JONESBORO, Ark. (7/27/18) – Arkansas State track and field head coach Jim Patchell has announced the promotion of Matt Kraft to the position of associate head track and field coach.
“Coach Kraft is one of the best throws coaches in the nation and has elevated our throws program to an elite level,” said Patchell. “I am very proud to have him on our staff and he has helped me tremendously to achieve some of the goals for our program.”
Entering his 12th season at A-State, Kraft has produced 13 NCAA All-Americans (1st Team, 2nd Team and Honorable Mention), 19 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Champions, 32 NCAA Preliminary Championship qualifiers, 52 All-SBC performers, nine A-State school records, seven SBC all-time and championship meet records, and 58 incursions into A-State's top-10 all-time performance lists.
“I very much appreciate the trust and recognition from Coach Patchell in naming me associate head coach,” said Kraft. “His leadership and vision have been pivotal in re-establishing the prominence of A-State men's and women's track and cross country programs. I am honored to be able to play a role in those efforts. Our coaches work very well together here and will continue to work very hard to elevate the performance of this program in the conference and on the national scene.”
This past season, Kraft guided Calea Carr to a sixth place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the discus throw, the third-highest finish by a women's student-athlete in program history. Carr's performance marked the third-straight season that A-State saw a women's thrower earn All-America distinction.
On the men's side, Kraft saw two throwers from his group advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Itamar Levi (shot put) and Cristian Ravar Ladislau (hammer throw). Ravar Ladislau earned All-American honors for the second-straight season and ended his A-State career as the school record holder in hammer throw. Levi captured the program record in discus throw and climbed to second in shot put during the outdoor season while advancing to the NCAA Indoor Championship in shot put as well.
