DES MOINES, Iowa – Kip Janvrin and Kirk Pedersen, whose three-decade tenure as co-coaches of the University of Central Missouri track and field program produced 21 Drake Relays titles across a wide spectrum of events, are to be inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame.
Janvrin and Pedersen will be honored Thursday, April 23 at the annual Drake Relays Hall of Fame luncheon at the Schickler Club in the Knapp Center on the Drake campus. Their induction brings the number of honorees in the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame to 95.
"We are privileged to welcome Kip Janvrin and Kirk Pedersen into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame," Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays Blake Boldon said. "Together, they built one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II history and established a legacy defined by record-breaking moments and championship pedigree. Their impact on generations of student-athletes and on the sport itself makes this recognition especially meaningful, and we are proud to celebrate their remarkable careers as part of the Drake Relays tradition."
It is the second Drake Relays Hall of Fame honor for Janvrin, who was inducted into the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame in 1996. Janvrin has won more Drake Relays championships than any other athlete, capturing 15 decathlon titles between 1987 and 2005, a stretch that included his time coaching at Central Missouri. He set the Drake Relays record in 1996 and it stood until 2025.
Janvrin and Pedersen led the men's and women's programs at Central Missouri from 1996 through 2024, when Pedersen resigned from the co-coaching position and Janvrin joined the staff at Kansas State. During their tenure, Central Missouri athletes won 14 Drake Relays championships in men's events and seven on the women's side. Janvrin also coached Lindsey Lettow when she won the Drake Relays heptathlon as a post-collegian in 2013 and 2014.
Central Missouri teams under the two native Iowans and Simpson College graduates were especially successful in the men's college sprint medley relay, capturing Drake Relays white flags in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2017. In three different years, their athletes won three events at Drake Stadium. Central Missouri posted victories in the men's university-college pole vault, university-college 1500, and college sprint medley relay in 1998; won the men's university-college steeplechase, college 4x200 relay, and college sprint medley relay in 2000; and took first place in the women's university-college discus, high jump, and hammer throw in 2015.
Athletes coached by Janvrin and Pedersen also won Drake Relays titles in the men's university-college 1500 in 1997, the men's university-college steeplechase in 2001, the men's college 4x100 relay in 2018 and 2024, the men's university-college pole vault in 2019, the women's college 4x800 relay in 2016, the women's university-college pole vault and college 4x800 relay in 2023, and the women's university-college high jump in 2004.
Central Missouri athletes also succeeded on a national level under their tutelage, with 26 different athletes winning a total of 49 NCAA Division II individual championships. The women's team swept the Division II indoor and outdoor championships in 2015, and the two programs combined for 30 top 10 team finishes at national championship meets. Their men's teams won 28 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships (16 indoor, 12 outdoor) and the women captured nine conference titles (six indoor, three outdoor). They garnered a total of 30 MIAA Coach of the Year honors and received two national Coach of the Year awards in 2015.
Athletes coached by the pair earned Division II All-America recognition 394 times, including 17 for thrower Drew Frizzell and 16 for Lettow, who was a four-time national champion in the combined events. Another athlete they coached, Vladimir Golias, won four national titles in the steeplechase. Andrei Skvortsox won three Division II pole vault titles while being coached by Janvrin and Pedersen.
Janvrin is now in his second year on the Kansas State staff, coaching the combined events and pole vault under Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Travis Goepfert, who began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Janvrin and Pedersen.
Pedersen remained on the Central Missouri staff for one season as the distance coach and continued for another year as the university's cross country coach, a position he held since 1987. His cross country teams combined for 14 conference championships and 13 All-America honors, including 1996 Division II champion Alexandr Alexin.
Janvrin is a native of Panora in west-central Iowa and a 1988 graduate of Simpson College, where he won three NCAA Division III decathlon championships as well as titles in the pole vault and 400 hurdles. He won his first Drake Relays decathlon title while at Simpson in 1987 and his last at the age of 39 in 2005. He is the world record holder with 41 decathlon championships during his career and competed in the 2000 Olympics.
Janvrin began his coaching career as an assistant at Central Missouri in 1989, a position he held until taking the co-coaching job with Pedersen in 1996. He also has coached internationally for Team USA, including twice in the Thorpe Cup, a competition between the U.S. and Germany in the women's heptathlon and men's decathlon.
Pedersen is a native of West Liberty in eastern Iowa and received his Simpson degree in 1985. He was a five-time Division III All-American and the indoor 800 champion as a senior. He spent 10 years as an assistant at Central Missouri before joining Janvrin in the co-coaching position.
