Director of Athletics Ralph Patterson announced the hiring of Roger Keesling as Newberry's new head coach for the men's and women's cross country program in February 2019. Keesling was named head coach for the men's and women's track and field programs in May 2019.
"We couldn't be more pleased to announce Roger as our new head cross country coach," Patterson said. "We look forward to his leadership and his desire to develop a championship caliber program. He will also coach the distance runners in our men's and women's track and field program."
"I'd like to thank President Scherrens and Ralph Patterson for this great opportunity," stated Keesling. "I'm looking forward to being a part of the athletic family at Newberry College. I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running and working with the men and women on both the cross country and track teams, and I'm excited to build this program and take us to new heights and new opportunities."
"I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to take over the leadership of the Men's and Women's Track and Field teams," Keesling remarked in May after taking charge of the track and field programs. "I know the current and future student-athletes are eager and hungry to rise to new challenges and be a part of a championship program. Coach Johnson and I are planning on raising the bar here at Newberry and we're excited to start moving toward a very bright future."
Keesling joins the Wolves from Mississippi State, where he has spent over five years working with the Bulldogs' cross country and track and field teams as an assistant coach. He primarily worked with middle distance and distance events, as well as the horizontal and vertical jump events and the multi-events, in track and field.
While in Starkville, Keesling helped the Bulldogs compile 66 all-Southeastern Conference selections, nine SEC champions, 16 All-Americans, and four individual national champions between the indoor and outdoor seasons. The men's team twice finished eighth nationally at the outdoor championships while the women's team peaked at No. 13.
A PhD candidate in Kinesiology, Keesling was also in charge of Mississippi State's biomechanics program that assessed each student-athlete and developed a unique set of drills and exercises to help improve running form and mechanics.
Prior to Mississippi State, Keesling spent a total of six years coaching high school cross country, track and field, baseball, and football. He was also a high school state champion in Kansas in the 3200 meter run, won three collegiate conference championships, and was a six-time national qualifier between cross country and track and field.
