Coaches: Hurdles, High Jump, and Multi-Event Coordinator
Kirke Adamson has completed 11 seasons as the track & field and cross country associate head coach at Utah Valley University. Adamson helped lead the Wolverines to another successful year as the men’s team won the Triple Crown (XC, Indoor Track & Outdoor Track), his 3rd triple crown overall.
Adamson coached the institution's first NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field All-American as Michael McPherson not only became the program's first-ever track athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships but also the track programs' first Division I All-American by placing 13th in the heptathlon at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships. With this success, Adamson was named the USTFCCCA Mountain Regional Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year, his 1st time receiving the honor.
During UVU's five seasons in the Great West Conference (2008-2013), Adamson helped lead the Wolverines to an astonishing 21 conference championships (5 men's outdoor, 5 women's outdoor, 1 men's indoor, 1 women's indoor, 4 men's cross country and 5 women's cross country), including all six titles in 2011-12.
Adamson has also helped produce 33 track & field NCAA Qualifiers during the past five seasons as well as lead the cross country teams to the NCAA Mountain Regional every season since 2009. Adamson has also coached 20 USTFCCCA All-Academic student-athletes in track & field during the past five seasons and both the men's and women's track & field teams have earned All-Academic status each year as well. The 2009 men's cross country team led the way by achieving a number seven national ranking with a team GPA of 3.63. Twice in Adamson's years the men's cross country team has led UVU with the top team GPA in the UVU athletic department.
Adamson was also named the Assistant Coach of the Year for UVU in 2008 and 2015. Also in 2008, Adamson helped guide both the men's and women's track & field teams to a National Athletic Conference Championship. During his tenure at UVU, Adamson has overseen a complete rewriting of the record books as all but 14 school records have been broken at least once. The all-time top-10 depth charts are littered with over 95 percent of athletes who have served during Adamson’s tutelage.
In his first year he helped coach 12 Div. I All-Independent student-athletes in track and field. The women's track team finished third at the 2004 Div. I Independent Championships that spring. In cross country, Adamson assisted in leading the Wolverine women runners to a fourth-place finish at the Independent Championships while the men finished fifth.
Before coming to UVU Adamson was the head track coach and assistant cross country and girls basketball coach at Orem High School in 2003-04. At Orem, the girls track team finished fourth in state, while the boys finished fifth. Adamson had five athletes win individual state championships in track and cross country that year. Prior to coaching at Orem, Adamson assisted the cross country, track and girls basketball teams at Mountain View High School in 2001-03. During that time the boys and girls cross country teams won the 4A Utah State championships. The boys cross country team won a national championship in 2003, while the girls’ team boasted a top-25 national ranking. Adamson was also an assistant track coach at Utah's Murray High School in 2000-01.
Prior to coming to Utah, Adamson coached track and cross country for eight years in Colorado. From 1993-95 he was the assistant track coach at his alma mater, Alameda High School. Then in 1995-96 he coached track at Kennedy High School. From 1996-2000 he was the head girls track coach and assistant cross country coach at Dakota Ridge High School. While at Dakota Ridge, the girls cross country team placed third at state in the schools second year of existence.
Adamson, from Lakewood, Colo., is married to the former Heather Wiemer of Pleasant Grove, Utah. Adamson graduated from Utah Valley University in 2007 earning his Bachelor of Science in political science. When Adamson is not coaching he enjoys various outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, biking, adventure racing and reading books. His brother Kent Adamson played football at Ricks College from 1981-83. His cousin, Craig Poole, is the former head coach of the BYU Track team and the USATF program at the Olympic training center in Chula Vista, California.
