Kelso is in his fifth year as an assistant track and field coach working primarily with the throwers after serving two years as a volunteer assistant. During his time, Kelso’s student-athletes have set 16 North Texas records, earned three individual conference titles and been named a Conference Freshman of the Year.
In 2019, Kelso guided three Mean Green throwers to five school records. Jaleisa Shaffer placed her name atop both shot put charts with a mark of 14.82 meters indoors and a throw of 14.95 meters outdoor. Haley Walker established the best UNT throw ever in weight throw with a toss of 17.76 meters and in discus at 51.29 meters, and Zion Hill moved to number one in javelin at 69.15 meters.
Three UNT throwers qualified for the 2019 NCAA West Preliminaries under Kelso in Hill (javelin), Walker (discus) and Kristyn Archuleta (javelin). At the Conference USA Indoor Championships, Shaffer placed fourth in shot put and Walker finished seventh for North Texas. During outdoors, Hill captured the title in javelin while Shaffer (shot put) and Walker (hammer) each earned runner-up honors and Archuleta placed fifth.
During 2018, three Mean Green throwing records were broken. Javier Lopez-Ibarra threw the javelin 66.55 meters, Archuleta recorded a javelin mark of 51.51 meters, and Walker registered 14.86 meters in outdoor shot put.
Ibarra-Lopez and Archuleta each represented North Texas in javelin at the 2017 NCAA West Preliminaries. UNT placed several throwers at the C-USA Outdoor Championships led by a runner-up finish by Ibarra-Lopez in javelin. Archuleta (javelin) placed third as did Karl Sralla (discus). Walker took home fourth in discus and fifth shot put, Shaffer concluded in seventh in shot put and eighth in discus, and Kevone Kennedy garnered seventh in discus.
Ibarra-Lopez and Archuleta again competed in javelin at the NCAA West Preliminaries. Archuleta took the javelin title at the 2017 C-USA Outdoor Championships on her way to being named the Conference Freshman of the Year. Lopez-Ibarra placed fourth in javelin while Sralla finished eighth. In discus, Kennedy took sixth with Sralla a spot behind him, and Kennedy also placed eighth in hammer. At the C-USA Indoor Championships, Kennedy finished eighth in weight throw.
In 2016, Kelso helped the Mean Green throwers to a pair of school records. Ngozi Nweke broke the weight throw mark with a throw of 17.70 meters at the Houston Indoor invite. Nweke also threw the second best discus mark in school history at 49.15 meters at the John Jacobs invite during the outdoor season.
Kennedy became a conference champion in the men's discus. Riley Donovan had a breakout season finishing top-10 in three events (discus, hammer throw, shot put) at the C-USA championships. Donovan's personal best hammer throw mark of 56.42 was second best in school history. During the indoor season, Donovan finished fourth in the weight throw at the C-USA championships.
Victoria Clark improved her school record in the hammer throw at 55.52 meters, earning second at the C-USA championships. Kelso guided freshman Ibarra-Lopez to a seventh place finish in conference and his personal best throw of 60.26 meters was third best in school history.
During the 2015 season, Kelso guided the Mean Green throwers to two school records. The first occurred during indoor competition when Deja McKnight launched a throw of 17.27 meters (56’8”) in the weight throw at the New Mexico Classic to solidify the furthest throw in North Texas history.
McKnight also posted the No. 3 throw in shot put at North Texas with a toss of 14.69m (48’ 2.5”), which was good for third place at the C-USA Championships. The second school record fell during the outdoor season when Victoria Clark unleashed a massive hammer throw measuring 55.14 meters (180’ 11”).
In 2014, Kelso helped Tom Kalisky qualify to NCAA West Preliminaries in the javelin throw with a monster throw of 64.02 meters (210’), the second-furthest throw in school history with a new rules javelin.
In his first year at North Texas, Kelso helped coach McKnight to a second-place finish at the Indoor Sun Belt Conference Championships. McKnight, Clark and Nweke claimed three of the eight scoring places in the shot put, adding 17 points to the women’s team score tying the 200-meter dash for the most points scored in a single event and paved the way for the women’s team to win the 2013 Women’s Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship.
In that same year, Aaron Sirles broke the school record in the hammer throw and took third place in the shot put at both the Indoor and Outdoor Sun Belt Conference Championships. Sirles capped his senior year with a personal best discus throw, qualifying him for the NCAA West Prelims.
Kelso also helped coach Charleston Lewis to break the school record in the 35lb weight throw. Solidifying a fourth-place finish in men’s weight throw during the Sun Belt Conference Championships, John Garrish threw a personal best and school record of 18.56 meters (60’ 10.75”), surpassing Lewis’ mark set earlier that season. Garrish also set the current school record in the hammer throw with a launch of 58.34 meters (191’ 5”), surpassing Sirles’ mark set earlier that year.
As a student-athlete at Hardin-Simmons University, Kelso competed in the 2009 DIII National Championships in the javelin throw and holds the school record in the event. He was a four-time American Southwest Conference Champion in multiple throwing events, including the javelin, shot put, and discus and was named American Southwest Conference Championships Outstanding Field Athlete and won the Conference Championships High Point Award on two occasions.
While earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Hardin-Simmons, Kelso was named the American Southwest Conference Men’s Track and Field Distinguished Scholar Athlete three times and was a member of the USTFCCCA DIII Men’s All-Academic Track and Field team in 2009.
Kelso and his wife, Alyssa, have a daughter, Karsyn.