Rovelto Named to Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame
Apr 03, 2002 | Track & Field
April 3, 2002
Des Moines, Iowa - Cliff Rovelto, head coach of the Kansas State track and field program, will be inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame during an April 25 banquet at the Drake Knapp Center.
The Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame, which was established in 1977 with six charter members, now has 69 inductees.
Rovelto, one of the nation's leading authorities in the coaching of combined events, has coached several internationally successful athletes, including Attila Zsivoczky, U.S. Olympians Shelia Burrell (heptathlon, 2000), Ed Broxterman (high jump, 1996), Nathan Leeper (high jump 2000), Karol Damon (high jump 2000) and Steve Fritz (fourth in decathlon 1996 Olympics), and current Wildcat and NCAA heptathlon champion Austra Skujyte of Lithuania.
He will serve as an assistant coach for the United States team for the 2002 IAAF World Cup meet Sept. 20-21 in Madrid, Spain.
Rovelto is in his 10th season as head coach at Kansas State and his 14th at the school overall. The steady progression of the Wildcats' program resulted last spring in Rovelto being named the National Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track Coaches Association. Kansas State captured the 2001 Big 12 Conference women's outdoor team championship, marking just the second time any Wildcat team had won a Big 12 team title in the five-year history of the meet. The other was a women's cross-country title in 1998.
In 1999-2000, the Kansas State women enjoyed one of the best combined seasons in all of collegiate track and cross country. The cross country team placed a school-best fifth at the NCAA National meet, while the indoor team was seventh nationally and the outdoor squad was 11th in the team standings at the NCAA Championships.
Under Rovelto, Kansas State has captured six individual titles and four relay crowns at the Drake Relays. Kansas State enjoyed a stellar performance at the 2001 Drake Relays, winning three individual titles, while also capturing the women's distance medley relay . Korene Hinds of Kansas State won the women's invitational 800, while Joseph Lee claimed the men's university-college 800 run and Shadrack Kimeli ran to victory in the men's university-college 1,500. In addition, former Kansas State NCAA champion Nathan Leeper won his second straight men's invitational high jump championship.
A four-time Midwest Region Coach of the Year, Rovelto, 46, has directed 29 individuals to 60 NCAA All-America certificates as well as 37 individuals to 53 conference event championships.
Rovelto served as head coach of the U.S. Decathlon Team in a 1997 dual meet with Germany. He also is a successful coach of sprints and hurdles. He has directed six individual All-America sprinters and hurdlers while at Kansas State including 1995 NCAA 400 champion Nicole Green. He also has coached some of the nation's top jumpers. While at Kansas State, he has coached 21 All-America and 19 conference champion high jumpers, while leading 12 All-Americans and 19 conference champions in the long and triple jump
A native of Ancon, Panama, Rovelto spent seven years coaching at his alma mater, the University of Kansas. He became the interim head coach for the women at Kansas in 1987. While with the Jayhawks, he coached eight All-Americans and seven Big Eight Conference champions in five different events. His women's team broke 24 school records during his tenure there.
--30--
For more information, contact Mike Mahon, Sports Information Director, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50311... Office Phone: 515-271-3014, Fax Phone: 515-271-3015, E-mail address: mike.mahon@drake.edu
--ksu--
