Iowa. He earned his master's degree in physical education in 2004 and graduated with a bachelor's in secondary education (geography) in 1998.

Kepler is married to Hannah Vickery and they have two daughters, Cora and Arielle.