COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri track and field program has brought in Ethan Bray as an assistant coach to oversee the pole vault event, head coach Brett Halter announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Bray spent this past season in Manhattan, Kan. as an assistant coach with Kansas State’s track and field program, leading the Wildcats’ recruiting and pole-vaulting efforts. The team saw seven Second Team All-American honors during the season, six coming from the indoor NCAA Championship in Boston, Mass. in March.
After graduating from the University of South Dakota in 2020 as a student-athlete competing in the pole vault, Bray served as the program’s director of operations.
“I am incredibly excited and honored to join this staff,” Bray said. “There is a lot of success in the history at Mizzou and with this coaching staff. I am thrilled to be a Tiger and hit the ground running.”
Bray is a three-time All-American in pole vault while competing at South Dakota from 2016-21. He earned third place at the outdoor NCAA Championship his senior year, clearing a height of 5.55m/18-02.50, also taking fifth earlier in the year at the indoor championships with a height of 5.50m/18-00.50. With a bronze medal at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Bray qualified for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.
During his time as a student-athlete, Bray claimed second in the Coyotes’ record books in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault, clearing heights of 5.65m/18-06.50, his career-best, and 5.61m/18-04.75, respectively. Bray also claimed the Summit League title in the event twice and totaled six additional runner-up finishes.
A native of Fisher, Ind., Bray graduated from Hamilton Southeastern High School in the fall of 2016. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 2020. Bray previously gained experience at South Dakota’s ticket office, beginning in June 2019 and was promoted to assistant director of ticket operations in January 2022. Additionally, Bray was named the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President during the 2019-20 year and was a SAAC representative for four years.
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