GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado University athletics has named Mark Badowsky to be the next head coach of the Mountaineers' men's and women's track and field program.

"A huge thank you to the Mountaineer athletic department for already making me feel at home," exclaimed Badowsky. "I'm excited to get to Gunnison and add my experience to an already successful track and field program. There's a lot of hard work in front of us now, but I know there's a ton of potential in this talented group of student-athletes."

Badowsky arrives at Western following six seasons as the assistant coach at the NAIA's Southern Oregon University (SOU) where he led the recruiting efforts and coaching of the sprints, hurdles, throws and combined events groups.

The 2022 NAIA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year, Badowsky produced 48 All-Americans and a men's long jump national champion while with the Raiders program. His charges set 21 SOU school records along with achieving 60 top-3 performances on SOU's all-time performance lists.

Competing in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC), SOU athletes under Badowsky earned three CCC Athlete of the Meet honors at conference championships, 23 CCC individual championships—including 4 all-time CCC records—along with 69 All-CCC awards.

Prior to his work at SOU he was an assistant coach at Boise State University (2015-17) where he designed training programs for the hurdle, vertical jumps, and throws groups. Those student-athletes achieved 16 personal bests over two seasons, 4 All-Mountain West performances, and 5 top-3 program performances.

His coaching career also includes serving one year as an assistant for the Heat Track Club (Ga.) after working one season as a volunteer coach at Central Michigan University where he coached the horizontal and vertical jumpers.

"Mark's extensive background coaching and recruiting to a wide range of training groups displays how prepared he is to take the leadership reins of our Mountaineer program," said Director of Athletic Miles Van Hee. "He impresses with not only his coaching acumen, but also as a leader of collegiate student-athletes, working to form connections and to see the development of the person rather than just coaching the athlete to results.

"We are thrilled to have Mark joining our department and the program and know that the enthusiasm he brings will rub off on everyone with whom he is in contact here."

Badowsky graduated from Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) University in 2010 with a degree in kinesiology, then earned his master's in sport administration from Central Michigan in 2014.

A Level I certified U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) coach, he has completed USTFCCCA Track and Field Academy specialist courses in sprint/hurdles/relays and in strength and conditioning, and is in the midst of completing the Academy's advanced endorsement in short sprints.