AZUSA, Calif. -- After 32 years of association with Azusa Pacific track and field as a student-athlete, assistant coach, and men's head coach for the past 22 years, Kevin Reid has accepted an offer to become the men's & women's head track & field coach at the University of La Verne.

A 2014 inductee into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame, Reid led Azusa Pacific to 14 of the program's 26 national titles. The 13-time NAIA Coach of the Year owns more national championships than any coach in the history of the NAIA. He guided the Cougars to eight NAIA indoor championships and four NAIA outdoor titles since he took over the winningest program in NAIA history back in 1996.

"When you look at Kevin's tenure of service to Cougar Athletics, it ranks among the longest in university history," Director of Athletics Gary Pine said. "His name is among the likes of Cliff Hamlow and Don Lawrence as some of the coaches with the longest tenures at Azusa Pacific, and his APU legacy is intact and impressive. I am happy for him because of this new challenge, and I am confident that his track & field reputation will continue to grow as he takes the University of La Verne program to new heights."

Reid arrived at Azusa Pacific in 1985, competing as a two-sport star in football and track and field before graduating in 1988. He joined the track and field coaching staff in 1989 as an assistant to legendary track coach Terry Franson, and he took over as head coach when Franson retired from coaching in 1996. He led Azusa Pacific to its first-ever NAIA Indoor Track & Field national championship that year, the first of eight NAIA indoor national titles for the Cougars.

In 21 of his 22 years at the helm, Azusa Pacific has produced an individual national champion, and the Cougars posted top-10 finishes in all 17 NAIA Indoor Championship meets, including seven indoor national titles in nine years between 2002 and 2010. Along with four consecutive indoor titles from 2007-10, Azusa Pacific also claimed outdoor national championships in 2008 and 2009 for a run of five national championships in a row over a three-year stretch. No other school in NAIA history has been able to duplicate the Cougars' five-meet consecutive-championship streak.

"After more than 30 years at one place, the history and the relationships make it extremely tough to move on, but I'm excited for the new challenge," Reid said. "God's hand has been on the Azusa Pacific program for a long time, and it will continue to be. Track and field gave me the opportunity to take over and grow up as a professional, both collegiate and internationally. I couldn't be more thankful for those opportunities and relationships, and deep down I'll always be a Cougar."

Reid developed a reputation for expertise in the multi-events, coaching many of the nation's top young decathletes including eventual 2008 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bryan Clay. Reid has also served as the meet director of the annual California Invitational and Mt. SAC Relays combined events meets, bringing over 100 aspiring male and female competitors to the Azusa Pacific campus for the nation's largest annual collegiate combined events meet.

Reid recently received his fifth Team USA track and field coaching assignment as the women's head coach for Team USA's Thorpe Cup combined events team later this summer. He has also served twice as a Team USA Thorpe Cup assistant coach (2003, 2014), and in 2005 and 2015 he was the men's head coach for Team USA's Thorpe Cup delegation.