University of Central Missouri Men's Cross Country

Janvrin shares the head-coaching duties for track & field with Pedersen. He is in his 27th season on the Central Missouri staff, his 20th as co-head coach. Janvrin works primarily with the sprinters, hurdlers, and multi-event athletes.     Janvrin helped to bring Central Missouri their first-ever National Championship in womens track and field, winning the Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2015.     For years, Janvrin was ranked as one of the worlds top athletes in the decathlon, winning the 2001 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He reached the pinnacle of his career in 2000 as a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in the Sydney Olympic Games. To make the U.S. team at the Olympic Trials, he had to run the final decathlon event, the 1,500m, in under 4:13. He won the event in 4:12.01 to make the U.S. team.     In Sydney, Janvrin, the oldest U.S. decathlete to ever compete in the Olympics, placed 21st and was the winner in the 1,500m. He is the world record holder for most career decathlon wins (41) and the American record holder for most career decathlons over 8,000 points (26).     After placing fourth in the decathlon trials, Janvrin just missed making the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team. Later that summer, he scored a personal-best 8,462 points, which at the time, made him the sixth-highest performer in U.S. decathlon history.     In the fall of 2003, Janvrin set a world record in the double decathlon, competing in 20 track & field events over two days in Turku, Finland. In 2005, he set a World Masters (40+) Decathlon Record in San Sabastian, Spain.     Janvrin has won the decathlon a record 15 times at the Drake Relays, the most by any athlete in the history of the competition. In 1996, he was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame. He also won the decathlon at the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival and 1995 Pan Am Games.     A 1988 graduate of Simpson College (Iowa), Janvrin had an outstanding collegiate career, winning three NCAA Division-III championships in the decathlon, as well as individual championships in the pole vault and 400m hurdles.     The coaching tandem of Pedersen and Janvrin has produced 15 MIAA mens and five MIAA womens indoor championships, 12 MIAA mens outdoor titles (1994, 1998, 2001-2004, 2006-2011) and three Jennies outdoor conference championships.     During Janvrins tenure at UCM, he has overseen 24 National Champions win 42 titles, including 31 since 2003. In 2011-2012, Janvrin coached multi-event athlete Lindsay Lettow to two National Championships in both the heptathlon and pentathlon. She is the only athlete in UCM track and field history to win four National Championships in a two-year span.       In July 2012, Janvrin led the U.S. team as head coach at the NACAC Under-23 Championships, a competition between North American, Central American, and Caribbean nations, taking place this year in Guanajuato, Mexico.     The 50-year-old Janvrin is married to the former Teresa Snyder, who was a stand-out performer for the Jennies track team (1986-89). They have two sons, Jaxon, who is 19, and Mason, born just hours before the Pedersen twins in 1998, who is 17.  

Pedersen served as an assistant under former head coach Les Stevens for 10 years, and now shares the head coaching position for track and field with Kip Janvrin.     Pedersen has guided the Mules cross country team to 11 MIAA championships in the past 22 years, with 11 straight Top-25 finishes (from 1996-2007) at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. He has also coached the Jennies CC team to a trio of MIAA championships. In his career, Pedersen has earned MIAA Cross Country Coach of the Year honors 13 times.     Since 1994, Pedersen has helped coach the Mules to 17 MIAA indoor championships, and 12 outdoor. In the last 11 years, he and Janvrin have garnered 15 MIAA Indoor Coach of the Year awards, adding 10 more Coach of the Year honors for the outdoor season. In 2002 and 2015, Pedersen and Janvrin were also named United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Indoor Coaches of the Year and the 2015 National Outdoor Coaches of the Year.     In 2015, Pedersen coached Megan Glamann to a 5th place All-American finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.     In 2010, the Mules tied the schools highest national finish with a third-place showing at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships. In 2000, Mules and Jennies Cross Country both placed 13th. For the Jennies team championship performances in the 2000 and 2004 South Central Regional, Pedersen was named South Central Region Womens Coach of the Year.     Pedersens 1995 and 1997 mens teams earned runner-up finishes at the Division-II Championships. In 1996 the Mules placed sixth at the NCAA Championships and produced an individual national champion in Alexandr Alexin. The 1995 mens team became the first cross country team to be inducted into the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame. The 1993 team joined them, and in 2006, the 1997 team was also inducted.     In 1999 both cross country teams won MIAA titles, with the Mules finishing seventh overall at the Division II Championships.     The 52-year-old native of West Liberty, Iowa is a 1985 graduate of Simpson College (Iowa). While at Simpson, he was a five-time NCAA Division III All-American and won the 800-meter indoors his senior year. In 1995, he was inducted into the Simpson Athletic Hall of Fame.     Pedersen is married to the former Jill Green. They are the parents of 17-year-old twins, daughter Jodi and son J.D., and 11-year-old daughter Amber.

Gipson is in his second season as a graduate assistant for the Mules and Jennies coaching staff. His primary responsibility will be the long and triple jumps. As an athlete, Gipson competed for Western State Colorado University. He was an 11-time all-conference athlete in the high, long, and triple jump for the RMAC. In 2012, Gipson earned All-American honors , in the triple jump. Prior to UCM, Gipson spent last season as an Assistant Coach for Western State. In his first season, he had two athletes compete at the Indoor National Championships. Gipson, earned his BA from Western State Colorado in both Business with an emphasis Management and Accounting with an emphasis in Professional Accounting. Akil Gipson Graduate Assistant Track & Field Coach Akil Gipson is in his second season as a graduate assistant for the Mules and Jennies coaching staff. His primary responsibility will be the long and triple jumps. As an athlete, Gipson competed for Western State Colorado University. He was an 11-time all-conference athlete in the high, long, and triple jump for the RMAC. In 2012, Gipson earned All-American honors , in the triple jump. Prior to UCM, Gipson spent last season as an Assistant Coach for Western State. In his first season, he had two athletes compete at the Indoor National Championships. Gipson, earned his BA from Western State Colorado in both Business with an emphasis Management and Accounting with an emphasis in Professional Accounting.

Barrows follows up a successful career as a member of the Mules cross country and track and field teams and will be coaching the distance runners. Barrows came to UCM in 2010 out of Smithville, Mo. As a senior, he claimed All-MIAA honors by finishing second in the outdoor 5,000m run at the conference meet.  Barrows has also been the recipient of the MIAA Academic Excellence award with a perfect 4.0 grade point average on three occassions. During the 2013 cross country season, Barrows was awarded the NCAA Elite 89 Award for carrying the highest cumulative grade point average at a championship event.