SMSU Athletics

Kirk Nauman is in his seventh season as head cross country/track & field coach at Southwest Minnesota State University in 2025-26. He was named to the position on Aug. 5, 2019.
 
Nauman, who has been named conference coach of the year more than 20 times in his career, brings more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience to SMSU including 19 years as a head coach. He is the third head coach for the SMSU cross country and track & field programs since being reinstated in 2012.
 
In his first season as head coach in 2019-20, SMSU’s Rebecca Manteuffel was named a 2020 NCAA Indoor All-American in the weight throw, while three Mustangs (two female and one male) earned All-NSIC honors at the 2020 NSIC Championships.

During the 2021 indoor season, Connor Wigand for the men's team earned All-NSIC honors in the shot put. The SMSU women's team set three school records at the NSIC Championships with Manteuffel earning All-NSIC honors in the shot put. Manteuffel also qualified for the NCAA Championships and earned All-American honors with an eighth-place finish.

The 2021 outdoor season had more accomplishments for the program as Manteuffel earned All-NSIC honors in both the shot put and discus and qualified for the NCAA Championships in both events. She earned All-American honors in both, placing eighth in the discus and ninth in the shot put.

The SMSU men's team had a strong 2021 NSIC Outdoor Championship with both Wigand (discus) and McKallen Smith (high jump) earning All-NSIC accolades. 

In 2022, Renald Pierre (60 meter hurdles) was All-NSIC during the indoor season, while Max Schmitt (400 meter hurdles) was an All-NSIC performer during the 2023 outdoor season. 

The 2024 NSIC Indoor Championship saw the SMSU women's team earn a pair of All-NSIC honors with Nadia Sanford placing second in the shot put, while Sierra Clifford earned third-place honors in the 600-meters.

During the 2024 NSIC Spring Championships, the SMSU women's and men's teams combined to break eight school records. The 2025 NSIC Indoor Championships saw two SMSU individuals earn All-NSIC honors with Tyler Smith placing second in the 600 meters, while Nadia Sanford finished second in the shot put.

Nauman has also had a 12 of CSC/CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees and one CoSIDA Academic All-American (Manteuffel, 2021) during his tenure at SMSU.

Nauman came to SMSU following three seasons (2016-19) as head men's and women's cross country/track & field coach at NCAA Division III Roanoke College in Salem, Va. During his time at Roanoke he coached six NCAA Championship participants, four All-Americans and 23 Old Dominion Athletic Conference champions. A total of 94 Roanoke student-athletes were named all-conference while 30 were named all-region during his tenure.
  
Before taking over at Roanoke in 2016, Nauman served as the women’s and men’s head track & field coach for nine successful seasons (2007-16) at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. CSS reached new heights under his guidance with 33 NCAA Championships qualifiers with 10 NCAA All-Americans including nine his last four seasons. A 20-time Women’s and Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Nauman led the Saints to a combined 27 UMAC women’s and men’s indoor and outdoor team championships. He had a total of 31 UMAC Performers of the Meet during his tenure, while in the spring of 2019, Nauman was named the UMAC’s Track & Field Coach of the Decade.
 
Prior to arriving at CSS, Nauman was the head track & field coach and assistant cross country coach four seasons (2003-07) at Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minn. During his four years at Saint Mary’s, Nauman’s teams set more than 70 team records, had 20 NCAA Championship qualifiers including six All-Americans. The 2005 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year, Nauman had more than 60 MIAC All-Conference performers including 13 individual champions.
 
Nauman has also spent time as an assistant coach for track & field and cross country at Minnesota State University and assistant track & field coach at Allegheny College (Pa.). He was also interim head track & field coach for one season at Wisconsin-Superior.
  
Nauman earned his bachelor's degree in sports administration from Wisconsin-Superior in 1999, where he was a member of the track & field team and was team captain as a senior. He later earned his master's degree from Minnesota State in sports administration.
 
Kirk and his wife, Jamie, have two children, Jasper and Estella, and live in Ghent.