By: by Emily Diekelmann
KENNESAW,Ga. – The men’s and women’s track and field teams have a new leader at the helm as the Kennesaw State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced the hiring of Andy Eggerth as the new head coach Tuesday afternoon. Eggerth, who comes to KSU from Kansas State, has extensive experience in the fast-paced world of track and field.
Eggerth is joining an Owls program that saw great success last year as the men’s team became Atlantic Sun Conference Champions, completing the elusive Triple Crown of winning cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field titles.
“We are excited about coach Eggerth coming on board,” Interim Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Whitlock said. “We did an extensive search and after doing our homework, we just felt that he was the perfect fit for us. I have a lot of confidence in what he can do for us.”
During his four years with Kansas State, Eggerth worked with sprints and hurdles while also assisting with mid-distance and distance athletes. Under his leadership, Kansas State had 25 All-American Certificates and three NCAA Individual Championships. On top of his responsibilities as assistant coach, Eggerth also was the recruiting coordinator which included talent identification, setting up visits and determining eligibility.
Prior to working for Kansas State, he spent three years as assistant coach with the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he was also able to work with his wife Agne, who was an assistant coach with the squad. She will be joining him this year as a volunteer assistant coach for the Owls. While with the Blazers, he was able to lead the team to nine school records, six qualifiers for the NCAA Regional Championships and one NCAA Indoor Championships provisional qualifier.
The native of Minnesota graduated in 2000 from Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minn., where he obtained two bachelor degrees in physical education and sports management. In 2002, he gained a masters degree in exercise physiology from Syracuse University while working as a sprint and hurdles graduate assistant coach.
“First, I would just like to thank everyone at Kennesaw State for the opportunity to work here,” Eggerth said. “I am very excited to start working and hit the ground running. The goal is to win championships and I want to do it on a regular basis. I think we can make some serious noise in the national championships. At the same time, I won’t compromise academics to be really strong athletically.”
