Eastern Washington announces the retirements of Stan Kerr, Marcia Mecklenburg & Dave Nielsen...

CHENEY--One day after sprinter Daniel Gaik announced on his social media account that he was transferring from Eastern Washington to the University of Washington, the Eagles announced that head men's track coach Stan Kerr, head women's track coach Marcia Mecklenburg (photo of Mecklenburg & Kerr courtesy EWU Athletics), and jumps/multis coach Dave Nielsen are retiring.

While it was known within college track and field circles in the state of Washington for at least several weeks that Kerr was retiring, the school waited until now to officially announce the retirements. Several independent sources told publisher Paul Merca that Mecklenburg was waiting until after the NCAA West Regional preliminary meet to decide.

Mecklenburg came to Eastern Washington in the fall of 1995, with Kerr joining her in a full-time capacity shortly after in January of 1996. The duo has coached thousands of athletes during their tenures, impacting lives beyond the track and throwing pits. Mecklenburg was the women's head coach and coached the throwers, while Kerr coached the men's team and oversaw the hurdles and sprints.

Nielsen was the head coach at Idaho State for 31 years, and was also the coach of world and Olympic pole vault champion Stacy Dragila. He retired from Idaho State in March 2016, then came out of retirement to join the Eagles in 2017-18.

"We want to wish Stan, Marcia, and Dave congratulations as they move into retirement. Their years of service to the sport of track and field, and specifically to Eastern Washington University, is outstanding.  They have been tireless workers for our department and for their students. They were always positive and very enthusiastic about their teams and have been role models in their daily display of loyalty and resilience in running their programs. Both Marcia and Stan spent almost the entirety of their coaching careers with us, which in this day of college athletics if very rare and extremely commendable. Dave was a great addition these past few years and brought a high level of expertise and work ethic to our established staff," said EWU athletic director Lynn Hickey in a statement.

The decision by Kerr and Mecklenburg to retire potentially impacts current cross country coach Sam Read, as well as pole vault coach Eric Allison.

It is assumed that there will be some movement of team members to other programs depending on who the school hires as its new coaches. The school will begin a national search for its next coach.

Eastern Washington's release is available here.

NOTE: The sports information office of Eastern Washington University contributed to this report.

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