Sam Kranz

// QUICK HITS ON COACH KRANZ
• Worked with Adrian Valles, the most decorated man in UC track & field history, who qualified and competed in two IAAF World Championships (Spain), won seven AAC Championships (4 indoor, 3 outdoor) and earned six USTFCCCA All-America First Team honors along with numerous national academic awards
• His athletes have collected seven All-America honors, 18 AAC titles and 34 AAC All-Conference honors (Top 3)
• In his first four years, his athletes have broken seven of the 12 school records in the events he coaches (long jump, triple jump and pole vault for both men and women, indoors and outdoors), including five of the six women’s marks
• In 2018, his athletes captured four conference titles, including Brooke Catherine sweeping the pole vault crowns
• In 2022 his athletes claimed three conference titles, including Austin Edwards sweeping the long jump crowns.
• In 2023 his athletes claimed two conference titles, as Abby Knouff would qualfiy for the NCAA Outdoor Championships 
• In 2024, coached Abby Knouff to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and earn All-American honors.

// COACH KRANZ
The 2024-25 track & field seasons will mark the 10th year Sam Kranz has served as an assistant coach for the University of Cincinnati program, a tenure that has seen Kranz’ student-athletes continue to excel both in competition and in the classroom. Through seven years of coaching the Bearcats’ long jump, triple jump and pole vault competitors, his student-athletes have combined for seven USTFCCCA All-America honors, 20 American Athletic Conference titles and 34 AAC All-Conference (Top 3) finishes, all of which have helped the Bearcats rank among the best in the league and national standings each year.

// COACHING EXPERIENCE
Kranz joined the program in time for the 2015 campaigns and immediately began working with Adrian Valles, perhaps the most decorated all-around student-athlete in the program’s history. In the four years Valles represented Cincinnati, the Spaniard earned six USTFCCCA All-America First Team honors, won all seven AAC meets he entered (was injured his senior outdoor season and could not compete) and represented his homeland in the IAAF World Championships twice. On top of that, Valles was twice named the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner (2017 and 2018 indoor) and was a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection.

His work was not limited to just Valles. He has guided long jumper Austin Edwards to three individual conference titles, 2021 Indoor and outdoor and 2022 outdoor. Edwards earned four appearances to the NCAA preliminary round under Kranz’s guidance including 15 place finish in 2021. He holds the fifth best indoor long jump mark in UC hitroy.
 
His women continue to improve each year. Of the six events he coaches (three indoor, three outdoor), his women hold five of the six school records with only the indoor long jump being the lone out-lier. One of those athletes, Kellsa Mbah, improved her life-time best in the long jump by over one foot (1-1.75) in her time with Kranz, eventually claiming the top spot on the program’s outdoor record list.

All told in his four years with UC, Kranz has guided two individuals to All-America honors with Valles earning six and one for Rebecka Abrahamsson (triple jump) with Alyssa McBride also advancing to nationals in the pole vault once. He also has worked with 11 individuals that earned 23 berths into the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet. On a conference level, his athletes have secured 18 AAC crowns with Valles leading the way with seven while 13 different Bearcats have combined to finish in the Top 3 of the conference standings to earn AAC All-Conference accolades.

Kranz, a USTFCCCA Multi-Event Specialist, USATF Emerging Elite-Jumps participant, and USATF Level I Coach, came to Cincinnati in time for the 2015 campaign after working at Murray State University as an assistant coach with the jumpers and multi-event athletes. Prior to MSU, he served as a volunteer assistant at the University of Northern Iowa, his alma mater, where he worked with pole vaulters.

// POLE VAULT DEVELOPMENT
In his seven at Cincinnati, Kranz has mentored a solid group of pole vaults, led by the highly successful Valles, a six-time All-American and seven-time NCAA qualifier. Undefeated in conference competitions (seven times) in his stellar career, Valles left UC with both school records and qualified for the 2015 and 2017 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, and London, England, respectively. One of the top vaulters in the nation, Valles was the NCAA runner-up at the 2017 outdoor championships and was in line for a perfect 8-for-8 performance at AAC meets before an injury derailed his senior season, keeping him out of his final AAC meet. Valles’ career ended with the two-time graduate clearing a best of 5.70m (18-08.25), the best mark in program and AAC history.

