Track and Field

Curtis Vais

Head Coach--Men's and Women's Track & Field/Cross Country

Coach Vais enters his third year at NIACC as both the Head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach. Last Spring the Trojans produced four outdoor nationals qualifiers - Ronnisha Hall, Donny Severs, Lucas Nelson and Spencer Rahm - and Hall made indoor nationals in two events, earning U.S. Citizen All-American status in the shot put and weight throw events. In addition, two of Vais' athletes from the 2007 squad, Zach Bales-Henry and Logan Weeks, earned spots on the nationally-known Drake University cross country and track and field roster. In 2006, Dominique Pressley finished eighth in the outdoor nationals 400-meter race with an impressive clocking of 47.32 seconds. In the 2006 indoor nationals, Jimmy Lanik was a U.S. Citizen All-American, placing sixth in the 1,000, and a handful of others qualified in various events. Along with having recent success on the track, numerous Trojans track and field athletes have earned Academic All-Region XI honors.

Prior to NIACC Coach Vais served as assistant track and field coach at the College of DuPage, a NJCAA Division III school. While at DuPage the women's team won the 2004 Outdoor NJCAA Division III National Championship while the men's team finished second nationally. The 2004 squad was recently inducted to the NJCAA Region 24 Hall of Fame.

Coach Vais is a graduate of Mount St. Clare College (now The Franciscan University) in Clinton. An All-Conference runner and NAIA national qualifier, he continues to compete as a triathlete and was first in his age group while part of the Heart of America triathlon series in 2007. He and his wife Michelle reside in Charles City with their son Jacob.

vaiscurt@niacc.edu
641-422-4246

Tony Buhr

Assistant Men's and Women's Track & Field Coach

Coach Buhr comes to NIACC with a wealth of knowledge in the throwing areas of track and field. A graduate of North Central High School in Manly, Buhr was a three-time Corn Bowl Conference champion in the discus, and set records in both the discus and shot put while in high school. He qualified for the Iowa State Track meet for the discus event twice, finishing second in the discus in 1996.

Buhr is a graduate of Iowa State University. He and his wife Kathy reside in Mason City. He has continued to compete at the amateur level. He is a four-time champion at the Iowa State games, in both the discus and shot put.

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