ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T has announced the hiring of Mary Duerbeck, who has competed at the international level in cross country and who has competed at the NCAA Division I Championships in track & field at Arizona State University, as its new assistant coach for the university cross country and track & field programs.

Duerbeck comes to S&T from Grand Canyon University, where she spent the 2016-17 season as an assistant coach.  During the last year, she helped guide the Lopes' men's and women's teams to Western Athletic Conference championships in the indoor season, as well as a second place finish at the WAC women's outdoor championships while the men's team placed third at that meet.

"We are extremely happy to have Mary joining our Miner family.  She brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the program," said S&T director of athletics Mark Mullin.  "I am confident Mary will make an immediate and significant positive impact on our cross country and track and field programs, as well as our department, campus, and community."

"We are fortunate to add Mary to our program and build on the tradition of S&T distance running," said S&T head coach Shaun Meinecke. "I believe that Mary's background sets her up very well to not only help develop a range of athletes, but also progress individuals to peak success at the culmination of their college career."

At the 2017 WAC indoor meet, nine GCU competitors finished among the top three in their respective events and five ended up among the top three at the outdoor championships.  The two teams broke 13 school records and achieved 51 personal bests during course of the two seasons.

Prior to her year at Grand Canyon, Duerbeck spent three years as an assistant coach for the women's cross country and track & field programs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  At UAB, the team established 27 school records and amassed 87 marks that ranked among the top five in school history, while the team's competitors won 12 Conference USA individual championships and had seven All-America award winners – which included a national runner-up finish by Elinor Kirk in the 10,000-meters.

"Mary's eagerness to help student-athletes improve was evident through our hiring process, and I know that future Miners are going to benefit from their interactions with her," Meinecke said.  "It's an exciting time for our program to add a person of Mary's experience and enthusiasm to our staff."

Duerbeck, a native of Chamois, Mo., where she competed on six state championship teams in cross country and track & field at Osage High School, began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Butler University.  After one year there, she spent a season at McNeese State University and four years at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas before moving on to UAB.

At Arizona State, she was the ninth-ranked runner in NCAA Division I in the 10,000-meters and 26^th among all American women in that event during the 2001 season.  She also competed in a cross country program that went from never competing at the NCAA Championships in that sport to a sixth place national finish in 2000.

Duerbeck earned her bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Arizona State in 2001 and in her coaching career, has coached 61 academic all-conference performers and four that have earned Academic All-America honors.