Jesse Kemmerer is coming into his 3rd year as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach.
Jesse attended Emmanuel from 2012-2015 where he competed on the cross country and track teams. Jesse was an NAIA All-American in the Marathon, placing 5th in the 2013 track season with a time of 2:30:50. He also was on the cross country team that placed 3rd overall in the NAIA National Championship in Fall 2013.
Jesse graduated with a degree in Health and Physical Education from Emmanuel and then went on to pursue a ministry opportunity with The Navigators working at their summer camp, Eagle Lake Camps, full-time from 2015-2019. Jesse met his wife there at the camp, and then God led them to move back to Athens, Georgia to pursue teaching and coaching jobs.
Jesse's passion in learning more about running coupled with his passion to develop young men and women led him to pursue his Master of Exercise Science degree from the University of North Georgia (2021-2022) in hopes of coaching at the collegiate level, which brought him back to Emmanuel. Jesse holds both a USA Track and Field (USATF) Level 1 Coaching certifications as well as a USATF Cross Country Specialist Certification.
In his first season, he coached many of the runners to personal bests, and helped senior Demarco Hernandez finish his season well while breaking school records in the mile, 3000m, and 5000m races. The team grew substantially in 2024 to five ladies and seven men added to the roster.
With another great recruiting class for 2025, the Emmanuel Cross Country team is positioned to make great improvements this season!
