Wingate University Women's Cheerleading

Kelly Sheppard was hired as the head cheerleading coach at Wingate University in July of 2014. Sheppard graduated from Western Carolina University in 2007 with a B.S. degree in Nutrition Dietetics and a M.S. degree in Sport Management in 2008. During her time at WCU she was a five-year member of the Western Carolina cheerleading squad, serving as team captain from 2006-2008. During the same time she was named captain, Sheppard was also selected as team MVP and served on the SAAC. While at WCU, Sheppard and the cheerleaders participated in the NCA National competition. Kelly is married to Trent Sheppard. They had their first child, Aiden, in May of 2013

Matt van Lierop enters his seventh season as Wingate University director of cross country and track and field in 2025-26. He manages all aspects of six sports: men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field and men’s and women’s cross country. In 2024-25, the Bulldog men’s cross country and track and field teams finished fourth in the USTFCCCA Program of the Year standings for the second consecutive season.   For the last three seasons, the Wingate men’s and women’s cross country and track and field programs have swept the six SAC titles each year. The Bulldogs won cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field crowns in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.   Wingate started the 2024-25 campaign with two top-10 NCAA finishes in cross country. The Bulldog men took second place, while the WU women finished eighth in Sacramento, California. In the 2025 NCAA indoor championships, the Wingate men took seventh place, while the Bulldog women tied for 23rd place in Indianapolis.   The Bulldogs earned their first-ever track and field podium finish in the spring, as the Wingate men finished fourth at the 2025 NCAA outdoor championships in Pueblo, Colorado. The Bulldogs edged Harding by one point to take the final podium position. The WU women tied for 30th place at the same event.   During his last four seasons at Wingate, Matt van Lierop has led the Bulldogs to 12 top-10 NCAA performances. Wingate won the NCAA Division II men’s cross country national championship in 2023. The Bulldog men finish second at the NCAA XC championships in 2022 and 2024. Wingate’s top track and field finishes both occurred in 2025 with a seventh-place showing at men’s indoors and a fourth-place performance at men’s outdoors. Matt van Lierop joins Wingate family on June 1, 2019 Matt van Lierop joined the Bulldog family after 10 seasons as head track and field and cross country coach at the University of Mount Olive in Mount Olive, N.C. During his time with the Trojans, van Lierop’s track and field and cross country teams competed in 27 NCAA Division II championships with 56 All-American performances. Mount Olive won 42 regional and conference championships. Two Trojan student-athletes received CoSIDA (now CSC) Academic All-America® honors.    In his final year at Mount Olive, van Lierop led the UMO Trojans to Conference Carolinas championships in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field (six championships). The 2018-19 season was the third straight year Mount Olive won the Conference Carolinas Triple Crown as the Trojans swept the two cross country titles and the four track and field championships.   The Mount Olive cross country teams finished second (men) and fourth (women), respectively, in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region race. The Trojan men finished 13th at cross country nationals, with women’s standout Leah Hanle earning All-American honors for the third straight year.   In the 2019 NCAA Division II indoor track and field championships, van Lierop helped Hanle earn two All-American trophies (3000 meters and 5000 meters). In addition, he steered the men’s 4x400 meter relay team to the school’s first-ever All-American relay performance.   In the 2019 NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships, van Lierop guided Hanle to two All-American runs (the 10,000 meters and the 5000 meters). On the men’s side, Mount Olive had two relay teams glean All-American laurels (the 4x100 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay).    During his tenure at Mount Olive, van Lierop amassed a combined 35 Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year Awards in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. Matt van Lierop was named the Coach of the Year for both men’s and women’s outdoor track and field in the spring of 2019.   He was named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region women’s indoor and outdoor track and field Coach of the Year in 2019. In addition, van Lierop has also three times been named the USTFCCCA Division II men’s outdoor track and field Southeast Region Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2016). He was named the USTFCCCA women’s outdoor track and field Southeast Region Coach of the Year in 2011. Under van Lierop’s guidance, Mount Olive has consistently been ranked in the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Top 10 in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. The Trojans have earned numerous number one regional rankings. Prior to his time at Mount Olive, van Lierop was the head cross country and track and field coach at Keystone (Pa.) College for five years. During his tenure at Keystone, van Lierop was a five-time conference coach of the year winner, three times for men’s cross country and twice for women’s country. He guided Keystone to three men’s cross country conference championships and two women’s cross country titles.   During his student-athlete days, van Lierop competed at Lehigh University. He earned All-Patriot League honors in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Coach van Lierop received a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in psychology from Lehigh.  

