Leslie Hardesty began coaching at Truman during the 2005-06 season.

Hardesty comes to Truman after serving as the head men’s and women’s track coach at Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) for the past three seasons. Hardesty specializes in coaching the field athletes, especially those in throwing events.

While at Dakota Wesleyan, she coached the men to school records in the weight throw and hammer throw and she coached the women’s team to school records in the weight throw, javelin, hammer throw, 100m hurdles, triple jump and heptathlon. Ten athletes on her squads were national qualifiers and she coached four all-conference throwers and two all-conference jumpers. Her athletes also excelled off the track as she coached six NAIA scholar all-Americans and both squads had an average GPA above 3.00.

Prior to being at Dakota Wesleyan, she was an assistant coach for five years at North Marion High School in Farmington, W.Va. At North Marion, she coached 17 state qualifiers, eight conference champions and one regional champion.

Hardesty graduated from Seton Hall in 1996 with a bachelor of arts in communications. While at Seton Hall, she was a four-year member on the women’s track and field team. She earned all-conference honors in the weight throw, discus and hammer throw and was the 1996 Seton Hall female track and field athlete of the year. While in school, she set school records in the indoor and outdoor shot put, the weight throw and the hammer throw. Hardesty was a member of the 1993 indoor and 1994 outdoor Big East championship teams.

Hardesty also received a bachelor of science in physical education from Fairmont State University in 1999 and completed continuing education courses in sports psychology at Cal State, Hayward during the 2002 Olympics. Last May, she received her masters of arts in education from Dakota Wesleyan.