Ryan Pitts Receives Joe Biden's Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – This past weekend, head track and field coach Ryan Pitts travelled to Houston, Texas where he received Joe Biden's Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2nd Annual Presidential Lifetime Achievement Awards Ceremony.

"This is an incredible honor for Ryan," Athletic Director Nate Houser said. "Ryan has worked very hard to get where he is today and we couldn't be happier to have him on staff here at Baker University. Ryan supports all student-athletes here at Baker and along with coaching the track and field team, also spends time helping run our student-athlete study hall program to make sure our student-athletes are successful both on the field and in the classroom."

Growing up in Southern California, coach Pitts dreamt of becoming a coach and mentor to young athletes. He began his coaching career at the age of 18, coaching youth sports in the city of Torrance, California. In 2003, Pitts enrolled at Baker University where he was a standout athlete in both football and track and field.

He earned accolades as an All-American wide receiver and was a National Qualifier in track and field for the hurdles. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History in 2006 from Baker University and then returned to his native state of California where he began his teaching and coaching career.

He would volunteer his time on weekends to train individual athletes who were not a part of his program.

"I didn't mind it at all," coach Pitts said. "It gave me a reason to wake up every day. Any time parents or kids would reach out for help and asked for training on the side, whether it served as an outlet or means to keep them off the streets, I wanted to help. Coaching and giving back to the community is a true passion of mine."

Coach Pitts' accomplishments have not stopped there as he returned to Baker in 2015 to be the head track and field coach. During his tenure, Pitts has won two conference championships and has produced 47 individual conference champions, 29 All-Americans and one National Champion. Pitts has also been named the Heart of America Coach of the Year as well as the Southwest Regional Coach of the Year.

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