Jackie Kirby enters her third year as Wingate University’s head coach for men’s and women’s track and field in 2025-26. She joined the WU cross country and track and field coaching staff as director of operations in June of 2022. She was promoted to her current position during the summer of 2023. She serves as an assistant coach for cross country.   Kirby’s first three seasons with the cross country and track and field programs saw Wingate sweep six-of-six South Atlantic Conference titles each year. The Bulldogs won the SAC men’s and women’s XC crowns in the fall of 2022, 2023 and 2024. Wingate claimed first place in the SAC men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field championship meets in 2023, 2024 and 2025.   On the national level, Wingate has won one relay and five individual national championships at either the NCAA Division II indoor or outdoor meet. Hamza Chahid had a hand in the first three, starting with Wingate’s victory in the men’s Distance Medley Relay (DMR) at the ’23 NCAA indoor meet. The next day, Chahid earned his second gold in the men’s 3000 meters. Chahid completed his triple crown with a triumph in the men’s indoor 5000 meters in 2024.   Titouan Le Grix picked up the torch, winning two outdoor national championships and one indoor national title. He sandwiched two outdoor 3000-meter steeplechase victories in 2024 and 2025 around a triumph in the 2025 men’s indoor mile. Le Grix and his teammates helped Wingate finish fourth in the ’25 NCAA outdoor championship meet in Colorado, the Bulldogs first podium finish in track and field.    Jackie Kirby coaching biographical sketch Wingate University   - Joined WUXCTF staff in June of 2022 as director of operations - Promoted to Wingate track and field head coach in the summer of 2023 - Southeast Region men’s Coach of the Year three times - SER indoor men’s COTY in ’25, outdoor men’s COTY in ’25, ’24 - South Atlantic Conference indoor Coach of the Year two times - SAC men’s indoor COTY in ’25, women’s indoor COTY in ’24   University of Mount Olive - Started Mount Olive XC head coaching tenure with Conference Carolinas men’s Coach of the Year award in 2019 - Six-time USTFCCCA SER track and field Assistant Coach of the Year while at UMO - 47 times Conference Carolinas league champions (both XC and T&F) - 15 times Southeast Region champions (both XC and T&F) - 57 NCAA Division II All-Americans (both XC and T&F) - 14 NCAA Division II XC national championship appearances with a 15th place men’s showing in 2019 - 14 NCAA Division II indoor track and field national championship appearances - 18 NCAA Division II outdoor track and field national championship appearances - Impacted every area of the UMO XCTF programs, including team operations, training and recruiting - Coordinated volunteer service outreach for the Trojans - Served four years as Mount Olive’s athletic department photographer for all sports. - Worked seven years as the program’s graphic designer and social media coordinator   Jackie Kirby USTFCCCA regional and national involvement   - Served on USTFCCCA national and regional poll committees (2016-present) - Served on USTFCCCA NCAA Division II cross country executive committee as Conference Carolinas representative (2018-22)   Jackie Kirby education and athletic honors   - Earned Bachelor of Arts degree in visual art, photography and graphic design from Keystone (Pa.) College in 2009 - Inducted into Keystone College's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019 - Received the Keystonian awarded to the school's most outstanding athlete three times (2007, 2008 and 2009) - Served on Keystone Student-Athlete Advisory Committee three years - Served as team captain for both cross country and track and field for two seasons each under the tutelage of then-KC head coach Matt van Lierop   What They Are Saying about Jackie Kirby Wingate director of cross country and track and field Matt van Lierop    “I’ve had the honor to watch Coach Kirby grow as a student-athlete, a coach and a person over the last two decades. She’s been with me from the beginning, part of my first-ever Keystone College recruiting class, when my coaching career began in 2004. Her development as a runner, following the ever-changing structure of the ‘medieval’ training program I was creating, helped me start what is now considered the ‘Wingate Way.’” “After her graduation, she accepted an assistant position with me at my next stop, Mount Olive. It’s there that we continued to tweak the program and where we recruited and met Pol Domenech in the fall of 2013. Kirby continued to impress and was elevated to associate head coach, and eventually became head coach of cross country, leading the UMO men to a top-15 finish at NCAAs in 2019.” “When a new position opened at Wingate, it was time to have her rejoin what Coach Pol Domenech and I were building here with the Bulldogs. She’s the final piece to the puzzle, adding her unlimited skill set in so many areas, including photography and graphic design. Upon her arrival, she immediately leveled our social media presence and recruiting materials way up, helping WUXCTF explode onto the scene, right as we began to hit our stride.” “Having Coach Kirby on this staff, while winning our ’23 NCAA men’s XC title, after this two-decade long journey, was just as good as it gets. In my opinion, she’s finally home, in this team family culture that’s so exciting to be around. Adjusting her position title to head coach for track and field and assistant coach for cross country was a no-brainer. She will continue to help Pol, and the rest of the WUXCTF coaching staff, elevate this program to the next level.”   Wingate XCTF alumnus Luis Hernandez Perez   “Coach Kirby has had a large impact on my life as an athlete, but also as a person in general. After my first couple of semesters were not going as planned, she kept believing in me and motivating me to better myself. This patience has really helped me become a better athlete. If it wasn’t for her, I might not have even continued in college.”   Hernandez Perez stayed the course, leading Wingate to its third consecutive South Atlantic Conference men’s cross country league championship in October 2023. Hernandez Perez finished second with his personal-best 8K time of 23:03.57.   “Over the last year, my results were improving drastically, but her attitude did not change. She kept motivating me and always tried to get me in the best position possible to perform well.”   “These attributes will be beneficial for everybody. I am certain that she will be successful and I am looking forward to the future track and cross country seasons and seeing everybody work hard towards their goals.”   Texas A&M University-Kingsville T&F/XC head coach Ryan Dall   “Jackie has always been an excellent coach and ambassador for the sport. Not only has she been successful on the track and in cross country, she is also a caring and compassionate person who always does her best to put her athletes’ needs first. Wingate is very lucky to have her and I’m sure she will continue to build on that program’s success.”  

Sheppard was hired as the head cheerleading coach at Wingate University in July of 2014. Sheppard graduated from Western Carolina University in 2007 with a B.S. degree in Nutrition Dietetics and a M.S. degree in Sport Management in 2008.  During her time at WCU she was a five-year member of the Western Carolina cheerleading squad, serving as team captain from 2006-2008. During the same time she was named captain, Sheppard was also selected as team MVP and served on the SAAC. While at WCU, Sheppard and the cheerleaders participated in the NCA National competition.  Kelly is married to  Trent Sheppard. They had their first child, Aiden, in May of 2013