Benedict College Athletics

Austin Kistner joins the Tigers after spending the past three years at Southeastern University, where he was promoted to Head Strength and Conditioning Coach in January 2021. While working with the Fire, Kistner helped both the men’s and women’s track and field teams win their first individual national championship in program history. Fire track and field now has a combined seven individual and one team national titles. 

During Kistner’s tenure, the baseball program at Southeastern  won a national title in 2022, and amassed a three-year record of 168-19, the best in the NAIA during that period. The wrestling program also saw four individual national title winners, the firsts in program history.  The softball, women’s tennis, and women’s basketball teams each made the national semifinals as well. In total, the Fire won 28 Conference titles during his three year stint. 

Kistner came to Southeastern from Delaware State University where he was a strength and conditioning assistant working with football, baseball, lacrosse, soccer and golf. He also served as the Director of Sports Performance at Central High School in Arkansas. 

Kistner was a Pioneer League All-Academic honoree at Davidson College  as a member of the football team where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies. He graduated with a Masters in Kinesiology from Southeastern, where he was also an adjunct professor of Kinesiology.  

Austin and his wife Morgan reside in Columbia, SC.