Head coach Brandon Masters oversaw the program's first outdoor women's individual national champion as Hiba Mahgoub captured the 200m title at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Allendale, Michigan.
Masters guided the Bearcats to 11 All-America performances at the 2021 outdoor championship meet - eight men and three women.
In Allendale, Mahgoub earned a pair of All-America honors in the 200m and 400m races. Senior Quincy McSweeney also garned first-team All-America status in the 800m.
The Bearcat men had its 4x400 relay squad of Caelon Harkey, Prince Griffin, Federico Crisco and Tyrell Maddox earn first-team All-America honors. Maddox and Harkey each tallied All-America status in the 400m. Dakota Schmidt notched his first collegiate All-America honor in the javelin. Freshman Reece Smith picked up first-team All-America honors in the 3,000m Steeplechase with a fifth-place finish.
Smith was named the 2021 USTFCCCA Central Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. This is the first time a Bearcat has earned the award during the outdoor season.
The Bearcat outdoor track and field squads combined to capture eight conference titles at the 2021 MIAA Championships held May 7-8 in Pittsburg, Kansas.
On the women’s side, Hiba Mahgoub claimed individual crowns in the 200m and 400m. Quincy McSweeney won the 800m. Delanie Dykes set a new school record in the 1,500m as she won the event in a time of 4:34.97.
Heading the men’s list was a double-winner Reece Smith. Smith captured the 3,000m steeplechase and the 5,000m. Caelon Harkey earned the MIAA title in the 400m. The men’s 4x400 relay finished the championship meet with a first-place finish from Harkey, Prince Griffin, Jevaughn Stanley and Federico Crisci.
Northwest added a trio of Drake Relays champions this spring when the Bearcats took a handful of athletes to the blue oval in Des Moines April 23-24. Mahgoub earned the 400m title with a time of :54.97. Quincy McSweeney garnered the 800m championship with a clocking of 2:12.74. Reece Smith tallied the 3,000m steeplechase crown with a time of 8:51.83.
The 2021 spring outdoor season saw the Bearcats set eight new school records under third-year head coach Masters.
The Bearcat indoor track & field program was able to see its season through with the NCAA Division II Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, after having it 2020 meet canceled by COVID-19.
The Bearcat men produced 11 first-team All-America performers – tied for third most in the nation trailing only Grand Valley State (19) and Ashland (17). Northwest’s men that earned All-America honors included Omar Austin, Caelon Harkey, Abdelrahim Mahgoub, Gavyn Monday, Blake Morgan, Jake Norris, Reece Smith and R.J. Williams.
The Northwest women also secured two first-team All-America performances (Delanie Dykes, Jada Shanklin) and one second-team effort (Bailey Blake) in Birmingham.
Austin was one of eight Division II student-athletes to earn three or more first-team All-America accolades at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham. Austin tallied All-America status in the 200 meters, 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.
Austin also captured MIAA championships in the 200m, 400m while teaming up with Harkey, Williams and Federico Crisci to win the 4x400 crown. Caroline Cunningham took home the MIAA title in the indoor mile.
Masters guided the Bearcat cross country and track & field program to a tremendous season in 2018-19.
Masters guided Northwest to 12 All-America honors in 2018-19. The Bearcats set 14 school records, tallied 36 national qualifying marks and produced 52 top-10 school performances. In addition, Northwest earned 16 academic honors from the USTFCCCA. In the previous five years before Masters's hiring, Northwest men's and women's track and field had averaged an eighth-place finish in the MIAA and a total of nine All-Americans had been achieved.
The Northwest men's indoor track & field squad notched a second-place finish at the MIAA Championship meet hosted in the newly constructed Hughes Fieldhouse. Northwest narrowly missed out on a conference crown by six points. Northwest swept the region awards as Kevin Schultz was named the region's field athlete of the year and Omar Austin was honored as the region's track athlete of the year. The Bearcats tallied seven All-America honors and finished 17th at the 2019 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championship meet.
