Assistant Coach Matt Musiel

Bio

Matt Musiel enters his second season as the assistant cross country and distance track coach at Bellevue University, bringing with him over three decades of coaching excellence at the high school level and now quickly making a major impact at the collegiate level.

In just his first season with the Bruins, Musiel helped guide the 2024 Bellevue University men’s cross country team to the program’s first-ever NSAA Conference Championship, securing a berth at the 2024 NAIA National Cross Country Championships in Gans Creek, Missouri. The men's team produced four NSAA All-Conference runners, while on the women’s side, Madison Nelson captured the NSAA Individual Cross Country Championship, earned All-Conference honors, and qualified for the NAIA National Cross Country Championship.

Musiel also coached two Bruins to qualify for the NAIA National Marathon Championships in Sacramento, California, where Madison Nelson earned NAIA All-American honors.

• In track and field, Musiel has continued to build on that success:
• In 2024, he coached three NSAA Outdoor All-Conference runners.
• During the 2025 indoor season, four athletes earned NSAA All-Conference honors, followed by six NSAA All-Conference selections during the 2025 outdoor season.
• Freshman Ronald Kipyegon qualified for the 2025 NAIA National Indoor Championships in Gainesville, Fla., competing in the 800 meters.

In just two seasons, Musiel has helped rewrite nine Bellevue University men’s indoor middle-distance and distance records and eight outdoor records. His 2025 men’s indoor Distance Medley Relay and men’s 3200-meter relay teams were both near qualifiers for the NAIA National Championships.

Prior to Bellevue, Musiel had a distinguished 35-year coaching career at the high school level, with impactful tenures at Bellevue West High School and Lincoln North Star High School in Nebraska. His résumé includes:

• Coaching numerous state champions and medalists in both cross country and track & field.
• Guiding the Bellevue West girls to the 2002 Class A State Championship and the 2003 runner-up finish in track.
• Leading two Class A boys cross country teams to state runner-up finishes at Bellevue West.
• Producing elite athletes like:
  • Jeralyn Poe – four-time Nebraska All-Class Cross Country State Champion, All-American at Michigan State University, and Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier.
  • Liem Chot – three-time Nebraska State Cross Country Champion who competed at Temple University.

At Lincoln North Star, Musiel's 21-year tenure featured:

• 42 girls’ and 64 boys’ individual state track medals, plus 28 relay medals.
• Multiple state champions in events such as the 800m, 1600m, 3200m, hurdles, long jump, and relays.
• A 3200-meter relay team that set the Nebraska State Record (7:44.1) in 2005 and placed 3rd at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in 7:40.1.
• 18 of 20 boys' 800-meter runners qualified for the state meet.
• 13 athletes enshrined as Track and Field “All-Time Greats” on the LNS Wall of Fame.

In cross country at Lincoln North Star:

• 11 girls’ and 16 boys’ individual state medals, including 6 All-Class medals.
• 12 boys’ team qualifications and 3 girls’ team qualifications for the Nebraska State Meet.
• 22 athletes recognized as Gatorade All-Time Greats on the school’s Wall of Fame.
• Poe and Chot were both multi-year Nebraska Gatorade Runners of the Year under Musiel’s guidance.

A 1985 graduate of North Bend Central High School, Musiel was a three-sport athlete and multi-time state medalist. He continued his running career at Augustana University (Sioux Falls, S.D.), competing in cross country and middle-distance events. He was inducted into the Augustana University Coaching Hall of Fame in 2015.

Musiel received the 2020 Lincoln KFOR Ralph Beechner Coach of the Year Award, holds a USATF Level 1 coaching certification, and serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he teaches Track and Field Theory. He remains active as a runner and community race organizer, including his longtime work with the North Bend Old Settlers Road Race.

Musiel’s wife of 36 years, Candi, has recently retired after teaching English at Bellevue West and Lincoln North Star. They have three children:

• Kiefer (31), a manager at the Omaha Scheels, is married to Amanda, a P.E. teacher and coach at Lincoln North Star.
• Connor (29), a sales representative at Sandhills Global in Lincoln, is married to Whitney, also with Sandhills Global, and has a daughter, Della (11 months).
• Keatyn (19), who just completed her freshman year at the University of Sioux Falls, where she competes in track and field.

Interested recruits can contact Coach Musiel via email at mmusiel@bellevue.edu, by phone at 402-730-2478, on X @CoachMusiel, or by filling out a prospective athlete questionnaire (men) or a prospective athlete questionnaire (women).