UCM Coaches (Kip Janvrin & Kirk Pedersen)

The coaching tandem of Pedersen and Janvrin has produced 10 MIAA men's indoor championships (1996-2003, 2005 & 2006), four MIAA women's indoor titles (1999, 2005, 2006 & 2007), seven MIAA men's outdoor titles (1998, 2001-2004, 2006 & 2007), and three consecutive women's outdoor conference title (2005-2007).  Pedersen and Janvrin have also helped produce at least one individual national champion in eight of their 10 previous years, including three during the 2006 school year: Jennifer Drum-Greer in the Women's Indoor High Jump, Kristin Anderson in the Women's Indoor 5000 Meter Run, and Steven Edwards in the Men's Discus at the Outdoor Event. Eight times they have been MIAA Indoor Coaches of the Year (six times for the men and twice for the women), and eight times they have been named MIAA Outdoor Coaches of the Year (five times for the men and three for the women). In 2002, Pedersen and Janvrin were also named USTCA National Indoor Coaches of the Year.

For years ranked as one of the world's top athletes in the decathlon, Kip Janvrin is in his 20th season on the University of Central Missouri staff.  Janvrin, who begins his 12th season as co-head coach, works primarily with the sprinters, hurdlers, and multi-events. 

The decathlon champion at the 2001 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Janvrin reached the pinnacle of his career in 2000 as a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in Sydney, Australia.  At Sydney, Janvrin became the oldest U.S. decathlete to ever compete, finishing 21st and winning the 1,500-meters in the competition.  He just missed making the U.S. Olympic Team in 1996, placing fourth in the decathlon trials.

Janvrin is the world  record holder for most career decathlon wins (40), including wins at the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival and 1995 Pan Am Games, and the American record holder for most career decathlons over 8,000 points (26). 

Janvrin's greatest success has been at the Drake Relays in his home state of Iowa, where he has won the decathlon a record 15 times.  This past spring, Janvrin continued to add to his legacy at the Drake Relays by claiming the Masters 800 Event for a second consecutive year.  That gave Janvrin 17 titles at the Drake Relays, where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998. 

A 1988 graduate of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, Janvrin was a three-time NCAA Division III champion in the decathlon and also won individual national championships in the pole vault and 400 meter hurdles.

The 41-year-old Janvrin is married to the former Teresa Snyder, who was a standout performer on the Jennies' track team from 1986-1989. They have two sons, Jaxon, 10, and Mason (8), who was born in March of 1998 just hours before the twins of Kirk and Jill Pedersen.
 

Kirk Pedersen is in his 12th season as co-head coach of the Mules and Jennies track and field program.  Pedersen has been head coach of the Mules and Jennies cross country teams for the past 21 seasons.

Pedersen has guided the Jennies' cross country squad to MIAA Championships in two out of the last three seasons, while the Mules' have captured eight MIAA championships in the past 16 years. Pedersen was named the MIAA Coach of the Year for both the Men and Women in 2005.

The Mules produced their 11th straight top 25 finish at the NCAA Division II Championships, placing 14th last fall after a third place finish in the South Central Regional.  After claiming the South Central Regional championship for a second consecutive season in 2005 and then placing 14th at the NCAA Division II Championships, the Jennies finished third at the South Central Regional in 2006, but failed to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships.  The Jennies best finish at the national meet came in 2004 after a 10th place showing.

Pedersen is a 1985 graduate of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. While at Simpson, he was a five-time NCAA Division III All-American and was national champion in the 800 meter run indoors as a senior. In 1995 he was inducted into the Simpson Athletic Hall of Fame.

Pedersen is married to the former Jill Green and they are parents of nine-year-old twins, daughter Jodi and son J.D., and three-year-old daughter Amber.