Matt Kaczor has spent five seasons developing the distance and middle distance runners for the Central Michigan University track and field/cross country program. He was named the Associate Head Coach in 2012.



Kaczor served as an assistant coach for three-time Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year Jim Knapp in his first two seasons before working under Willie Randolph’s combined model starting in 2009. He replaced long-time assistant track and field and head cross country coach Craig Fuller on the coaching staff after Fuller announced his retirement from coaching in 2008.



In his time with the program, Kaczor has coached seven individual MAC champions, 27 All-MAC performers, five outdoor regional/prelims qualifiers, two NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifiers and 2008 All-American 800m runner Abraham Mach.

In 2011 he helped coach the men's and women's cross country teams to runner-up finishes at the MAC Cross Country Championships, and Tecumseh Adams to an individual men's MAC Championship. The men then finished seventh at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet with Adams qualifying for the NCAA Championships, and the women finished eighth. Adams went on to finish 69th at nationals.

The distance runners, under Kaczor, also experienced historic success during the track seasons. His student-athletes set four school records (men's indoor 3,000m and 5,000m runs - Tecuseh Adams; women's indoor 5,000m run and outdoor 10,000m run - Holly Anderson) in the winter and the spring and Adams won an individual MAC Championship in the indoor 3,000m run. Anderson also qualified to compete in the NCAA Championships East Preliminaries in the 10,000m run.

During the 2009 season, Kaczor helped guide the men’s and women’s cross country teams to third and fourth-place finishes, respectively, at the MAC Championships. The women finished an impressive ninth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional while the men placed 11th. The program combined for four All-MAC performers, including three first-team selections.

The distance runners flashed brilliance during both track seasons, with Raeanne Lohner finished runner-up in the 3000m, third in the mile run and running a leg with second-team All-MAC performers Sarah Squires and Danielle Dakroub in the runner-up distance medley relay at the MAC Indoor Championships. Lohner continued her development outdoors, as she won both the 5000m and the 10,000m to earn the MAC Most Outstanding Track Performer at the MAC Outdoor Championships. Lohner also qualified for the NCAA East Region prelims in the 10,000m, where she placed 18th.



Kaczor competed for the Chippewas in both track and cross country from 2001-04, and was part of three MAC cross country championship teams, in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and was a member of the 2003 outdoor track team that captured the program’s first MAC title. He served as captain of the cross country squad in 2004.



“Matt is a great addition to the staff,” Randolph said. “He is familiar with the program and being a CMU alum will be a great help to us. He has had success working with cross country since Craig Fuller retired. He is a young and talented coach who I expect to be very successful with our men’s and women’s cross country teams as well as our distance runners on the track.”



After graduating from CMU with a degree in secondary education and history in May of 2005, Kaczor began his coaching career at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, serving as an assistant coach for OU’s cross country and track and field teams. He coached two all-conference performers in the 3000m steeplechase while at Oakland.



Kaczor worked as a teacher in addition to his coaching duties at Oakland, most recently as a health and physical education teacher at the Academy of Oak Park - Mendota in Ferndale, Michigan. He previously taught in Troy, Michigan.



Kaczor and his wife, Jill, are the parents of a daughter, Clara Dee, and a son, Ryan Matthew. 

The Freeland, Michigan native is a United States Track and Field Level I certified coach.