DURANGO, Colo. -- May 10, 2005 -- Fort Lewis College Director of Athletics Dave Preszler announced today that Mark Kellogg will be the ninth head women's basketball coach. Kellogg, 29, replaces Greg Bruce, who retired from coaching this past March.

Mark Kellogg

Kellogg is planning to start his coaching duties at Fort Lewis by the end of this week.

"We are extremely excited to have Mark Kellogg as our head women's basketball coach," said Preszler. "He will bring a contagious enthusiasm and a high level of basketball knowledge to that program and will be a great fit in our department."

Kellogg will join the women's basketball program via Montana State University (Bozeman) where he has been an assistant coach since 2001. This past season, Kellogg was promoted to assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. In his first three seasons at Montana State, Kellogg served as the Bobcat basketball camp director in addition to his assistant coach functions.

"This is a tremendous opportunity," said Kellogg. "I am extremely excited to join the Fort Lewis College family, the athletic department, and the Durango community. I want to personally thank Dr. Brad Bartel and Mr. Preszler and the search committee. The Skyhawk women's basketball program has great potential and I'm very anxious to hit the ground running."

Among his many duties as assistant coach for the Bobcats, Kellogg's primary responsibilities were coaching the offensive and guard positions, recruiting, organizing team travel, scouting opponents, scheduling games and planning practices. While at Montana State, Kellogg helped guide the Bobcats to two Big Sky Conference championships, three appearances in the conference championship playoffs, and a bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

Prior to joining the Bobcat staff in 2001, the Dallas native spent two seasons as the assistant men's basketball coach at West Texas A&M University (Canyon). In his two years (1998-2000) at West Texas A&M, the Buffaloes finished first and second in their league and qualified for the NCAA postseason tournament in 1999.

Kellogg received his master's degree in sports and exercise science from West Texas A&M in 2000. He graduated in 1998 from Austin College (Sherman, Texas) with a communication arts and physical education bachelor's degree. While at Austin College, Kellogg competed on the varsity golf team for the Division III institution. Throughout his collegiate and coaching careers, Kellogg has experience in collegiate athletics at the Division I, II and III levels.

The recently-retired Bruce guided the Skyhawks this past season to a 15-13 overall mark and a second place finish in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference West Division with an 11-8 record. Fort Lewis received its first-ever bid to the NCAA postseason in 2004 under the guidance of Patty Patton Shearer. Patton Shearer coached the program to a 60-49 record in her four years at the helm (2000-2004), guiding the Skyhawks to three RMAC/Wells Fargo Shootout appearances and their first-ever RMAC West Division title (2004).