Adams State University Men's Track

Martin is recognized as one of the best coaches in the country, especially with distance runners, his specialty. After 26 years in charge of the womens program and 19 at the helm of the mens (including an interim year in 1988), Martin has coached a total of 28 National Championship teams (15 womens cross country, 8 mens cross country, 2 women's indoor track & field, 2 men's indoor track & field, 1 men's outdoor track & field), including a stretch of nine straight womens cross country titles from 1991-99, another stretch of seven straight women's titles from 2003-09 and two separate runs of three straight men's cross country national titles (2008-10 & 2012-14). He has also guided athletes to 986 combined all-America honors and 100 individual national championships while coaching eight national championship relay teams. Martin has also guided his mens XC and track & field teams to eight straight (2009-16) USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Men's Program of the Year honors, awarded to the school with the best combined finish at the national championships in cross country, as well as indoor and outdoor track & field. He also led the ASU women to their first-ever USTFCCCA NCAA DII Women's Program of the Year in 2013-14. The award, which was handed out for the first time following the 2008-09 seasons, has never been given to a mens team besides Adams State. In 2014 the USTFCCCA officially named the NCAA DII Men's Program of the Year award after Martin. His strong relationship with USTFCCCA was reinforced in December of 2014 as Martin was voted by his peers as the next President for the USTFCCCA. His two year term began in the summer of 2015. Martin first came to Alamosa in the fall of 1985 after a brilliant collegiate career at the University of Arkansas-Monticello, where he was a two-time All-American and seven-time All-Conference middle distance runner. His career highlight was a second place finish in the National Championship 1,500-meter event. After earning his bachelor of arts degree in the summer of 1985, he came to Adams State as a graduate assistant for the womens cross country and track programs. The next year, Martin finished his masters degree while working at Valley Athletics and training under the Reebok flag. He continued training after completing his masters degree in the spring of 1985 and was the director of Alamosa Health Clubs Sports Injury Prevention program. In 1988, Martin competed in the United States Olympic Trials in the 5000 meters. Martin then caught his big break which vaulted him onto his absolutely amazing career path. In 1988, Martin was named the interim coach for the mens cross country team, filling in for ASU coaching great Dr. Joe I. Vigil, who was coaching at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The team won their sixth consecutive NAIA National title that year. The next spring, Martin began a teaching career serving as a half-time physical education instructor and volunteering as a mens track and field coach. In the fall of 1989, Martin was named the head womens cross country and track coach, but continued to serve as a half-time instructor. That year, Martins women won their first national title since 1981, and the second overall. After finishing second in 1990, the team was dominant, winning nine consecutive national titles from 1991-99. Martin won National Coach of the Year honors every year in that streak. In 1995, he also won the Womens Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year award after leading ASC to a fifth place finish at the national meet. OTHER NATIONAL COACH AND STREAKS, TRACK TITLES In 1996, Martin was named the head coach of the mens programs and has never looked back. He began with the rebuilding of the team that had gone through tough times the year before, not qualifying for the national cross country championships for the first time in school history. Soon after Martin took over, he returned the program to dominance with a 1998 Dual National Championship. The Grizzlies repeated that feat for the seventh time in school history in 2003 and then the eighth and ninth times in 2008 and 2009, respectively. In addition to his National Coach of the Year Awards, Martin has numerous Regional and 34 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors, including five in the 2004-05 academic year alone. Winner of five straight RMAC Womens Cross Country Coach of the Year honors from 1995-99, Martin has won the indoor track award 13 of the 14 times it has been awarded, including in each of the last four years, when the Grizzlies have won their unprecedented 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th titles in the 15-year history of the event. Under Martin, ASU Cross Country and Track & Field teams have won a total of 78 RMAC Championships. With all his success, have come special invitations. Martin has been a guest speaker at several coaching association conventions, including the 2001 National High School Coaches Convention in North Dakota. He also spoke at the Ohio State Coaches Association, the largest in the country. Martin was inducted into his alma-mater's athletics hall of fame in 2004, into ASU's Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Colorado