ROLLA, Mo. – Brandon Masters, a former pole vaulter and multi-event standout at Emporia State University, has been named as the new assistant track & field coach at Missouri S&T.

Masters is taking the position that was previously held by Kyle Rutledge, who stepped down to join the coaching staff at Pittsburg State University earlier this summer.

“We are extremely excited to have Brandon join our staff.  He brings a wealth of experience and a great deal of enthusiasm to our program,” said Missouri S&T director of athletics Mark Mullin. “I am confident he will do an exceptional job in support of the track and field program and our department.“

Masters spent the last four years as an assistant at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, working as the jumps coach for the Mountain Lions' program.  He worked with a team that had 15 all-conference performances, set five school records and had six NCAA Division II provisional qualifying performances during the 2012 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference outdoor championships.

In his first year at UCCS, the team produced the first All-America performer in the program's history with a freshman walk-on high jumper, along with five All-RMAC selections and setting nine school records along the way.
 
Over the next three years, his athletes produced an additional four All-America performances, 91 additional All-RMAC selections, 59 school records, 10 RMAC champions, 14 all-region Selections, and two USATF Junior National Qualifiers.

Following an outstanding high school career at Burlingame, Kan., High School, Masters spent one year at Ottawa University before transferring to Emporia State following the 1993 season.  At ESU, he qualified four times for the NCAA Division II Championships in the pole vault and earned All-America honors on three occasions, highlighted by a fourth place finish with a jump of 17-4 1/2.   In the 1997 season, Masters ranked among the top 50 pole vaulters in the United States with a clearance of 17-6 ½. Masters was also a national qualifier in the decathlon, recording a high of 6,692 points.

Masters garnered Academic All-America honors all four years during his career at Emporia State.

As a coach, Masters worked as a graduate assistant of Emporia State in the 1999 season and worked with the sprinters, multi-event competitors and pole vaulters.  The Hornets won the men's and women's outdoor team championship titles at the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships and ESU's women's team later placed fourth at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.

In that national meet, the Lady Hornets had two national championship performances from Deandra Doubrava in the heptathlon and 400-meter hurdles and the teams also had two national runner-up finishes and a fourth place showing in the women's 4x400-meter relay.