University of Evansville Athletics

The dean of the University of Evansville coaching staff, Don Walters enters his 21st year as head coach of the Purple Aces in 2018.

One of the crowning achievements of Walters' tenure at UE was the reintroduction of the track and field program, which restarted competition for the 2018-19 season.

Walters inherited a UE cross country program which barely had enough members to compete when he took over the program in the summer of 2000.  Since that time though, Walters has built the cross country program’s numbers to record levels, and success and stability have followed, both on and off the course.  His work in cross country in the community and at the school culminated in him being honored with the Ray Rayl Award.  Given out each year by the Greater Evansville Runners/Walkers Club, it is given in recognition of dedication to cross country in the Evansville community.

He played a large role in opening up the new Angel Mounds Cross Country Course in 2014.  Evansville hosted the UE Invitational in October of that year and got off to a great start as the women took the team championship.  The 2015 season saw the course play host to three events, including the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

His honor came on the heels of another great season in 2013.  For the second year in a row, he directed Kelby Jenkins to All-Missouri Valley Conference honors.  She won four events in her senior campaign while setting the program mark in the 5K.  In October's UE Invitational, Jenkins ran a time of 17:27.27 to break the record.  With an extremely young squad on the men's side, he directed them to a win at the Fleet Foot Invitational.  Josh Genet was the top finisher in each event.

In 2012, Walters led his squads to one of the best seasons in program history as both teams earned wins while the individuals performed at an even higher level.  Josh Genet and Cody Stein each earned individual wins for the men while Kelby Jenkins posted four victories for the women.  Jenkins also broke the UE 6K record in the NCAA's while running the second-highest time in the 5K of the MVC Championships. 

His teams complemented their efforts on the course with an even better effort in the classroom as both teams earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award.  For the women, it was the 13th season in a row that they have done so while the men were recognized for the sixth time in eight seasons.

UE has posted its highest team and individual finishes in the Missouri Valley Conference under Walters, while also rewriting over 80 percent of the UE record book.  The Purple Aces have also taken home nine team titles, including winning at least one team title in five of the last six seasons.  Walters has also provided the Purple Aces with a home course, as he personally designed and built the UE Cross Country Course, which is getting set to enter its 12t year of existence in 2013. 

Success has also followed off of the course for the Purple Aces under Walters’ direction, as UE has garnered 18 Academic All-America team awards. 

The NCAA has also honored Walters’ cross country programs each of the last three years for producing an Academic Progress Rate which ranked among the nation’s top 10 percent for cross country programs at the Division I level.  The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship.  The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance.

Walters came to UE after 11 successful years at nearby Tecumseh High School.  At Tecumseh, Walters fashioned a .780 winning percentage, and helped lead the Braves to 10 regional, seven semi-state, and five state finals appearances.  His long list of accomplishments includes a 1994 sectional championship at Tecumseh, and a string of nine straight years of coaching a state finals participant in either cross country or track.

Walters is so well respected for his knowledge of running, that he has been asked to assist with both the USA track and field and USA cross country teams’ preparations for world class events, including the 1996 Olympics.

Walters was a four-sport standout at Tecumseh, where he lettered in track, cross country, baseball, and basketball.  He went on to play basketball collegiately at Sam’s Technical Institute.

Away from the course, Walters is a successful businessman in the Tri-State area, who owns and operates D.W. Construction and Supply Company.  An avid golfer, Walters is very active in local community youth sports programs in the Tri-State area, as well as the Evansville running community.  Don and his wife, Jill, have two adult children, Ryan and Paulette.