Running Hall of Fame in 2015. He was also inducted into the Arkansas State Track & Field Hall of Fame in the fall of 2007. Around the same time, Martin became a published author as he wrote "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Injury Free Running:", a book that can be purchased world-wide. Martin graduated from Longview High School in Texas in 1981 and while at Arkansas-Monticello married his wife Konnie. The couple has two children; Lauren and Tanner. Lauren was a NCAA Division II champion distance runner at Adams State from 2012-16. Tanner led the Alamosa High School cross country team to win the 3A Colorado state cross country championship his senior season. Tanner  enters his second year at Adams State in the fall of 2016   Championships Won Under Coach Martin Men's XC National Titles Women's XC National Titles 1998, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015 8 Total 16 Total Men's XC Regional Titles Women's XC Regional Titles 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 11 Total 19 Total Men's XC RMAC Titles Women's XC RMAC Titles 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 10 Total 21 Total Men's T&F National Titles Women's T&F National Titles 2010 & 2015 (Indoor), 2012 (Outdoor)  2008 (Indoor), 2014 (Indoor) 2 Total     2 Total Men's T&F RMAC Titles Women's T&F RMAC Titles 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 (Indoor) 1997, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 (Outdoor) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 (Indoor) 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 (Outdoor) 20 Total 30 Total UPDATED: 6/16/16 Head Coach Damon Martin has built the Adams State University cross country and track programs to the absolute premiere level, not only at Division II, but in all of collegiate athletics. Winner of 33 National Coach of the Year awards, Martin is recognized as one of the best coaches in the country, especially with distance runners, his specialty. After 26 years in charge of the womens program and 19 at the helm of the mens (including an interim year in 1988), Martin has coached a total of 28 National Championship teams (15 womens cross country, 8 mens cross country, 2 women's indoor track & field, 2 men's indoor track & field, 1 men's outdoor track & field), including a stretch of nine straight womens cross country titles from 1991-99, another stretch of seven straight women's titles from 2003-09 and two separate runs of three straight men's cross country national titles (2008-10 & 2012-14). He has also guided athletes to 986 combined all-America honors and 100 individual national championships while coaching eight national championship relay teams. Martin has also guided his mens XC and track & field teams to eight straight (2009-16) USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Men's Program of the Year honors, awarded to the school with the best combined finish at the national championships in cross country, as well as indoor and outdoor track & field. He also led the ASU women to their first-ever USTFCCCA NCAA DII Women's Program of the Year in 2013-14. The award, which was handed out for the first time following the 2008-09 seasons, has never been given to a mens team besides Adams State. In 2014 the USTFCCCA officially named the NCAA DII Men's Program of the Year award after Martin. His strong relationship with USTFCCCA was reinforced in December of 2014 as Martin was voted by his peers as the next President for the USTFCCCA. His two year term began in the summer of 2015. Martin first came to Alamosa in the fall of 1985 after a brilliant collegiate career at the University of Arkansas-Monticello, where he was a two-time All-American and seven-time All-Conference middle distance runner. His career highlight was a second place finish in the National Championship 1,500-meter event. After earning his bachelor of arts degree in the summer of 1985, he came to Adams State as a graduate assistant for the womens cross country and track programs. The next year, Martin finished his masters degree while working at Valley Athletics and training under the Reebok flag. He continued training after completing his masters degree in the spring of 1985 and was the director of Alamosa Health Clubs Sports Injury Prevention program. In 1988, Martin competed in the United States Olympic Trials in the 5000 meters. Martin then caught his big break which vaulted him onto his absolutely amazing career path. In 1988, Martin was named the interim coach for the mens cross country team, filling in for ASU coaching great Dr. Joe I. Vigil, who was coaching at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The team won their sixth consecutive NAIA National title that year. The next spring, Martin began a teaching career serving as a half-time physical education instructor and volunteering as a mens track and field coach. In the fall of 1989, Martin was named the head womens cross country and track coach, but continued to serve as a half-time instructor. That year, Martins women won their first national title since 1981, and the second overall. After finishing second in 1990, the team was dominant, winning nine consecutive national titles from 1991-99. Martin won National