Texas Tech University Athletics
Kittley Named To Lone Star Conference Hall of Honor
October 06, 2006 | Track and Field
Oct. 6, 2006
RICHARDSON, Texas - Former Abilene Christian University track and field head coach and current Red Raider head coach Wes Kittley is among the latest inductees to the Lone Star Conference Hall of Honor as announced recently by league officials.
Kittley will be joined in the Class of 2006 by former Angelo State men's basketball coach Ed Messbarger and ex-East Texas State football star Sam McCord. The LSC Hall of Honor recognizes outstanding individuals who have brought pride and honor to the conference and their school through their contributions as an athlete or who have demonstrated a long-term commitment to the betterment of the conference as a coach or administrator.
The inductees were chosen by a panel of athletic administrators throughout the league. Kittley is scheduled to be honored by ACU at halftime of its Nov. 11 home football game against Midwestern State.
The LSC Hall of Honor was established in 1996. A total of 31 former players, coaches and administrators have been inducted. Texas A&M-Kingsville leads all schools with eight inductees, while Angelo State has seven. Kittley and McCord are the sixth inductees from Abilene Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce (formerly East Texas State), respectively.
Kittley - who resigned from ACU in July 1999 to become the track and field coach at Texas Tech - won an NCAA-record 29 national track and field championships as the men's and women's track and field coach. Kittley, who gave ACU 23 years of service as a student-athlete, assistant coach, head coach and administrator, was born in Rule, Texas, and attended Rule High School, where he was a state champion on the mile relay team.
Kittley won his first national championship in 1985 when his women won the Division II outdoor championship, a title he would win again from 1986-88. When ACU combined its track and field programs in 1993, Kittley was selected to head the men's and women's teams. He wasted no time taking a floundering men's program to an elite level, winning the Division II indoor title in his first season. Aside from his coaching duties, Kittley had also assumed an administrative role at ACU.
In 1996, he led the men's and women's teams to all four NCAA Division II track and field titles (both indoor and outdoor titles) as ACU became the first school at any level of NCAA competition to accomplish the feat. The Wildcats did it again in 1999.
In 1997, he added the additional duties of associate director of athletics to his resume. His 15-year tenure at ACU included coaching 12 Olympic qualifiers, three Pan-American Games athletes, five World University Games athletes, 16 athletes who qualified for the world championships and one United States national champion.
As the women's coach, Kittley's teams won 15 straight Lone Star Conference titles and he was named LSC Coach of the Year 14 times. During his tenure as the men's coach, Kittley's teams won six straight LSC titles and he was named Coach of the Year five times. He coached the women's team to 20 NCAA Division II titles, and coached the men to nine national championships.
Release courtesy of ACU Sports Information Director Lance Fleming