Abilene Christian University Women's Cross Country

Barnier is in his second year as head coach of the Abilene Christians distinguished track and field program. He became the Wildcats 18th head coach on May 10, 2013 following a decorated 11-year career at his alma mater Minnesota State University Moorhead.   During an expansive career thats lasted close to 30 years, Barnier has coached 109 All-Americans, seven NCAA national champions and seven Olympic qualifiers. Additionally, his sprinters have won titles at five different conference meets (SEC, ACC, Southland, MIAC, NSIC) and at the NCAA, USA, Jamaican, Canadian and World Championships.   Carlton Chambers, who Barnier coached while at Clemson, won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 with Canadas 4x100 meter relay, while another of his Tigers, Shawn Crawford, won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 200 meters.   Barniers coaching résumé also boasts Tony Wheeler, who won two gold medals and silver at the World Junior Championships between 1994 and 1997; 1995 NCAA 110m hurdles champion and U.S. Olympian Duane Ross, and Mitchell Francis the 1994 NCAA runner-up in the 400m hurdles.   Barniers arrival on ACUs campus coincided with the schools ascent into NCAA DI Athletics and return to the Southland Conference, which was ACUs home from 1964 to 1973. The Wildcats, in fact, won the leagues first seven championships before departing for the Lone Star Conference.   Over the course of 50 years, however, the league expanded from five mens teams to 26 mens and womens squads and Barnier would immediately be tasked with the challenge of retooling his indoor, outdoor and cross country rosters for a swift return to prominence; a legacy that includes 59 national championships and more than 400 All-Americas.   After retaining the services of ACUs decorated throws coach Jerrod Cook, Barnier set off on rebuilding the rest of his coaching staff from scratch starting with Drew Graham, an Adams State product who won several NCAA DII national championships in the 1500-meters and mile. Barnier then brought back ACU legends Cory and Angie Aguilar to coach the pole vaulters and multi athletes, and later added former Wildcat DII national champion Vladyslav Gorbenko to mentor the teams horizontal jumpers.   Equally important to the Wildcats and Barnier in the first days of his tenure was the return of Chloe Susset winner of six Lone Star Conference titles who missed the entire 2012 cross country season. But in her final season of eligibility with the Wildcats, a motivated Susset earned All-Southland Conference honors behind a fifth-place time in the 6K. Her efforts helped the first-year coaching staff prepare and inspire an untested roster of freshman runners, including Diana García Muñoz who took over Sussets role as team leader in the fall of 2014.    García Muñoz not only replicated Sussets fifth-place conference finish with a faster time of 20:59.2, but she also earned the programs first Student-Athlete of the Year Award from the Southland Conference.   Barniers first track and field season with the Wildcats certainly experienced its highs and lows. He inherited just six womens competitors with the best of those returners sprinter Reyare Thomas only eligible for the indoor track and field season. But Thomas made the most of her limited time and claimed the womens teams first ever individual indoor Southland championships, winning the 60-meter dash in 7.45 seconds and the 200m with an indoor meet record of 23.73.   Unfortunately, without Thomas in their lineup during outdoor season, the Wildcats slipped in the conference standings from ninth into a tie for 12th as García Muñoz was their lone all-conference selection after taking runner-up honors in the 1500m.   ACUs mens team came to Barnier in much better shape, solidified by the talents of sprinter Johnathan Farquharson, thrower Baptiste Kerjean, jumper Darian Hogg and multi-athlete Luke Woods.   The men finished their first Southland Conference indoor championship in seventh-place with 46.0 points despite Farquharson placing third in the 60m and with the 4x400-meter relay that also showcased veterans Osei Allyene-Forte and Devan Brown, plus an exciting newcomer in Daniel Block.   A transfer from the University of Saskatchewan, Block was runner-up indoors in the 800m and received third-team honors outdoors in the 1500m. He went on to lead the Wildcats cross country team for much of the way in 2014.   Outdoors, the men jumped three places to take fourth with 63.0 points and were led by Kerjeans record-breaking victory in the hammer throw (210-1). The Wildcats also saw Woods take second yet again in the decathlon; Farquharson place third in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, and sophomore Jeremy Tatham finish third in the 110m hurdles.   After the season was compete, Woods, Kerjean and distance runner Erik Forrister all were voted onto the Southlands All-Academic Team.   Barniers mens and womens teams at Minnesota State University Moorhead both flourished equally during his decade of overseeing the program. The Dragon men were ranked sixth during the 2013 indoor season in the national computer rankings, highest in school history, and finished second in the NSIC Indoor Championships, led by senior Derek Bredy, who was high point performer of the meet. Bredy was also named Central Region Athlete of the Year.   The Dragons womens team, meanwhile, collected 15 All-America citations under Barniers guidance with Jennifer Hensel winning consecutive pole vault titles in 2007-08.   In the years prior to his head coaching appointment at Minnesota State University Moorhead, Barnier spent four years as an assistant track coach at St. Thomas (1987-90) and three years at Alabama (1990-92). He was appointed the head coach of Carleton College (Minn.) in the spring of 1993, but in the fall of that year he returned south to accept an assistant coaching position at Clemson, which included the additional titles of recruiting coordinator and an associate professor. In 1997, he returned to Alabama as an assistant coach and as the recruiting coordinator for the Crimson Tide.   A native of Elk River, Minn., Barnier competed in the hurdle events for Minnesota State University Moorhead from 1983-87. He helped lead the Dragons to eight consecutive NSIC Indoor and NSIC Outdoor titles. Barnier was a national qualifier in the 500 meters indoors and the 400 meter outdoor hurdles.   He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Fitness Management with a business concentration (1987) and later secured a Master of Arts degree in Athletic Administration from the University of St. Thomas (1990).   He and his wife, former ACU track and field all-America and Sports Hall of Fame member Sylvia (Dyer) Barnier, have one daughter, Angel. Sylvia was a five-time NCAA Division II national indoor champion and 20-time Division II All-America performer who won five indoor national titles between the triple jump and 55-meter hurdles. 

Walker is at the start of his second year as a graduate assistant coach for the Wildcats' cross country and distance programs. He was hired by ACU head coach Keith Barnier in the summer of 2013. Walker came to ACU from Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, where he was a two-year team captain and 800m national qualifier. He left the college holding six school records and graduated from there with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. Walker is currently a graduate student in ACU's Ministry of Divinity program.

Rasor had two third-place finishes in the 110-meter hurdles at the conference meet and qualified for the NCAA DII National Championships in the event in 2011. Rasor was named the Lone Star Conferences Scholar-Athlete for ACU during the 2011-12 school year. In high school, Rasor was a four-time Texas state qualifier in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles. He placed third at the state meet in the 300-meter distance during his senior season of 2008. At Baylor, Rasor assisted with the 400m and 400m intermediate hurdling group as well as the mens and womens steeplechase. He also helped coach Baylor's freshman 400m hurdler to a fourth-place finish at nationals as well as an all-America on the 4x400m men's relay team. Rasor's additional duties with the Bears included organizing meet travel, recruiting research, scouting and working the 2013 Big XII Championship. During his time with the Baylor track and field team, Rasor was the program coordinator and coach for the city of Waco's 2013 and 2014 summer track program. In that role, he coached community youth alongside many current BU athletes. The Dimmitt, Texas, native earned a master's degree in sport management in May of 2014 from Baylor. He received his bachelor's degree in secondary math education from Abilene Christian University in 2012. Rasor is the author of , which was presented in April 2013 at the College Sport Research Institute Conference. Track & Field Facility Trends between NCAA Divisional Institutions