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Kent Weiser
Director of Athletics

Under the leadership of Director of Athletics Kent Weiser, Emporia State has consistently competed at the national level in NCAA Division II on the field, in the class room and in the stands. ESU has ranked in the top 50 of nearly 300 D-II schools in each of the last four years, highlighted by an MIAA best 11th place finish in the 2007-08 US Sports Academy Director’s Cup Standings and a 12th place finish in 2005-06. In the classroom, Emporia State is ranked 11th in the nation in producing Academic All-Americans in the 21st century. The athletic and academic success has combined to place every ESU program in the top 25 in national attendance at some point during Weiser’s nine year tenure.

The Hornets have won 19 MIAA team championships and have finished in the top 20 of Division II in eleven different sports under Weiser’s leadership.

The Hornets had three top 10 finishes in 2007-08 as 12 of 15 programs made the NCAA post-season. ESU had top ten finishes in softball, women’s basketball and women’s outdoor track & field with runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship Tournament by the Hornet softball team highlighting the year. ESU also picked up top 20 finishes by the men’s indoor track & field, baseball, women’s tennis, volleyball and men’s outdoor track & field teams.

In the classroom ESU ranks 11th in the nation among Division II schools with 16 Academic All-Americans in the 21st century. ESU regularly places over 50 percent of its student-athletes on the A.D.’s Honor Roll and has had an NCAA Top VIII Award winner under Weiser. Eight coaches hired by Weiser have been named MIAA Coach of the Year in their respective sports. Ten of ESU’s 15 varsity programs earned Top 25 recognition at some point during the 2007-08 school year. During the 2003-04 school year Emporia State was the first NCAA Division II institution to advance to the postseason in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball with 11 of ESU’s 15 programs competing in the NCAA postseason.

His leadership of ESU’s fund raising efforts led to the largest single gift for athletics scholarships in school history, a $1.25 million contribution in 2004. Major capital improvements, such as the Hanna Baseball/Softball Clubhouse, Jones Field Super Turf, and the resurfacing of Witten Track have been completed under his watch with 100% of the nearly $1.5 million coming from donors. These improvements have helped maintain those facilities as some of the best in the nation at the Division II level.

He helped establish the first department-wide shoe and apparel contracts in NCAA Division II, when ESU partnered with adidas in 2000. ESU is still just one of just two NCAA Division II athletic programs in the nation to be a Direct Sales Partner with adidas. The agreement stretches buying power of all 15 Hornet programs and is similar to programs designed for NCAA Division I institutions.

While other institutions were faced with reducing sports, Weiser spearheaded the effort to add women’s soccer as a varsity sport, increasing participation opportunities for women at the University for the first time since 1980. His efforts helped ESU receive a grant from the NCAA in support of expanding administrative opportunities for women and minorities. Weiser has been a guest panelist at numerous NCAA and NACDA meetings, including for the Division II Strategic Alliance Matching Grant Enhancement Program and the NCAA Leadership Institute for Minority Males.

Weiser, a native of Great Bend, Kan., received a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Kansas. He began his career in athletics at KU, where he worked from 1981-88. During that time, he held administrative positions as ticket manager and marketing director He also served as the Kansas women’s golf coach from 1984-88.

He was the associate director of development for Ottawa University from 1990-93. He joined Emporia State in 1999, after serving as associate athletic director at Oregon State University for six years.

Weiser is married to the former Amy Pangrac, and the couple has two daughters, Katie and Abby.

© 1863 - 2007 Emporia State University • 1200 Commercial Street • Emporia, Kansas 66801
HPER 113 • Campus Box 4020 • Telephone: (620) 341-5350 • Fax: (620) 341-5808
Questions or Comments about this page email esusports@emporia.edu .