July 13, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou track and field/cross country program announced Tuesday (July 13) that Rebecca Wilmes has been promoted to head men's and women's cross country coach. Wilmes has served as an assistant coach with the Mizzou track and field program for 11 seasons. She succeeds her husband, Jared Wilmes, who resigned to focus on their family earlier this year.
"Rebecca has done a remarkable job coaching her athletes to extraordinary success in both the classroom, and in the competition arenas of cross country and track," interim head track and field coach Brett Halter said. "I am thrilled to announce Rebecca as the head coach of our cross-country programs as she exemplifies the highest qualities of character, academic achievement and competitive excellence that we expect within the Tiger Family."
"We're excited that Rebecca Wilmes accepted the position to serve as the head coach for our men's and women's cross country teams," senior associate athlete director Mark Alnutt said. "She has done a tremendous job coaching and mentoring our student-athletes over the past 11 years. We look forward to continued growth and success both on and off the course as she takes over the helm this upcoming season."
Wilmes has put together an impressive résumé during her time at Mizzou as she has been named USTFCCA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year twice (2002, 2004) while tutoring 20 All-Americans in both cross country and track and field. Her greatest efforts to date may have come in the 2001 season when she coached the Mizzou distance medley relay team to an NCAA National Indoor Championship and a world-leading time that season.
"I've had the great fortune to be a part of the Missouri track and cross country program for the last 17 years with Coach McGuire," Wilmes said. "And now it's extremely exciting for me to be part of the next era with Coach Halter and continue the long standing tradition of track and cross country here at the University of Missouri. This University and program mean so much to me and my family and I am honored by the opportunity.
Under Wilmes' guidance, 2004 was a banner year for the Mizzou women's cross country team as the squad placed 11th at the NCAA Championships - Mizzou's best finish in more than 20 years - while winning its second NCAA Midwest Regional Championship in three seasons. She also coached the Tiger women to a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2003 and 16th-place nod in 2002. She has coached four cross country teams to top-16 national finishes during her time at Mizzou.
Her success on the cross country circuit is matched in her accomplishments on the track. She has mentored 17 Big 12 Champions in the women's distance and middle distance events with the most recent being Layne Moore (Emporia, Kan.), who captured the Big 12 1,000m run title at the indoor championships earlier this season.
Wilmes has also been responsible for continuing the Tigers' success at 800 meters. In fact, since 2004 Wilmes has coached seven 800m Big 12 Champions (indoor and outdoor) and saw her athletes combine for four All-America honors as Trisa Nickoley was the latest to do so during the indoor season in 2008 with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Her best year on the track may have come in 2005 when she coached four Big 12 Champions, including a second-straight for the distance medley relay team. Also, during the 2005 Big 12 indoor Championships, Wilmes placed a student-athlete in the top three in every event from 800 meters through the 5,000m run, including the distance medley relay as she had established Mizzou as one of the top women's distance schools in the conference.
As a student-athlete at Mizzou, Wilmes was the 1996 Midwest Regional Cross Country Champion and twice led her teams to the NCAA Championships. Wilmes was a two-time All-American in the 800m run and the 1,500m run. She was the Big Eight Newcomer of the Year in both cross country and track (1993-94). She was a two-time conference champion, a Drake Relays champion and a five-time Kansas Relays champion. During her career at Mizzou, she received the Missouri Coaches Award, the Bill Rawson Award and the Tom Botts Award. In 2000, she was an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 1,500m run.
Academically, Wilmes earned multiple Academic All-American and conference academic awards. She graduated magna cum laude in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in secondary education. Wilmes has also completed a master's degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.
Wilmes was named interim head men's and women's cross country coach following the resignation of Jared Wilmes. She will assume the role of head men's and women's cross country coach for the upcoming season and will be the associate head coach for the track and field team in the winter. With Wilmes at the helm of the cross country team, the entire track and field/cross country program will have plenty of pieces in place as it continues to strive for excellence during the 2010-11 athletic season.
For all the latest on Mizzou track and field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.
###