The Park University athletic department has announced Rikki Hacker as the new Director of Track & Field and Cross Country. Hacker officially makes his start today on September 1, 2023.

Hacker comes into the position after long-time Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach Brian Renshaw announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2023 track & field season.

The distance expert has many personal running accomplishments and coaching achievements to speak of, including being the Kansas City Marathon Overall Winner in 2003.  

Most recently Hacker has served as the distance coach for track and the cross country assistant coach at Shawnee Mission East (SME) High School in Prairie Village, Kan. since 2018. The Lancers with Hacker on staff have experienced unprecedented gains in their long-distance performance, highlighted by a 2022 Cross Country Boys 6A State Championship and a 2022 Cross Country Girls 6A State Runner-Up finish.

For SME, the boys state championship marks the program's first championship in 56 years. Hacker also oversaw a SME boys individual state champion in Wyatt Haughton that same year.

Switching over to the SME track & field program, Hacker lent his talents in that arena as well, leading the boys' team to 6A State Runner-Up finishes the last two seasons. The number of individual accolades Hacker's student-athletes garnered is staggering too. In his five seasons, he worked with six individual state champions, eight runner-up finishers, 35 All-State track athletes, and three state record holders. This is not to mention the numerous personal bests that his student-athletes of all levels reached.

"Rikki has had a huge impact on the running community in Kansas City. Coach Hacker is a competitor through and through, all while exemplifying the [NAIA's] Champions of Character core values. I'm excited for him to join our amazing staff!", says Park's Director of Athletics Kristin Gillette.

His previous coaching stops had some overlap, including Johnson County Community College from 2002-2008 and the Barstow School where he was the head coach for cross country and track from 2004-2008. Notably, Barstow won the 2004 Cross Country Boys State Championship and Hacker worked with 13 All-State Athletes in his four-year stint there.

Standing in the nine-year gap away from coaching, he focused his time as a fitness director and entrepreneur specializing in Muscle Activation Therapy (MAT), starting in 2009. Hacker is certified to perform MAT, a form of muscle, tendon, and ligament manipulation technique; a practice he uses in his personal business for those who sustain soft tissue injury.

Hacker is an alumnus of the University of South Florida where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Human Sciences. He resides in Prairie Village, Kan. and has two step-daughters, Kate and Khloe Kowalik. Kate is a distance runner in her junior year at Kansas State University (KSU), while Khloe graduated from SME this past Spring and attending KSU this Fall.