Bio

Emmett Statzer begins his first year as the Assistant Athletic Director and third year as Head Men's and Women's Track Coach. 

Statzer comes to Garden City after spending more than a decade leading the track and cross-country programs at Iowa Western. During his time in Council Bluffs, he guided the Reivers to unparalleled success, coaching 12 individual National Champions while winning three region crowns. In 2015, five of his athletes won it all, including three Outdoor National Champs: Andres Trajkovski-Sorenson-long jump, Yanique Bennett-400-meter hurdles and Strymar Livingston-800-meter dash. That same season, Statzer was named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

Statzer’s success at Iowa Western stretched well beyond the track. He coached 20 Academic All-Americans in addition to 118 athletic All-Americans. His teams were also involved in the Relay for Life in 2012, Make-A-Wish Special Olympics, multiple breast-cancer awareness projects and helped time high school track and cross-country meets. 

In 2016, Statzer directed the men’s and women’s cross-country teams at Iowa Western to a 14^th-place finish at Nationals. The year before, the men placed 10^th. But their best finish came in 2010 when they were seventh in the nation. In all, the Reivers’ cross-country squads recorded three top-10 finishes in Statzer’s 11 seasons. 

Before taking the job at Iowa Western, Statzer was the Head Track Coach at Elko High School in Elko, NV. for seven years where he also taught physical education and health. Prior to that, he coached runners, jumpers, vaulters and throwers at the middle-school level for two years in Elko. He began his career coaching and teaching in Hawthorne, NV, about 315 miles northwest of Las Vegas. 

Statzer has his USA Level-I and Level-II Track and Field Certifications. He received his Bachelors’ Degree in Elementary and Physical Education with a minor in coaching from Jamestown College in Jamestown, ND in 1996. He and his wife, Crystal, have seven kids: Denae (23), Cassie (22), Tevin (20), Peyton (13), Reya (8), Airlyn (7) and Cryson (6).