Truman State University Women's Track

Leslie Hardesty was promoted to the role of Head Track & Field Coach for both the men and women’s programs. Hardesty had served the past 17 seasons as the assistant coach and co-head strength and conditioning coordinator.   “I am excited that we can elevate Leslie to our Head Track & Field Coach position, as well as begin a national search to hire a Head Cross Country Coach that will lead our middle distance and distance program,” said Director of Athletics Jerry Wollmering. “With her years of experience and time spent at Truman State under John Cochrane and Tim Schwegler I know she believes in the Bulldog mission and shares the commitment to providing the best quality academic and athletics experience. I know she will work very hard to improve our track and field program in all areas.  I look forward to continue working with her now as our head track & field coach.”   “Truman State University and Kirksville, Missouri have been my home for the last 17 years,” said Hardesty. “During those years, we have always had wonderful groups of young men and women on the team.  I am truly honored to take this next step at Truman State by becoming the head track & field coach.  I would like to thank our athletic director, Jerry Wollmering and President, Dr. Sue Thomas for this amazing opportunity.”    Hardesty’s throwers have been successful at both the national and conference level during her tenure with eight school records broken, five All-American’s and 13 conference event champions. Her national qualifiers included Bridgette Carptenter, Ashley Colon, Ashley Bernard, Kortney Holeman, Rebecca Nelson, Cassidy Smestad, Natalie Telep and Rachel McCarroll on the women’s side and Derek Atwood, Alex Van Delft and Jacob Morris on the men’s side.   Smestad was selected and competed in the USA Track & Field Juniors Nationals in 2016.   Prior to her tenure at Truman State, Hardesty was the Head Track & Field coach for both men and women at Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) University for three seasons. There she coached 10 national qualifiers, four all-conference throwers, two all-conference jumpers and set a total of eight school records.   She is a native of Worthington, West Virginia and graduated from Seton Hall in 1996 with a bachelor of arts degree in communications. Hardesty was named the Pirates female track athlete of the year in 1996 while setting school records in both the indoor and outdoor shot puts, the weight throw and hammer throw. Her 1993 (won Big East Indoor) and 1994 (won outdoor) teams won the Big East outdoor championships.   Hardesty went on to receive a bachelor of science in physical education from Fairmont (W.V.) State in 1999, completed education courses in sports psychology at Cal State Haward in 2002 and received her masters of arts in education from Dakota Wesleyan in 2005. She is a level one coach with USA Track & Field.  

Schwegler enters his fourth season as Head Coach of the Bulldog Mens and Womens Track & Field and Cross Country Teams with the drive, enthusiasm and expertise to make Truman State a consistent Great Lakes Valley Conference contender. Schwegler has developed a well-founded reputation as a team-oriented coach who cares about individual athletes, both academically and athletically. Schwegler graduated from Truman in 1980 where he served as captain of the Bulldog Cross Country team and a member of the Track team. After graduation, he proceeded to work at Kirksville High School as the Cross Country coach and Boys Track & Field coach. He led the Tigers to three district titles, two North Central Missouri Conference championships and had three top ten state finishes. Following a four-year stint at KHS, Schwegler returned to Truman to complete his masters degree and served as a volunteer assistant for the Bulldog womens Track & Field/Cross Country squads. After completing his masters in 1986, Schwegler was named head coach at Highland Community College where he built a top-20 NJCAA Track and Field/Cross Country program. He coached 106 athletic all-Americans and 192 academic all-Americans during his tenure at Highland. The Scotties won eight Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference championships and were named the NJCAA Top Academic Team of the Year nine times. Schwegler was named the 1999 NJCAA Mens Track Coach of the Year and the 2004 NJCAA Region VI Womens Coach of the Year. Schwegler returned to the Truman and Kirksville community in 2006 to serve as an assistant coach for the Bulldogs. As an Assistant and Head Coach, he has helped produce 18 conference champions, six NCAA Div. II All-Americans, one National Champion, numerous USTFCCCA All-Academic scholars, and new school records in eleven different events. Originally from St. Louis, he also is an Instructor in the Exercise Science Department teaching courses in Health/Fitness and Nutrition. He has Level III coaching certification from USA Track & Field, Level I Lead Instructor in the USATF Coaching Education Program and a Strength and Conditioning Coach from the US Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association. Schwegler is the author and co-author of numerous articles in several research publications. He and his wife, Nancy (a Truman and Track Alum), are parents of two sons, Matt (a Truman Alum) and Sam.