Abilene Christian University Women's Track

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. 

Cook is in his ninth season on the ACU coaching staff and oversees the mens and womens throwing events in addition to serving as the meet manager for all home events. He has coached twenty-seven all-America athletes throughout his decorated career, including eight national championships in the throwing events and five national championships in the multi events.   Cooks biggest success stories as an ACU assistant coach have been Linda Brivule, Paige Newby and Nick Jones.   Cook coached Brivule to become the most decorated and most successful female javelin thrower in NCAA Division II history. Brivule won three consecutive national titles in the womens javelin from 2008-10, which had never been accomplished by any other female javelin thrower in history. Brivule also holds the NCAA Division II javelin record at 184-6, and also holds the NCAA Division II meet record. As a junior, Newby  won her first NCAA Division II title in the discus throw in Charlotte after earlier taking her first Lone Star Conference title. She threw season best of 162-0 to win at nationals and 156-9 to win at league meet in San Angelo. The year prior, Newby was runner-up in LSC discus at 156-2 and fourth at NCAA DII meet in 153-5.   In May 2012, Cook coached Jones to his NCAA DII-record fourth straight national championship in the discus. He had the three longest throws in the competition and finished with a best of 196-1 inch, to become only the third man in DII outdoor track and field history to win his event four times and the first in the discus.   The only other two men in NCAA DII history with four titles in one event are former Wildcat Freddie Williams in the 800 meters (1984-87) and Central Missouris Vladimir Golias in the steeplechase (1998-01).   Jones also won discus titles in 2008 (187-0) as a freshman in Walnut, Calif., 2009 (182-1) as a sophomore in San Angelo, and 2011 (199-4) in Turlock, Calif., after a redshirt season in 2010.   Cook additionally found success coaching the multi events, helping coach Camille Vandendriessche to three national titles in the decathlon and one national title in the indoor heptathlon, and Jessica Withrow to one national title and two runner-up placements in the heptathlon at the national meet.    In February 2013, Cook was named the NCAA Division II South Central Region Mens Indoor Field Assistant Coach of the Year and soon afterward was named the Wildcats' interim head coach for the outdoor season after former head coach Roosevelt Lofton was relieved of his duties.   Led by senior Baptiste Kerjeans win in the weight throw, Cook's crew scored 24 points at the inaugural Lone Star Conference indoor championship meet in 2013 to help the Wildcat men and women both league titles.     Outdoors, ACUs mens and womens teams each slipped to third place at their finals Lone Star Conference Championship. However, more than a dozen Wildcat throwers scored points there led by event winners Andrew Hudson (discus), Shalania Lakey (hammer) and Kerjean (hammer).   The 2014 season was the Wildcats first as NCAA DI members of the Southland Conference, but little changed for Cooks throwers as Kerjean won his third consecutive conference hammer throw title with a Southland meet record of 210-01 and Hudson again scored in the discus. On the womens side, Lauren (Hartwick) Jones set a personal best to place fifth in the hammer, while Lakey took seventh in the weight throw.    Cook was a seven-time national qualifier in the indoor weight throw and outdoor hammer. In 2003, he was a NCAA Division III all-America selection for his performance indoors in the weight throw. He won five conference titles with the Indians from 2001-04 throwing the hammer and the javelin. His throw of 59-5.00 set the schools record in the weight throw, while his mark of 188-11 is a record for the hammer.   Cook is certified at Level I by the USA Track and Field and also spends time as a personal trainer and helps conduct summer track and field camps throughout the state. Cook graduated from McMurry in 2004 with a B.S. in exercise and sports studies and helped coached three Warhawks to all-America honors.   Cook and his wife, Melinda Renee, have two children - Katelyn and Carter. 

Lund is in his first year as an assistant coach with the Abilene Christian men's and women's track and field program. He was named to his current position by head coach Keith Barnier in August of 2015 and will help coach the Wildcats' sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers. Lund comes to Abilene following two successful seasons (2013-15) assisting the University of St. Thomas' track and field teams. During his short tenure there Lund coached two NCAA DIII national champions in the 100 hurdles and distance medley relay, plus 16 All-Americans and 24 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championss. In 2014 he was nominated for the Central Region's Assistant Coach of the Year. A three-time USTFCCCA Academic All-America, Lund served as Moorhead's track and field team captain for multiple seasons and twice earned All-America citations at indoor nationals as part of the 4x400m relay in 2011 and 2012. He also posted Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference records in the 4x400m relay and 600m and won the league's 600m indoor title in 2010. Altogether he earned nine all-conference awards and left the school as its record holder in five events: indoor 600m, 4x200m and 4x400m and outdoor 4x200m and 4x400m Lund earned a Master of Science degree in educational leadership in May 2013 and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Moorhead with his B.A. in communication studies in May 2011. He received a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 2012.  

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.

Aguilar returned to the Abilene Christian track and field program as an assistant coach in the summer of 2013 following a four-year absence. The eight-time all-America and only pole vaulter in Lone Star Conference history to win four consecutive titles, Aguilar will coach and train the Wildcats' vaulters and multi athletes. Aguilar last coached at ACU from 2007-09 and during that time his student-athletes collected 15 all-America citations, including three national championships won by Camille Vandendriessche.   Under Aguilar's guidance, Vandendriessche became the first male athlete to win a multi-event competition at an NCAA indoor championship meet as he captured the heptathlon. The native or Paris, France also won three consecutive D-II national championships in the decathlon and captured the 2009 Texas Relays decathlon title against a field made up of all D-I athletes.   In addition to his work with Vandendriessche, Aguilar helped multi-athletes Chris Pounds and Jessica Withrow score runner-up honors at the 2008 outdoor national meet. His pole vaulters also were a constant presence at nationals with Cory Altenberg, Aaron Cantrell, Landon Ehlers, Stephen Toler and Callie Young all achieving all-America status.   At the conference level, Aguilar helped Toler and Young win back-to-back pole vault titles and coached Withrow to a third-straight heptathlon championship in 2008. Andy Henson won ACU's second decathlon title in three years with 6,056 points in 2009.    Before transitioning to coaching, Aguilar was the Wildcats' top vaulter each year from 2003 to 2006 and recorded his personal best height of 17-feet, .25 inches during his sophomore season of 2004. He also registered the 2005 team's fastest mark in the 400-meter hurdles (53.07) as a junior.   Aguilar's success in the vault helped the Wildcats extend their streak of Lone Star Conference championships to a 13th year. He won his first conference title in 2003 with a leap of 16-05.50 and recorded his best championship height of 16-11 two seasons later. Cory won the 2004 title with an effort of 15-4, and in 2006, he became the first Wildcat since Billy Olson to win four LSC pole vault championships after clearing a height of 16-2.75.   An academic all-Lone Star Conference honoree, Aguilar graduated from ACU in 2006 with a Bachelors of Science in exercise and sports science. The Crane, Texas native also is a certified personal trainer and a USA Track and Field certified coach. He and his wife, Angie, the Wildcats' volunteer assistant coach, have two boys, Kylor and Pacer.  After leaving Abilene in 2009 for his wife's hometown of Odessa, Texas, the Aguilars managed and owned several businesses, including a pole vault club, women's-only fitness center and fitness boot camp. Cory also coached numerous district, regional and state champions during his time away from the Key City as well as multiple top-10 nationally ranked high school vaulters.

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