Valles is not the only Bearcat that has found success. On the men’s side, Nathan Alexander and Colt Robinson both moved into the program’s all-time Top 10 in 2016 as each joined the 5-meter club for the first time in their careers. In fact, Robinson’s clearance of 5.10m (16-08.75) to not only ranks seventh all-time outdoors, but also earned him a berth into the NCAA Preliminary Round meet in his senior campaign. Recently, Kranz has worked with Nick Lauria, who showed great improvement in his rookie season of 2018 and finished eighth at the AAC Championships to score for the men.

On the women’s side, Kranz has continued to foster a strong group of competitors, with six women ranking in the all-time Top 10 in UC history. In 2023 he guided both Abby Knouff and Kendall Fisher to record UC top 10 marks. Knouff would take home the AAC outdoor title clearing a season best 4.22m and would qualify her NCAA First Round. Knouff would then finish 12th overall at the first round and qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. 

He coached Brooke Catherine, who had another strong showing in 2018. Not only did she sweep the AAC titles - her first conference crowns - Catherine also moved up on both Top 10 ledgers during the season. Indoors, she cleared a best of 4.26m (13-11.75) to slip into the #1 position in UC history (4.25m was the previous best). Outdoors, she went over a best of 4.21m (13-09.75) to move up #3 all-time in UC history and qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet for the third year in a row. She is joined by teammates on the all-time Top 10 lists with Lily Bunse at #8 indoors (3.90m) and Rachel Coghill at #8 outdoors (3.87m).

In 2016, Kranz also worked with Alyssa McBride and returned her to form as she cleared 4.25m (13-11.25), the second-best clearance outdoors in school history, after seeing the senior take second in the American Athletic Conference Championships to help the team to its first conference title. She later qualified for the NCAA Championships after advancing from the East meet for the first time.

// HORIZONTAL JUMPS DEVELOPMENT
Similar to the pole vault, student-athletes under the Illinois native have also found great success. In 2016 alone, Kranz’ jumpers won three of the four horizontal events at the 2016 American Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, including Rebecka Abrahamsson sweeping both the long jump and triple jump, while Sergio Acera took home gold in the men’s long jump. Since then, titles have been captured in the long jump by Mbah (2017 indoor) and Irati Mitxelena (2018 indoor).

Abrahamsson, who garnered All-America honors in the outdoor triple jump in 2015, laid waste to the record books under Kranz’ tutelage as she finished 2016 with school records in both triple jumps, setting the standards to 13.21m (43-04.25) outdoors and 13.07m (42-10.75) indoors. Add to that the emergence of Mbah, the school record holder in the outdoor long jump (6.24m) and Kranz’ women have redefined the horizontal events at UC in just two seasons. In the past two years, Mbah has upped that record to 6.32m while Mitxelena has moved up to #2 in both triple jump lists. 

In fact, in 2018, freshman Kennedy Marable added her name to the outdoor list with Mary Purtsa joining the indoor Top 10 to give Kranz’ athletes eight of the Top 12 (Top 6 indoors and Top 6 outdoors) marks in program history. The 2018 season also saw Mitxelena not only win the indoor crown in the triple jump, but also take third in both the long and triple events outdoors to earn all-conference honors.
 
The 2022 season saw Marable’s ability to grow as she earned All-Conference honors for wining the outdoor triple jump title. She ended her UC career with the second-best triple jump mark and third-best outdoor triple jump mark in UC history.

The men also have had their fair share of success as Acera also is two-time all-conference honoree, taking runner-up honors in the indoor long jump as a freshman before winning the crown in 2016. Recently, Austin Edwards has emerged as double threat, jumping identical Top 10 marks both indoors and outdoors while also torching the track in the 60m and 100m events as well. Edwards has jumped 7.62m (25-00.00) indoors for the #5 mark all-time before jumping the same outdoors in 2018 for the #6 mark. Earlier in the year, he broke the school record on the 60m four times, finishing with a best of 6.72 before running 10.44 outdoors for the #3 time in UC history.

// TRACK & FIELD CAREER
Kranz graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in English Education. As a student-athlete, he competed most notably in the pole vault with a career best of 5.36m (17-07.00). During his four seasons, he competed at the NCAA Championships three times. He also garnered three Missouri Valley Conference titles in pole vault and earned six all-conference finishes.