Coach of the Year honors every year in that streak. In 1995, he also won the Womens Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year award after leading ASC to a fifth place finish at the national meet. OTHER NATIONAL COACH AND STREAKS, TRACK TITLES In 1996, Martin was named the head coach of the mens programs and has never looked back. He began with the rebuilding of the team that had gone through tough times the year before, not qualifying for the national cross country championships for the first time in school history. Soon after Martin took over, he returned the program to dominance with a 1998 Dual National Championship. The Grizzlies repeated that feat for the seventh time in school history in 2003 and then the eighth and ninth times in 2008 and 2009, respectively. In addition to his National Coach of the Year Awards, Martin has numerous Regional and 34 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors, including five in the 2004-05 academic year alone. Winner of five straight RMAC Womens Cross Country Coach of the Year honors from 1995-99, Martin has won the indoor track award 13 of the 14 times it has been awarded, including in each of the last four years, when the Grizzlies have won their unprecedented 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th titles in the 15-year history of the event. Under Martin, ASU Cross Country and Track & Field teams have won a total of 78 RMAC Championships. With all his success, have come special invitations. Martin has been a guest speaker at several coaching association conventions, including the 2001 National High School Coaches Convention in North Dakota. He also spoke at the Ohio State Coaches Association, the largest in the country. Martin was inducted into his alma-mater's athletics hall of fame in 2004, into ASU's Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Colorado Running Hall of Fame in 2015. He was also inducted into the Arkansas State Track & Field Hall of Fame in the fall of 2007. Around the same time, Martin became a published author as he wrote "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Injury Free Running:", a book that can be purchased world-wide. Martin graduated from Longview High School in Texas in 1981 and while at Arkansas-Monticello married his wife Konnie. The couple has two children; Lauren and Tanner. Lauren was a NCAA Division II champion distance runner at Adams State from 2012-16. Tanner led the Alamosa High School cross country team to win the 3A Colorado state cross country championship his senior season. Tanner  enters his second year at Adams State in the fall of 2016   Championships Won Under Coach Martin Men's XC National Titles Women's XC National Titles 1998, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015 8 Total 16 Total Men's XC Regional Titles Women's XC Regional Titles 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 11 Total 19 Total Men's XC RMAC Titles Women's XC RMAC Titles 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 10 Total 21 Total Men's T&F National Titles Women's T&F National Titles 2010 & 2015 (Indoor), 2012 (Outdoor)  2008 (Indoor), 2014 (Indoor) 2 Total     2 Total Men's T&F RMAC Titles Women's T&F RMAC Titles 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 (Indoor) 1997, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 (Outdoor) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 (Indoor) 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 (Outdoor) 20 Total 30 Total UPDATED: 6/16/16

Light begins his fourth season (2016-17) as head coach for the Adams State track and field program. His current tenure serves as his second stint with ASU after beginning his coaching career with Adams State in the 1980's. After the conclusion of the 2013-14 outdoor track and field season, Light was named the USTFCCCA Women's Coach of the Year. After the 2014-2015 season, Light helped the team to their seventh consecutive USTFCCCA Team of the Year award. In the 2015-16 season, Rock Light was named RMAC Outdoor Mens Track and Field coach of the year. The Grizzlies Mens outdoor team captured the RMAC championship with 185 points. He led the Mens Indoor team to a 2nd place finish at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships. Rock also coached his Womens Track and Field team to a 3rd place finish at the RMAC Championships for both indoor and outdoor. Light saw his outdoor programs rack up 13 All-RMAC, 21 All-Region, and 13 All-American selections. The Indoor program also posted 18 All-Region and 14 All-American honorees. Among the many award winners, Light coached 4 athletes to 6 individual national championships: Sydney Gidabuday (3000m indoor/5000m outdoor), Oliver Aitchison (mile run indoor/1500m outdoor), Lauren Martin (5000m outdoor), and Jurgen Themen (100m).      The conclusion of the 2014-2015 outdoor season saw fifteen Grizzlies named to the USTFCCCA All-American list, where nine Grizzlies received First Team honors under Light. Light began his coaching career as the women's track and field and cross country head coach at Adams State College for two seasons (August, 1980- August, 1982). He was honored as NAIA National Coach of the Year following his team's NAIA cross country win in 1981 (and then-meet record low 25 points), and outdoor national runner-up finish in 1982. Individually, his athletes claimed four individual track and field and cross country crowns, two NAIA national records and 15 All-America plaques. Light said the following upon his return to Alamosa in 2013. It means everything to me to be able to give back to my school and coach student-athletes.  