Southwestern College Women's Track

Kirkland is recognized as a developer of champions, both on and off the track. He was named the Head Women's Track and Field Coach in 1994 after spending 12 seasons working with the team's sprint and relay programs. An NAIA Academic All-American in 1981-1982, Kirkland was a member of the Southwestern College record-setting 440-yard and 4 x 100 meter relay teams, and competed in the National Championships each of his two seasons for SC. Since taking over the men's and women's sprint & relay program in the fall of 1982, they wasted little time making an immediate impact at the conference and regional level, and have gained national attention with their accomplishments the past two decades. Kirkland has been named KCAC Women's Track " 14 times, including 11 consecutive honors, and has been named NAIA Region IV " four times.  He has recruited athletes to Southwestern that have been named All-KCAC in 10 separate sports.  During his tenure, the Lady-Builders have amassed a 723-89 record (.890), and did not lose to a conference from 1992 to 2010. Over the past 31 years, Kirkland's athletes have won 270 individual and 62 relay titles in KCAC Championship meets, and have been named All-KCAC a total of 397 times. SC sprinters have raced to 15 individual and 11 relay records in KCAC, NAIA District 10, and NAIA Mid-States Championship meets.  His women have swept the 4x100 and 4x400 relay titles at the conference meet, 11 of the past 12 years, and a Lady-Builder has been named the KCAC " a total of 15 times, since 1989. Individually, 54 athletes that he has recruited or coached have earned NAIA All-American honors a total of 94 times, including NAIA National Champion Carrie Plumley in the 55 meter hurdles, 2-time All-American sprinter Nicole Ledbetter, two National runner-up finishes by Anthony Jennings, and relay teams that have been National Finalists 15 times. In 1991, the men's 4 x 400 relay team earned All-America status with a 6th place finish in 3:10.25, anchored by Jenning's 45.4 split. This remains the fastest final ever run in the 4 x 400 relay at the NAIA Championships. In 2002, Amy King earned two Indoor All-American honors in the 55 meter dash, and triple jump.  In 2004, three-time All-American Andrea Mohr raced to a NAIA National Championship in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and set a new national meet record by 24 seconds. In doing so, Andrea is currenty ranked in the Top-100 "All-Time USA List" for the women's steeplechase. A native of Marysville, Kan, Kirkland served as Southwestern's  Director of Athletics from 2003-2009.  His most recent honor came with his induction into the Southwestern College Athletics Hall of Fame in November 2010. Tim Testa was named Head Coach of the Southwestern College Cross Country program prior to the 2016 season. Testa came to Southwestern from Junction City, Kan., where he has spent five years as an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Junction City High School, working primarily with distance runners for the Bluejays. In his five years at Junction City, he coached 48 Kansas 6A state qualifiers, including 10 all-state athletes. He coached Myrissa Humphreys, who held the JCHS 800 Meter school record, and coached five league champions and three regional champion relay teams. In 2013, Testa took the reins of the Junction City Middle School cross country program, and inherited 16 runners between the boys' and girls' programs. One year later, he fielded a roster of 62 middle school runners. The only league champions in JCMS history came under Testa's leadership. During his five-year stint as a physical education teacher at Junction City Middle School, Testa was active in the northeast Kansas running community. He founded the Junction City Track Club, and was a member of the Red Dirt Race Management team with the Manhattan Running Company. Testa was an NCAA Div. II Indoor All-American and the program's first, and only, three-time team captain at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan., where he ran for head coach Russ Jewett. During his four years with the Gorillas, Testa was a two-time MIAA All-Conference Cross Country selection, and a 12-time MIAA All-Conference selection on the track. He finished his collegiate running career as an MIAA steeplechase champion, and an indoor Distance Medley Relay All-American. Testa also started his coaching career at Pittsburg State. After graduating from PSU, Testa was hired as an assistant coach for the Gorilla cross country and track and field programs. During his one-year tenure with the Gorillas, Pitt State won the MIAA Women's Cross Country championship, and worked closely with the women's distance runners, who earned multiple all-conference honors. In addition to his duties as Head Cross Country Coach, Testa also serves as an assistant coach for the Moundbuilder track and field program, where he focuses primarily on middle distance and distance runners. Testa is a 2007 graduate of Junction City High School. He achieved his bachelor's degree in Physical Education, with an emphasis in coaching, from Pittsburg State University in 2011. He lives in Winfield with his wife, Lexi, and their two sons, Anthony (7) and Alex (5).