TicketsJuly 11, 2013
CINCINNATI - University of Cincinnati men's track and field head coach Kris Mack named Brad Herbster associate head cross country coach and an assistant track and field coach.
Herbster, who spent the last four seasons at Clemson University, will coach UC's distance runners. The 11-year collegiate veteran has coached four all-America selections, seven all-region cross country runners, 30 all-conference honorees in cross country and 38 conference track champions.
"I am very excited to have Brad join the Bearcats Family," Mack said. "There were so many great candidates and Brad was the best fit for our program. He has done amazing work at Clemson and shares our vision and values as a team. I look forward to the chapter of Bearcats cross country and distance running that Brad is going to help us write."
Herbster joined the Tigers in 2009 and was elevated to associate head cross country coach in August of 2012. Clemson captured ACC championships in women's indoor and outdoor track & field in each of the four seasons with Herbster on the staff. The women's team has had eight straight NCAA top-20 finishes as well, culminating with a pair of top-five efforts in 2012 and two top-10 showings in 2013.
Herbster coached Alyssa Kulik to an incredible career in the steeplechase. She was fourth at the NCAA Championships in 2011, earning the first All-America honor in women's program history for the event. She followed as a senior in 2012 with her first individual ACC Championship and a seventh-place finish and second straight All-America nod at the NCAA Championships. Kulik competed at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the steeplechase, finishing 15th.
In 2010, he coached Kim Ruck to All-America status with a seventh-place finish in the 5K at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Ruck was also the ACC's indoor champion in the event, Clemson's first indoor female distance champion in the conference in 17 years. Herbster coached her to a school-record time in the 5K. She also earned a bid to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10K, finishing in 13th place.
Ruck followed up with another quality season on the track in 2011. She won the ACC 10,000-meter race and was all-conference indoors in the 3K and 5K.
Under Herbster's tutelage, Ruck and Kulik experienced outstanding individual results in cross country as well. Ruck was all-region three straight years (2009-11) and All-ACC in 2009. Kulik was all-region in 2010 and 2011, leading the team to a fourth-place finish in the latter year.
Ruck became the first Clemson female in 17 years to earn trips to all three NCAA national meets in the same calendar year when she competed at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall of 2010. She earned the trip by finishing sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Louisville, KY. That season marked the first time in 17 years the Tiger women's team had two all-region performers in the same cross country season.
Herbster made strides with the men's distance program as well. Chris Slate was an All-ACC selection in the 800 meters both indoors and outdoors and in 2012 he became Clemson's first runner to advance to the NCAA Championships in the 800 meters since 1999.
Cross country runner Ty McCormack was an All-ACC honoree in 2011 and fellow harrier Aaron Ramirez had an all-region showing in 2012. McCormack was also an All-ACC runner in the steeplechase outdoors in 2013.
Herbster joined the Tigers coaching staff after a seven-year stint with Charlotte, overseeing the distance athletes for the 49er program from 2002-09. During his time with the program, he was an integral part of four straight women's Atlantic-10 championships as well as three of the last four men's A-10 team champions.
His student-athletes earned great individual acclaim during his tenure with the 49ers, winning 35 conference championships, including relays, both indoors and outdoors. In cross country, he mentored 28 all-conference performers, including the 2008 men's and women's individual champions.
Prior to joining the Charlotte program, Herbster spent four years as a high school coach in North Carolina. He coached cross country and distance events for North Mecklenburg High School for three years. He was named Coach of the Year by the Charlotte Observer in 2000-01. He produced six All-Americans and five state champions. He then spent one year at Hopewell High School in Huntersville, NC.
Herbster earned his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina in 1991. He competed for the Gamecocks cross country and track & field teams. Herbster was a three-time all-conference performer and still ranks fifth in school history on the all-time 3000-meter steeplechase performance list.
Herbster, 44, is married to the former Deborah Akins.