Jeff Brennan, Head Coach

brennan@bvu.edu

Jeff Brennan begins his third year as the BVU head men's and women's cross country and track and field coach.

A native of Emmetsburg, Iowa and a 2001 graduate of BVU, Brennan was a dual-sport athlete for the Beavers, playing football and running track. Under former football coach Joe Hadachek, he was a two-time First Team All-Iowa Conference defensive back.

While running under the guidance of former BVU head track and field coach Keith Schmidt, Brennan was a stand-out in middle distance races. He was a two-time IIAC Indoor Champion in both the 600 and 1000 meter runs and was a four-time national qualifier in the 800, placing fifth indoors in 2001. He still holds six school records, including both the indoor and outdoor 800 meter marks.

Since taking over the ranks for BVU, his cross country teams have improved their overall score at the IIAC Championships each season.  His track and field teams are headed in the same direction, after both the men and women teams posted their best outdoor conference championship finish since 2007.  The two teams have also combined to set five school records during his tenure and had eight all-conference outdoor performances.  It marked the first time the women have had multiple accolades since 2007.

Brennan, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology Education, spent the 2009-10 school year as a teacher and coach at Storm Lake High School, a position he also held from 2002-06. During that tenure, he helped coach the Tornado boys to four Lakes Conference Track and Field Championships as well as three top-eight team finishes at the State Track Meet (8th in 2003, 5th in 2004, 6th in 2006).  He coached 26 State Medalists, including three individual state championships and four runner-up accolades.  He was also named Northwest Iowa Regional and Lakes Conference Coach of the Year in both 2005 and 2006.

Brennan lives in Storm Lake with his wife Anne and their son, Emmet.

Robert Rands, (Horizontal Jumps and Sprints)

randsr@bvu.edu

Robert Rands joins the Buena Vista University athletic coaching staff in the fall of 2012 and will begin duties as an assistant coach for both the cross country and track and field teams.  He spent last season as an assistant track and field coach at Midland University (Neb.), working primarily with the jumps.

Rands competed collegiately at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) where he competed for three years.  He was a three-time top-10 finisher at the Big 12 Championships, earning a career-best fourth-place finish at the indoor meet as a sophomore with a leap of 24’ 10.5”.  He placed fifth a year earlier at the outdoor meet was ninth as a junior during the indoor meet.  In addition to the long jump, he also competed in the triple jump as a sophomore and junior, posting a personal-best leap of 46’ 2-75” in 2007.  His personal-best jump in the long jump is 25' 1" and he also holds a personal best clocking of 7.07 seconds in the 60 meter dash.

Prior to his stint at Nebraska, Rands was a U.S. Junior Long Jump Champion during high school, posting a winning mark of 24’ 7”.  He followed that up with a win at the Pan American Junior Championships.  In 2005, he broke the state’s oldest high school state meet record when he won all-class gold medal in the long jump with a leap of 24’ 11.25”. The mark was previously set in 1961 by current NFL Hall of Famer, Gayle Sayers (24’ 10.5”).

A sociology major, Rands went on to serve as a student assistant with the Huskers (2008-10) and has also had stints as coach of the Bellevue Breeze Track Club and at Lincoln Lutheran High School.