OSKALOOSA — William Penn Athletics Director Nik Rule has announced the hiring of Victoria Vinokur as Head Track and Field Coach.
Vinokur comes to WPU from Missouri Valley College where she served in the same role the past four years. Vinokur, who concentrated primarily on coaching individuals in throws, multi-events, race walk, and horizontal and vertical jumps, was also the director of the cross country programs.
“Coach Vinokur has an energy and spirit about her that leads to quality relationships being built and an attention to detail on delivering a high-quality student-athlete experience,” Rule said. “She is well respected and someone our student-athletes and coaches are familiar with and have a high level of confidence in.”
“Her experience in building a team, training student-athletes, and recruiting set her apart, along with her expertise in field events,” Rule added. “We are excited about her experience in the NAIA and familiarity with the Heart of America Athletic Conference. She is the right person for the direction we believe the program can go.”
During her tenure at MVC, she guided 18 national qualifiers, five All-Americans, eight Heart of America Athletic Conference champions, and 60 all-Heart performers. Five school records were broken in her time there. The men’s hammer and weight throw groups ranked sixth in the NAIA during the 2023 campaign.
She was also a past president of the Heart’s track and field and cross country coaches group.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the William Penn University staff and administration for giving me the opportunity to lead this program,” Vinokur said. “I am very excited and honored to become the next track and field coach at WPU. I have watched this program grow under Coach Friesen, Coach Bvekerwa, and Coach Drake over the years and know that I have some big shoes to fill, but I am excited for the challenge.”
“You can see the sense of community and the hunger to compete at WPU, and you can tell how much everyone cares for the student-athlete experience,” Vinokur added. “As a coach, you always want to make sure the student-athlete comes first.”
“I know this program and University are hungry to succeed; you can see it within their coaching staff and student-athletes,” Vinokur said. “With that type of desire and fire, the sky is the limit for what this program is capable of. Knowing that I am the same way as a coach makes me excited about the program’s future.”
A 2015 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Superior with a degree in Exercise Science, she has a Master’s of Recreation Management from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2017 and a Master’s of Athletics/Activities Administration from William Woods University in 2019.
As a graduate assistant coach at William Woods, Vinokur helped coach 15 national qualifiers, eight All-Americans, eight conference champions, 17 all-conference performers, while 11 school records were broken.
Vinokur also has coaching experience at the prep level at Logan High School (Wis.) from 2016-2017.
At Wisconsin-La Crosse from 2015-2017, Vinokur was a graduate assistant for sport clubs and events, working with 25 competitive and activity club teams. She also interned with the athletics event staff during the 2016-2017 school year.
Vinokur was a two-sport student-athlete at Wisconsin-Superior, competing in both track and field and volleyball. She held multiple school records and qualified for nationals on numerous occasions. Vinokur was a team captain and four-time USTFCCCA all-academic award recipient.
“Finally, I also want to thank the administration, coaches, and athletes at Missouri Valley College for four great years as their coach,” Vinokur said. “I will always be grateful and cherish my time as a Viking.”
Vinokur owns a USATF Level 1 certification.
