Murray resigns as ACU track and field coach
7/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track & Field
Murray resigns as ACU track and field coach
Joins Texas Tech University coaching staff
For Immediate Release
25 July 2005
Jon Murray has resigned as head coach for men's and women's track and field and men's and women's cross country at Abilene Christian University.
His resignation was announced Monday by Jared Mosley, director of athletics at Abilene Christian.
On Aug. 8 Murray, 37, will join the coaching staff at Texas Tech University in Lubbock as head coach for men's and women's cross country and assistant coach in men's and women's track and field in charge of distance runners. At Tech he will be reunited with Wes Kittley, the Red Raiders' head coach for track and field who first hired Murray at Abilene Christian in 1991.
Mosley said Murray will conclude his 14-year career at Abilene Christian on Friday, Aug. 5. Mosley is also beginning a search for Murray's replacement for the Wildcats.
"With classes starting in four weeks, it is important that we move quickly while finding the right person for the job that best fits the mission of our university," Mosley said. "I would hope to have a replacement named in 2-3 weeks if possible. We will take a few days to gauge interest in the position and hopefully move forward aggressively to fill the vacancy."
Mosley praised Murray for his success at ACU. "Coach Murray has established himself as one of the top coaches in the country, and he has left his stamp on ACU and our track and field programs for years to come. We deeply appreciate coach Murray's loyalty and devotion to ACU, and we wish him and his family the best as he moves to Lubbock and a new stage in his coaching career.
"Coach Murray has been very instrumental in the great tradition established in ACU track and field over the course of his 14 years on the staff," Mosley added.
"I've worked with Jon for a long time," Kittley said Monday afternoon. "I know what kind of coach he is, and I know what kind of person he is. I'm fortunate to find a person with his abilities and who has head coaching experience." Kittley left ACU for Texas Tech after the 1998-99 school year.
In five years as head coach for men's and women's track and field at ACU (2000 and 2002-05 seasons), Murray coached the Wildcats to 11 NCAA Division II national championships and eight Lone Star Conference championships (five men, three women). His Wildcat men's team was undefeated in 10 NCAA Division II indoor and outdoor national meets, and his women's team won the indoor title in 2000.
In cross country, Murray's Wildcats were undefeated in LSC men's cross country with 14 straight titles, and the women's team won the league crown coach). Both men's and women's teams finished as high as second in the nation in NCAA Division II cross country.
While he was serving as head cross country coach at ACU, Murray was also assistant coach for track and field in 1992-99 and 2001 seasons. During that time the Wildcats won 21 NCAA Division II national titles (seven women's indoor, five women's outdoor, six men's indoor and three men's outdoor on Kittley's staff).
Murray and his wife, Dr. Samantha Rice Murray, assistant professor of management sciences in the College of Business Administration at Abilene Christian, have three children.
Murray is a former NAIA national champion in the marathon while a student-athlete at Harding University in Searcy, Ark., where he received a BBA degree in management in 1990 and MSEd degree in physical education in 1991 before joining the ACU staff. He won the NAIA marathon as a senior in 1990 at the national meet in Stephenville.
He has been Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year in men's and women's cross country and men's track and field and president of the NCAA Division II Cross Country Coaches Association. As a head coach, four of his Wildcat track and field student-athletes won prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarships.
In 2005 he was named NCAA Division II Coach of the Year for men in both indoor and outdoor track and field after his Wildcats extended their winning streak in championship meets to eight. Under Murray the Wildcats won both indoor and outdoor titles in 2002-03-04-05 - a streak matched only once previously in NCAA Division II history.
A native of Fayetteville, Ark., he is a 1986 graduate of Carthage, Mo., High School.
