Texas State Athletics

Joel Keller is in his first season as an assistant distance and cross country coach at Texas State. Keller joined the Bobcat staff in January 2020 after serving as the recruiting coordinator and assistant cross country and track & field coach at the University of Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were the 2019 Men’s Big Ten Conference Champions and the Track and Field News Indoor Dual Meet National Champions.
 
He helped the staff sign 48 student-athletes who won 35 individual state championships and came from 11 different states and four countries. Earlier this year, Nebraska inked 17 signees who won 20 individual state titles and hailed from eight different states and four different countries.
 
Keller went to Nebraska after serving as a volunteer assistant coach at Texas Tech in 2017-18. There, he helped lead the men’s team to the Big 12 Conference Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Red Raiders also tied for fifth place at the NCAA Indoor Outdoor Championships, finished in sixth place at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and were voted the Track and Field News men’s outdoor dual-meet champions. The men’s cross country team also tied for the best conference finish in school history with a fifth-place showing at the Big 12 Championships.
 
His runners had nine All-Big 12 performances at the Big 12 Indoor meet, and the men’s and women’s cross country teams were named NCAA All-Academic Teams with each squad boasting six Big 12 All-Academic recipients.
 
Before joining the Texas Tech staff, Keller coached the 2016-2017 year at Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, N.M. While at Volcano, he led the boy’s team to a state runner-up finish at the NMAA 6A Track and Field Championships, and a 10th-place showing at the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships.
 
One of his runners, Jericho Cleveland, was the state champion in the 1,600 and 3,200-meters and finished in 10th place at the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships. In total, Keller coached six runners who won two individual state championships and boasted six All-State performances.
 
Keller graduated from the University of Indianapolis with a Bachelor of Science in exercise science in 2016. There, he was an NCAA DII national qualifier in the 3,000m steeplechase and earned an All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors in cross country. Keller holds the school record in the 3,000m steeplechase. He also received the William A. Bright Most Valuable Runner in cross country as a junior and served as team captain during his junior and senior years.