Kenneth Giles enters his 22nd season as Norfolk State's head men's track and field coach and his 26th season as head men's cross-country coach in 2026-27. He also enters his 14th season as director of Norfolk State's track and field programs, overseeing the men's and women's track and cross-country teams with responsibilities that include recruiting, scheduling, and home meet operations.
One of the most successful coaches in MEAC history, Giles has led the men's cross-country program to 18 conference championships, including a record seven consecutive titles from 2000-06. The Spartans also won conference crowns from 2008-11 and added championships in 2017, 2019, and each season from 2021-25. Norfolk State earned top-12 finishes at the NCAA Southeast Regional in 2002 (12th) and 2005 (eighth), while also recording MEAC runner-up finishes in 1999, 2007, 2012, and 2016.
Giles has enjoyed similar success on the track. He guided the Spartans to seven consecutive sweeps of the MEAC Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships from 2006-12 and eight straight indoor titles from 2006-13. Norfolk State returned to championship form beginning in 2021, sweeping the MEAC indoor and outdoor titles each season through 2026 while also capturing the cross country championship to complete six consecutive men's championship sweeps.
Prior to becoming head coach, Giles helped the Spartans win both the MEAC Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships during the 2000-01 academic year as an assistant coach.
Under Giles' leadership, Norfolk State athletes have won 12 individual MEAC cross country championships and earned three NCAA All-Southeast Region honors. In 2006, David Kemboi became the first Norfolk State and MEAC runner to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Since taking over the track and field program, Giles has coached athletes to more than 100 individual MEAC championships and over 400 All-MEAC honors. His student-athletes have qualified for NCAA regional competition 104 times.
Giles has also mentored 15 USTFCCCA All-Americans during his tenure as head coach. Marlon Woods and Corey Vinston earned All-America honors in the long jump at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships, while Woods became the first Spartan to earn NCAA Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year honors in 2008.
His list of All-Americans includes four-time honoree Martha Bissah (800 meters), three-time All-American Kiara Grant (sprints), and two-time All-Americans Sean Holston (sprints), James Taylor (sprints), Keith Nkrumah (hurdles), and Champagne Bell (long jump). Trequan Barnes earned second-team All-America honors in 2019, the men's 4x100-meter relay garnered outdoor All-America recognition in 2021, and Kendrick Winfield earned USTFCCCA Indoor Second Team All-America honors in 2025.
As an assistant coach, Giles also worked with three Norfolk State All-Americans: Desmond Kapofu (triple jump), Adrian Shears (high jump), and Olympian Christopher Brown (400 meters).
For his success in cross country and track and field, Giles has earned MEAC Most Outstanding Coach honors 46 times. In 2025, he was inducted into the Norfolk State Athletics Hall of Fame.
A former standout middle-distance runner, Giles competed in the 800 meters at both Hagerstown Community College and the University of North Florida. He earned Junior College All-America honors in 1985 after placing eighth in the 800 meters at the national indoor championships. Giles later broke North Florida's indoor 800-meter school record.
Giles also served as the personal coach of Brown, a former Norfolk State All-American and five-time Olympian for the Bahamas. Brown won four Olympic medals in the 4x400-meter relay, including a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. He remains the only male athlete to compete in the 400 meters at five Olympic Games and the only four-time Olympic medalist in the 4x400-meter relay.
Giles earned his bachelor's degree from the University of North Florida in 1987. He and his wife, LaCresha, have two children, Kenneth Jr. and Ebone Kennya.
