Aug. 26, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou track and field head coach Brett Halter has announced that current combined events/jumps coach Dan Lefever has been promoted to associate head coach of the men's track and field team at Mizzou. Lefever has coached at Mizzou for eight seasons and in that time he has established himself as one of the top combined event coaches in the nation having mentored 15 All-Americans and nine conference champions.
"I am pleased to have the opportunity to elevate Dan to associate head coach of our track and field program," Halter said. "Dan has done a remarkable job developing our decathletes, heptathletes and jumpers over the last several years. He has established himself as one of our nation's top combined event coaches. Our program will certainly retain its national prominence with his leadership, commitment to excellence and dedication to upholding the great honor of the University."
"I am very pleased to accept my new role with the track and field team," Lefever said. "I hold great pride for the excellence that the University of Missouri exhibits in higher education and the tradition of success in the department of athletics. To be able to represent our great university and athletic department in my new role is a great honor. I am humbled to be placed in this new role and pledge to uphold the high honor of the University of Missouri. I look forward to working extremely hard to put Missouri track and field in a place of national prominence."
2010 was another banner year for Lefever as he mentored both Nick Adcock and Lars Rise to All-American status at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He also coached Adcock to a Big 12 heptathlon and Big 12 decathlon title, making him the only student-athlete in the history of the league to sweep both titles in the same season. Not only that, but Adcock earned USTFCCA Midwest Regional Field Athlete of the Year and reset the Big 12 and school record in the heptathlon with his 5,938-point effort at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
He has also coached Adcock and Rise to success on the international scene. Just this summer, Rise took 15th overall in the decathlon at the European Championships while Adcock placed sixth at the USATF Championships in the decathlon, earning him a spot on the USA Thorpe Cup Team for the second-straight season.
Over the past summer, Lefever was also one of six United States coaches to be selected to the IAAF World Junior Championships Coaching Seminar and Tutorial in Canada. The seminar is held in conjunction with the World Junior Championships.
In 2009, he coached three student-athletes to All-American honors, highlighted again by Adcock and Rise. Adcock claimed All-America honors in the heptathlon during the indoor season while Rise was an All-American decathlete during the outdoor slate. Both Adcock and Rise, along with women's combined event standouts Kaela Rorvig and Lauren Begany all earned All-Big 12 honors under Lefever in 2009.
Not only did Lefever's athletes excel in the combined events in 2009, but he coached pole vaulter Brian Hancock to All-America status during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. He also guided Daniel Hunter to a third-place finish at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships as he finished with a personal-best leap of 2.15m (7-0 1/2), just one height shy of claiming the Big 12 title.
In 2008, Lefever's athletes achieved four All-America honors and eight All-Big 12 placings. In just his sophomore season, Lefever coached Adcock to All-America honors in both the indoor and outdoor. Additionally, Adcock won the Big 12 heptathlon title, scoring a then school record 5,795 points. Adcock also went on to earn his second international medal in scoring Silver at the NACAC U23 Championships in Toluca, Mexico. Adcock, in 2007 won Gold at the USATF Junior Championship in the event and earned Silver at the Pan-Am Junior Championships in Brazil.
Lefever was also instrumental in the successes of decathlete Hans Uldal's run as a Tiger. In April 2006, Uldal eclipsed the prodigious 8,000-point mark in the decathlon with an 8,018-point effort at the Audrey Walton Combined Events. Uldal, a 2004 Olympian for his home-country Norway, also qualified for the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Uldal, the 2005 Big 12 Champion, also claimed Gold at the 2007 European Cup Combined Events.
In 2008, Lefever coached post-collegian Fiona Asigbee to a Drake Relays Championship in the heptathlon and at the USATF Olympic Trials where Asigbee took sixth. In 2007, Lefever coached Hedvig Glomsroed, who broke Mizzou's record in the triple jump.
Lefever came to Missouri from Boston College where he established the pole vault as a strong event in the Eagles' women's program in addition to coaching the horizontal jumps, with three of his athletes earning All-BIG EAST honors. While at Boston College, Lefever earned his master's degree in Counseling Psychology. As an undergraduate, Lefever was an outstanding pole vaulter and team captain at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He was the 1999 NCAA Division III and NAIA runner-up in the pole vault, and finished his collegiate career having won five conference titles and placing second in the remaining conference meets. He was honored as the Nebraska Wesleyan University's Outstanding Male Athlete in 1999.
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