Ball State University Athletics
Randy Heisler Hired As Track and Field / Cross Country Coach
December 18, 2006 | Track & Field
Randy Heisler, the former head coach and director of men's and women's track and field at Indiana University, has been named the head track and field coach at Ball State University. Heisler will officially begin his duties at Ball State Jan. 4.
"We are very fortunate to be in a position to have an individual of Randy's caliber working with our women's programs," Ball State Athletics Director Tom Collins says. "His success speaks for itself and the relationships that he has developed in the state and throughout the country bodes well for the continued success of our program."
Heisler's success at Indiana included four NCAA Top 10 team finishes, five NCAA National Champions, 63 NCAA All-Americans and 76 Big Ten individual champions.
Heisler was named the NCAA Regional Coach of the Year four times and the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year three times. Indiana won three Big Ten Conference titles with Heisler as a coach.
Heisler started as an assistant coach for Indiana's men's and women's track and field team in 1989. In 1999 he was named head coach and in 2004, he was named director of men's and women's track and field.
A 1984 graduate of the University of Indianapolis, where he earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education, Heisler earned his master's degree in sports science from Indiana University in 1989.
Heisler, who retired as an athlete in 1996, was one of the top U.S. discus throwers for over a decade, representing the U.S. in international competition on 13 occasions. These include his efforts for the 1988 Olympic team and two World Championship teams where he won a bronze medal in 1995.
Heisler's personal bests are 221-10' in the discus and 65-7' in the shot, making him one of the best dual throwers in U.S. track and field history.
As a student-athlete, Heisler was a three-time NCAA Division II National Champion at Indianapolis. Since 1994, Heisler has been inducted into the Indiana High School Track and Field Hall of Fame, the University of Indianapolis Athletic Hall of Fame and, most recently, the NCAA Division II Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Heisler and his wife Tammy, have three children ? Lindsey, Kiley and Cameron.
