Ottumwa -- Blake Albrecht has been named the assistant coach for the Indian Hills running programs and an assistant in athletic communications.

Albrecht will aim to help bring the kind of success to the IHCC men's and women's track and field and men's and women's cross country programs that he accomplished at Vincennes University in Indiana where he was the head cross country coach and interim track and field coach for the past year.  In that position Albrecht had three NJCAA All-Americans, 10 NJCAA national placewinners, two top-five ranked NJCAA teams and saw his athletes set seven school records during the indoor and outdoor track seasons as well as cross country.

Prior to taking over as the head of the cross country and track and field programs Albrecht was a cross country assistant and the distance coach for track at Vincennes.  In that position he assisted with the day-to-day operations of both sports and coached all the athletes above 1500-meters in track, while also helping with meet management.

He was named the NJCAA Region XII men's and women's cross country Coach of the Year in 2017 and was also honored as the USTFCCCA Midwest Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Albrecht also served as the VU sports information director for a one-year period during his nearly two-year stint at the school.  Before arriving at Vincennes he taught social studies and was the cross country and track and field coach at Medora High School in Mississippi.

Albrecht was a track and cross country athlete for four years at Franklin College, winning all-conference honors four times.  He was also selected for the HCAC Sportsmanship Award, an Iron Man Award, and was voted Most Valuable Runner for cross country and track and field by his teammates and coaches as a senior.

The new addition to the IHCC running programs earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education and pure history from Franklin College, graduating in 2015.

At Indian Hills, Albrecht will assist Brent Ewing, who was elevated to head coach of the running programs earlier this year following the departure of Scott Barnes.