Coach Vega enters his fourth season coaching at NDSU and his 20th college coaching season in total. Vega primarily coaches the short sprinters and hurdlers.
In his first three year at NDSU, Vega’s student-athletes have compiled an impressive list of accomplishments: four school records, five regional qualifiers, 18 indoor Top-10 NDSU performances, and 20 outdoor Top-10 NDSU marks.
His women hurdlers were ranked as high as 10th in the nation in the 100m hurdles event squad rankings, 11th in the 60m hurdles, and 14th in the 400m hurdles during 2023. On the men’s side, the Bison 60m hurdles crew had the highest ranking at 15th in the country for the event group.
In 2023, Vega coached Terezia Bolibruch to the Summit League 60m hurdles and 100m hurdles championships, sprinter Kendra Kelley to new NDSU school records in the 60m dash and 200m dash, and freshman Blake Nyenati to the 60m hurdles school record.
As it stands entering 2024, Vega has coached six of the top 10 marks in NDSU history for the women’s 60 hurdles, as well as four of the top 10 performers in the women’s 60m dash and men’s 60m hurdles.
Vega came to NDSU in August 2020 from the University of Mary, where he was named the 2019 and 2020 NSIC Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year, as well as claiming Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors from the USTFCCCA in 2018.
Prior to NDSU, Vega had coaching stints at UMary, St. Rose, Graceland, and Minot State.
At the University of Mary, Vega coached 21 NCAA Division II All-Americans and 14 NSIC conference champions, directing the sprints, hurdles, middle distance and relay events for the Marauders.
Before UMary, Vega was the head track & field and cross country coach at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., (2016-17) and the head coach at NAIA Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa (2013-16). In his time at Graceland, he had 14 NAIA All-Americans and 40 national qualifiers.
In all, Vega arrived at NDSU with 13 years of collegiate track & field coaching experience.
Vega was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American as a track athlete for the Bison from 2002-07, and a member of the Bison team that placed third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2004. Vega ran on NDSU’s school-record 4x400m relay teams – both indoor and outdoor – and held the indoor 600m record until 2018. He still ranks sixth in NDSU indoor history in the 400m dash and seventh outdoors.
Vega graduated from NDSU with a degree in business administration in 2007 and earned a master’s in business management from Minot State in 2009. The St. Charles, Minn., native is married to Cassandra Vega and they welcomed their first child Violet Vega in October 2023.
