| ||||||||||||
Doug Molnar has seen
nothing but success since joining the coaching staff at The University of
Texas-Pan American.
In his second year as the assistant coach in charge of the distance runners,
Molnar has been instrumental as both the Broncs and Lady Broncs have shown a
dramatic improvement.
Junior distance runner Westly Keating became the first cross country
All-American at Texas-Pan American when he finished 25th at the NCAA Cross
Country Championships last fall. He bettered that performance by finishing
seventh this season, earning All-American honors again and leading the Broncs to
their best finish ever at the regional championships. The Lady Broncs also
improved markedly, posting their best finish since they were champions of the
Sun Belt Conference in the late 1980s.
The head men's cross country coach and an assistant track and field coach at
Kent State, Molnar was the interim head women's cross country coach while
serving as an assistant track and field coach at Tennessee. He came to Texas-Pan
American after serving as a men's volunteer assistant cross country and track
and field coach at Tennessee for two years. During his tenure with the
Volunteers, Tennessee won two NCAA Division I championships, was runner-up once,
and earned a berth in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The Vols also won
two outdoor Southeastern Conference titles during that time. While at Tennessee,
Molnar earned a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Cultural Studies,
concentrating on sports psychology.
A native of Lorain, Ohio in the Cleveland area, Molnar earned All-State track
and field honors and also played football at Admiral King High School before
embarking upon a four-year career as a runner at West Virginia. Molnar served as
team captain as a junior and a senior, earned a Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration in 1986, and remained in Morgantown to earn an MBA at West
Virginia the following year.
Beginning his coaching career, Molnar accepted a position as a graduate
assistant coach in track and field and cross country at Kent State, earning a
Master of Arts in Physical Education in 1992. He was a volunteer coach at
Oberlin College, then returned to Kent State as the head men's cross country
coach and an assistant in track and field. At KSU, Molnar assisted with a team
that finished 20th at the 1995 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field
Championships. He also coached six conference champions and two relay teams that
were ranked in the top ten by Track and Field News while working
with several athletes who represented the United States in several international
competitions.











