Kelsey Quinn - Track & Field Coach - University of Utah Athletics

Kelsey Quinn

Title:
Assistant Cross Country/Track & Field Coach
Email:
kquinn@huntsman.utah.edu

Quinn enters her third year with the Utah cross country and track & field teams after being hired in September of 2019.

In her first season with the Utes, Quinn worked primarily with those competing in cross country and distance group. The Utes saw great success on the courses her first year during the cross country season with Utah claiming the Joe Piane Invitational and earning its highest ranking ever in program history at No. 6. The Women of Utah went to make their third NCAA Championships appearance and had the best finish in program history at 16th – four spots higher than the previous high.

Her second season was very much peculiar with the Pac-12 moving its season to the spring of 2021 due to COVID-19, but saw a mix of young and veterans set new PRs throughout the year. The shortened season culminated with Poppy Tank qualifying for the NCAA Regionals before earning All-America honors at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Tank also garnered her second-straight First-Team All-Pac-12 honor after placing sixth for the second-straight year at the conference championships. Out on the track, Utah saw the outdoor 10k program record get broken twice. Bella Williams (33:17.07) was the first to break the 10k record on April 2 at the Hayward Premiere before Tank smashed her fellow countrywoman’s mark by nearly 25 seconds with a time of 32:50.57 at the West Coast Relays.

Quinn comes to Salt Lake City after spending the past year as the assistant coach of the cross country/track & field teams at the University of Portland. The Marion, Iowa native assisted in leading the Portland men's cross country team to a third place finish at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, while seeing the women's cross country team record their best ever finish at the meet placing 12th. Between the two programs, Quinn coached five cross country All-Americans in 2018, which was a school record.

Also instrumental for the track and field team, Quinn helped coach Portland's Taryn Rawlings to a fourth place finish in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships and a ninth place finish in the 1500M at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Pilots also set four new school records this past year under the guidance of Quinn.

Quinn also brings Pac-12 experience to Utah after serving as the Director of Operations for the Washington track & field/cross country teams. During her one-year stint in Seattle, Quinn was tasked with directing five indoor track and field meets that accommodated over 1,500 student-athletes from 40+ teams at each meet.

From the fall of 2015 through the spring of 2017, Quinn was the head coach at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore. Quinn was responsible for all aspects of the NAIA program. Her obligations included recruiting, budgeting, implementing workout programs, and travel. Quinn's first full-time coaching position came at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Before beginning her coaching career, Quinn was a member of the track and field team at the University of Iowa where she qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in the 400M hurdles and as a member of the 4x400M relay team. The sprinter and hurdler made her way into the top-10 lists at Iowa at the time for performances in both events.

Along with her cross country and track & field experience, Quinn held intern positions at both University of Iowa and Iowa State's strength and conditioning departments. Quinn designed and implemented conditioning workouts and learned sport-specific lifting techniques.

Quinn graduated with a bachelor's degree in Interdepartmental Studies from the University of Iowa where she was a two-time Big Ten All-Academic selection. She then went on to complete a master's degree in Kinesiology at Iowa State.

She is married to Riley Quinn and recently had a daughter, Willow. Husband Riley is also a volunteer coach with the Utah cross country and track & field team.