Coach Kevin O’Grattan enters his first full season as the distance coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University. In a short amount of time Coach O’Grattan has made quite an impact on our program. Coach Nate Wiens adds, “Kevin has been an excellent addition to our staff. He comes to MNU with expert distance knowledge and the desire to intentionally mentor our student-athletes on and off the track. He has proven to be the right coach at the right time for our distance program.”
Since his arrival January 2018, Pioneer distance athletes have won seven individual conference titles and set a total of 3 school records. He has coached 10 NAIA National qualifiers this past winter and spring with 4 athletes going on to earn All-American honors. Most notably his athletes placed 4th, 5th, and 6th in the 2018 NAIA National Championships Marathon. He has also twice been voted Heart of America Conference Assistant Coach of the Year in as many seasons.
During the outdoor season, Coach O’Grattan was able to maximize the distance team’s efforts contributing to a Conference Championship for the women’s team and Conference Runner-Up for the men’s team. These efforts were led by Senior standout Bethany Brown who won conference titles in the 1500m and 10,000m. Bethany led a total of seven athletes who qualified for nationals in the Marathon, and Racewalk events. Of those seven athletes, five would go on to place 17th or better at nationals with three NAIA All-Americans in the Marathon.
The Pioneer distance men also had a strong showing through the indoor season under Coach O’Grattan. He guided junior Carlos Guzman to a conference champion performance in the 5km, and runner up for both the mile and 3km races. Additionally, the women’s distance team showed tremendous growth this indoor season and swept the Heart of America indoor conference 5k taking places 1 through 5 in the meet. Coach O’Grattan worked with Bethany Brown to coordinate taking conference titles in the 5km, 1km, mile, and 3km events earning her Heart of America Athletic Conference athlete of the meet. After the conference meet Bethany went on to earn All-American honors taking 4th in the 3km race at the NAIA Indoor National Championships.
Prior to coming on board with the Pioneers, Coach O’Grattan coached high school distance athletes for 11 years at Olathe West, North Kansas City, and Olympia (Orlando, FL). He has spent a considerable amount of time building a wealth of coach knowledge through the USATF, USTFCCCA, NFHS, and RRCA. He holds certifications from the USTFCCCA in Program Management, Track & Field technical certification, Strength & Conditioning, and Endurance Event Specialist. He is one of the first coaches to near completions in USTFCCCA’s Masters Endorsement in Cross Country. Coach O’Grattan also has a Master of Arts degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine. He is currently a USATF Level 1 coach and member of the USATF Coaches’ Registry. Coach O’Grattan is a lifelong learner and loves to share what he has learned. He has published two articles with USTFCCCA’s technical publication Techniques Magazine.
When he is not coaching, Coach O’Grattan can be found traveling the world, running ultramarathons, mountaineering, and generally seeking new adventures.
