Park University (MO)

More about Coach Hacker...

• Alma Mater: University of South Florida, B.S. in Human Sciences
• Playing Experience: Hacker has extensive experience in distance events during his running career, notably he was the 2003 Kansas City Marathon Overall Winner
  • 1 Mile PR of 4:02.21
• Entering his 3rd Season

Coaching experience…

• 2023-Present / Park University, Director of Track & Field / Cross Country
• 2018-Present / Shawnee Mission East HS, Track Distance Coach | Assistant Cross Country Coach
• 2004-2008 / The Barstow School, Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach
• 2002-2008 / Johnson County Community College, Distance Coach | Cross Country and Track & Field Recruiter

• MXC placed 2nd at Heart Conference Championship for the 2nd consecutive season. Lukas Mehl and Cayden Walker qualify for NAIA National Championship. Both runners were also Heart 1st Team All-Conference.
• WXC placed 7th at the conference meet. Lily Brecheisen is the first female NAIA qualifier at Park since 2020. Brecheisen was a 2024 Heart All-Conference Honorable Mention her freshman season.

• Rosjai Curtis is 2025 NAIA Long Jump National Champion and a 5x NAIA All-American (Indoor T&F: Long Jump & Triple Jump, Outdoor T&F: Long Jump, Triple Jump, and 4x100m
• 8 women's track & field NAIA All-Americans
• 10 Heart Conference Champions
• Men's Track & Field
  • Indoor: 3rd at Heart Championships | Outdoor: 3rd at Heart Championships
• Women's Track & Field
  •  Indoor: 6th at Heart Championships | Outdoor: 4th at Heart Championships
• 38 marks from the outdoor season moved up in Park's outdoor records. 13 new all-time school records were established during the women's and men's indoor and outdoor track & field seasons 

• 2023 Heart Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year
• MXC placed 2nd at Heart Conference Championship
• Coached one NAIA men's cross country qualifier, Lukas Mehl
• 1x MXC Heart 1st Team All-Conference, 1x Heart All-Conference Honorable Mention

• Naiyah Landrum becomes women's hammer throw Park record holder
• 8x women's outdoor Top 10 marks
• 7x men's outdoor Top 10 marks
• National Qualifiers: 3x men's indoor track & field, 2x men's outdoor track & field 
• 1x women's outdoor track & field Heart Conference Champion - 4x100m
• WOTF Heart All-Conference: 1x 1st TM, 6x HM
• WITF Heart All-Conference: 1x HM
• 1x men's outdoor track & field Heart Conference Champion - 10,000m, 1x men's indoor track & field Heart Conference Champion - 600m
• MOTF Heart All-Conference: 1x 1st TM, 1x 2nd TM, 3x 3rd TM, 4x HM
• MITF Heart All-Conference: 1x 1st TM, 1x 2nd TM, 4x 3rd TM, 3x HM

  BIO

Hacker officially made his start on September 1, 2023. In his first men's cross country season, the Pirates took 2nd place at the Heart Championships and he was named the 2023 Heart Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.

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.

Previously, Hacker served as the distance coach for track and cross country assistant coach at Shawnee Mission East (SME) High School in Prairie Village, Kan. The Lancers with Hacker on staff 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 2022 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 in 2023 and 2022. 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.

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 senior year at Kansas State University (KSU), while Khloe graduated from SME in Spring 2023 and also attends KSU.