By: McPherson College Athletics
McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) — Kent Freund has been named the new head men’s soccer coach, McPherson College administration announced on Wednesday. Freund served as interim head men’s soccer coach for the past three months.
“McPherson College is lucky to have been able to hang on to Kent,” assistant athletic director Ed Loeb said. “We are grateful to him for stepping up and taking over in the interim role at the end of the fall semester. Our pool of candidate for the position was highly competitive, but Kent distinguished himself as the right candidate for the job. I am confident that Kent has all the qualities necessary to return McPherson College Men’s Soccer program to the top of the conference standings not only in wins, but in Champions of Character, and All-Scholar award winners, too.”
Freund has spent the past four seasons at McPherson College, the first two as an assistant coach and the latter two as associate head coach. During his time with the Bulldogs, he helped lead them to a pair of national tournament berths and coached four NAIA All-American selections.
“I am extremely grateful and excited to be selected as the Head Coach for McPherson College Men’s Soccer,” Freund said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to develop these student-athletes on the field, in the classroom, and as young men!”
Prior to arriving in McPherson, Freund was a graduate assistant at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., where he helped lead the Wildcats to four straight NAIA Tournaments.
Freund also spent time as the varsity girls assistant coach and goalkeeper coach at Blue Valley Southwest High School, leading them to back-to-back Class 5A State Championships.
He was also a standout collegiate goalkeeper, leading NCAA Division II Fort Hays State University to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 2014. He was a four-year letter winner for the Tigers and a first-team All-MIAA selection in 2014. Freund left FHSU with the most wins, most saves, and most shutouts in a single season and career in program history.
“Thank you to President Schneider, Amanda Gutierrez, Ed Loeb, and the rest of the committee for their belief in me to succeed in this position,” Freund said. “Thank you to Doug Quint for giving me the opportunity to come work at such a special place. I’ve been extremely blessed to work for and work with so many influential people in this industry, and I’ll use everything that I’ve learned to lead this program.”
Freund holds a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Fort Hays State and a Master’s degree in Sports Management from Baker University.
