Doug Molnar -

Track and Field

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Doug Molnar

Position:	Head Coach
Alma Mater:	West Virginia, 1986
Experience:	8 Years
Phone:	931.221.7211
Email:	molnard@apsu.edu

    In rebuilding the Austin Peay track and field and cross country programs, Dr. Doug Molnar's dedication and relentlessness has not gone unnoticed. With more than a decade of Division I coaching experience and more than 20 years of participation in college athletics, Molnar has set a standard on which to build for his seventh season as head coach.
   Much of Molnar's success can be attributed to his team's development in the field events. Pole vaulter Carrie Burggraf was named the 2010 Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and jumper Leigha Tollivar was named Indoor Freshman of the Year.
   Burggraf was a three-time indoor and two-time outdoor pole vault champion, while teammate Molly Bartkiewicz earned the indoor and outdoor pole vault crown in 2007.
   It also was under Molnar's guidance that Cenitra Hudson set the indoor triple jump school record in 2010.
   Those accomplishments were a result of Molnar's dedication to improve a program that was coming off struggling times prior to his arrival. The 2009-10 season saw a pair of fourth-place finishes at the indoor and outdoor championships, as well as a fifth-place men's cross country finish and a sixth-place women's cross country finish. Each of those represented the best finishes during Molnar's tenure.
   A former distance runner, Molnar came to Austin Peay from Texas-Pan American where he led the cross country squads to a top-10 regional finish in 2003. His women's program also recorded its best finish at an NCAA regional since the mid-1980s. In addition, he coached the program's first All-American in 2002.
   A native of Lorain, Ohio, Molnar excelled as an all-state selection in track and field at Admiral King High School. Following his prep career, he put his speed to work as a four-year runner at West Virginia, serving as a team captain his junior and senior year. Molnar graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1986 and remained in Morgantown another year, earning his master's in business administration.
   Molnar continued his education and launched his coaching career at Kent State. As a graduate assistant, he worked with men and women's distance runners while completing his second post-graduate degree - a master's of arts in physical education.         He graduated in 1992 and spent a year as a volunteer coach at Oberlin College before returning to serve as Kent State's men's cross country head coach while assisting with men and women's track and field.
   In his second stint with Kent State, Molnar asserted himself. He assisted with a team that finished 20th at the 1995 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and coached six conference champions and two relay teams which were ranked among the top 10 by Track and Field News.
   After several successful seasons at Kent State, Molnar again decided to further his education and his coaching experience at Tennessee. He earned a doctorate in educational administration and cultural studies, while serving two seasons as a volunteer assistant to men's track and field and interim head coach for the Lady Vols cross country team. During his tenure, the Volunteers won a 2001 national title, claimed runner-up honors in 2002, a berth in the 2002 NCAA Cross Country Championships and the 2002 Southeastern Conference title.
   Molnar's stint at Texas-Pan American laid the foundation for his six-season tenure at Austin Peay. During his tenure, the Lady Govs have claimed six indoor school records and six outdoor school records. That total includes now-senior Chiamaka Obi's 400-meter dash mark set at the 2010 Outdoor championships.
   With the graduation of Burggraf and Bartkiewicz, Molnar is now tasked with rebuilding his group of field athletes around talented returner Liegha Tolliver. Obi will highlight a strong stable of sprinters on the track side, joined by an experienced group of distance runners coming off the program's best cross country finish since 2002.
   Molnar resides in Clarksville with his wife, Kim, and her children Cameron (14), Sydney (12) and Tyler (10). Molnar's daughter, Alyssa (22), is a junior distance runner for the Lady Govs.