ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T has announced that Shaun Meinecke, an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming for the past five years, has accepted the head coaching position for S&T's men's and women's cross country and track & field programs.

Meinecke will begin his duties at Missouri S&T following the conclusion of the current outdoor track & field season at Wyoming,

"We are excited to have Shaun becoming part of our Miner family," said Missouri S&T director of athletics Mark Mullin.  "He brings outstanding experience, passion and a desire to develop student-athletes as students, athletes, and contributors to society.  He is very personable and knowledgeable about the sports and the many and varied events involved in track and field. 

"His strong multi-event background will have a strong and positive impact on our programs," Mullin added.  "I am confident he will excel as the leader of our track and field and cross country programs and will be a great asset to our department, the campus, and the community.  We look forward to Shaun and his family joining us soon."

"I'm very grateful to Mr. Mullin, the athletic department, and the university for being chosen to lead the cross country and track & field programs," Meinecke said.  "Coming to S&T is an opportunity to direct a group of exceptional student-athletes and help them maximize their experience on the track, in the classroom and in society.  It will always be a goal of our staff to win championships, but even more so, I'm looking forward to the process and the development it takes to consistently accomplish that goal.

"Personally, my family is looking forward to being a part of the Rolla community and enjoying being in such a welcoming environment," Meinecke added.  "The coaching staff has put us in a position to challenge the upper echelon of the conference and win championships and I am anxious to continue that pursuit."

During Meinecke's tenure at Wyoming, he handled the primary coaching responsibilities for the Cowboys' sprinters and hurdlers and well as the multi-events during the track season.  In the first four years, a total of 37 members of the team earned All-Mountain West Conference honors, including seven MWC champions and 18 that were NCAA West Preliminary qualifiers.

Meinecke's first head coaching job came in 2003, when he took that role for the women's cross country and track programs at Georgia Southern University and was twice named as the Southern Conference's coach of the year in outdoor track & field.  As head coach, he led the Eagles to back-to-back second place finishes in the Southern Conference in 2005 and 2006 and a total of 15 student-athletes won conference championships and 13 earned regional qualifying marks.

Two student-athletes set conference records along the way and one made an NCAA Division I qualifying mark as well.  Meinecke was also an assistant in the GSU program from 2001-03 before becoming head coach for the women's program.

From there, Meinecke went on to spend three seasons as an assistant at Miami University in Ohio, where he coached Kristina Bolterstein to back-to-back All-America honors during that span as well as two Mid-American Conference champions and three years as an assistant coach at Long Beach State University, where he coached 16 individuals to all-conference honors and four Big West champions before moving on to Wyoming.

A total of eight school and one conference record was established while Meinecke was at Miami and five more school marks were set at Long Beach State, while six program records were set by Wyoming student-athletes during the last five seasons.

Meinecke was an All-America decathlete at the NCAA Division III level at Luther College in Iowa, where he was a three-time national qualifier and a member of a national championship team in the distance medley relay in 2001.  He earned his bachelor's degree from Luther in business management in 2001 and his master's in sport management two years later from Georgia Southern.

Meinecke and his wife, Jacqueline, have one son, James.