Northwest posted four more All-America performances at the 2019 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship meet. In May, Northwest was ranked No. 12 in the national USTFCCA rankings. Northwest would go on to finish 32nd at the championship meet and the women placed 46th.
The Northwest cross country and track & field teams posted 121 Learfield Director's Cup points throughout the 2018-19 season. This accounted for 34.8 percent of Northwest's 347 Director's cup points in 2018-19.
Both the men's and women's teams earned USTFCCCA team academic awards in 2019.
Northwest Missouri State Director of Athletics Andy Peterson has announced the hiring of Masters as the head coach for cross country and track and field for the Bearcats on Aug. 8, 2018.
“I’m ecstatic that Brandon and his family have decided to join us at Northwest Missouri State and lead our Bearcat cross country and track and field programs,” Peterson said. “He has proven success as a head coach in developing student-athletes, not only as individuals, but as a team that performs both on the track and in the classroom. I’m excited for the holistic future of our track and field and cross country programs under Coach Masters’ leadership.”
“I’m truly honored to take on this challenge as the head coach at Northwest Missouri State,” Masters said. “This is a one of a kind opportunity to be part of opening the brand new 300-meter track in the state-of-the-art Hughes Fieldhouse. I know this track & field and cross country program has the potential to be great. I promise to bring leadership and a work ethic that will match the success already achieved by this school and athletic department. This team will be a family defined by hard work, a team-first culture, and a desire to be the best, together. I want to thank Andy Peterson and the administration for believing in me and giving me the support to make this program special. I am ready to get to work.”
Masters led an expansion of the track and field programs at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in the fall of 2015. He has served as co-head coach for the Mountain Lions in each of the previous two seasons. In 2017-18, UCCS won the women’s indoor RMAC title and the men’s indoor squad placed second at the RMAC championship.
Masters and co-head coach Ross Fellows captured Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference coach of the year honors in indoor women’s track and field in 2018. The Mountain Lions women’s indoor team placed 13th in the 2018 NCAA Div. II national championship meet.
One of Masters’ student-athletes, Skylyn Webb, became the first women's outdoor track and field student-athlete at UCCS to win a national championship. As national champion, Webb set a new meet and championship record in the 800m with a time of 2:02.47 while also qualifying for the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Championships. Webb placed 15th overall at the U.S. Championships.
The Mountain Lions carried a 3.22 cumulative grade point average, while posting 24 NCAA Div. II national qualifying marks and notching 15 NCAA Div. II All-America awards in the 2017-18 season. Masters oversaw 11 all-RMAC indoor performances and 23 all-RMAC outdoor accolades. The Mountain Lions captured the RMAC freshman of the year, RMAC athlete of the meet and RMAC indoor track athlete of the year honors in 2017-18. The Mountain Lions set 25 school records under Masters’ direction.
In 2016-17, Masters coached two All-Americans, who earned the status two times each, with a total of four national qualifiers over the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Prior to coaching at UCCS, Masters was a successful coach at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri. Masters spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Missouri S&T and was a part of back-to-back men’s outdoor Great Lakes Valley Conference team championships.
Masters coached the GLVC men’s indoor and outdoor pole vault champion at Missouri S&T. The vaulter went on to a No. 12 finish at the national outdoor championships. He coached 10 student-athletes at the national championships in pole vault at Missouri S&T.
Masters was an assistant coach at UCCS for four seasons before his position at Missouri S&T. He coached the Mountain Lion jumpers to four All-America performances, 106 All-RMAC performances, 10 conference champions, 14 All-USTFCCCA region selections and two USATF Junior National Qualifiers.
Masters was a three-time All-American in the pole vault and a national qualifier in the decathlon at Emporia State. He earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for the Hornets all four seasons. Masters was a graduate assistant at Emporia State in 1999 and was a member of the coaching staff that won the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association men’s and women’s outdoor team championships. The Hornets went on to finish fourth at the women’s outdoor national championships.
Masters and his wife, Gillian, are the parents of two boys, Logan and Dylan.