It really is just an honor to be able to work with Damon (Martin) and the program that he has built.  I am just extremely blessed. A highly-regarded coach at the collegiate, U.S. and international levels for three decades, he helped the University of Oregon women jumpstart their transition process with the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, as selected by Track and Field News. In the 2005 season, the men's squad was crowned Pac-10 Champions and the team finished second overall at the West Regional Meet and ninth at the outdoor national meet. The men's squad also finished sixth as a team at the indoor national meet. Light also served 6 years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for LSU. During that time LSU won 11 NCAA team titles.  Light coached 15 NCAA All Americans, 13 SEC champions, and 12 student athletes to new LSU school records. Light had one of his best seasons at Texas Tech in 2010 with four All-Americans, four Big 12 titles and two freshmen of the year honors achieved. He was also honored at the Mountain Regional Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year on the men's side. Light stated that his goals include working to continue the strong tradition that Adams State has already built, while preparing student-athletes to achieve at a high level as they prepare for their conference and national championships meets. As a student-athlete, he was a two-time All-America sprinter at Adams State, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in health, physical education and recreation in 1979, and added a master's degree in exercise physiology in 1980. A native of Lamar, Colo., Light and his wife Shanny have two sons, Tyler and Brett. Rock Light Head Coach Alma Mater: Adams State '80 Twitter:  Rock Light begins his fourth season (2016-17) as head coach for the Adams State track and field program. His current tenure serves as his second stint with ASU after beginning his coaching career with Adams State in the 1980's. After the conclusion of the 2013-14 outdoor track and field season, Light was named the USTFCCCA Women's Coach of the Year. After the 2014-2015 season, Light helped the team to their seventh consecutive USTFCCCA Team of the Year award. In the 2015-16 season, Rock Light was named RMAC Outdoor Mens Track and Field coach of the year. The Grizzlies Mens outdoor team captured the RMAC championship with 185 points. He led the Mens Indoor team to a 2nd place finish at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships. Rock also coached his Womens Track and Field team to a 3rd place finish at the RMAC Championships for both indoor and outdoor. Light saw his outdoor programs rack up 13 All-RMAC, 21 All-Region, and 13 All-American selections. The Indoor program also posted 18 All-Region and 14 All-American honorees. Among the many award winners, Light coached 4 athletes to 6 individual national championships: Sydney Gidabuday (3000m indoor/5000m outdoor), Oliver Aitchison (mile run indoor/1500m outdoor), Lauren Martin (5000m outdoor), and Jurgen Themen (100m).      The conclusion of the 2014-2015 outdoor season saw fifteen Grizzlies named to the USTFCCCA All-American list, where nine Grizzlies received First Team honors under Light. Light began his coaching career as the women's track and field and cross country head coach at Adams State College for two seasons (August, 1980- August, 1982). He was honored as NAIA National Coach of the Year following his team's NAIA cross country win in 1981 (and then-meet record low 25 points), and outdoor national runner-up finish in 1982. Individually, his athletes claimed four individual track and field and cross country crowns, two NAIA national records and 15 All-America plaques. Light said the following upon his return to Alamosa in 2013. It means everything to me to be able to give back to my school and coach student-athletes.  It really is just an honor to be able to work with Damon (Martin) and the program that he has built.  I am just extremely blessed. A highly-regarded coach at the collegiate, U.S. and international levels for three decades, he helped the University of Oregon women jumpstart their transition process with the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, as selected by Track and Field News. In the 2005 season, the men's squad was crowned Pac-10 Champions and the team finished second overall at the West Regional Meet and ninth at the outdoor national meet. The men's squad also finished sixth as a team at the indoor national meet. Light also served 6 years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for LSU. During that time LSU won 11 NCAA team titles.  Light coached 15 NCAA All Americans, 13 SEC champions, and 12 student athletes to new LSU school records. Light had one of his best seasons at Texas Tech in 2010 with four All-Americans, four Big 12 titles and two freshmen of the year honors achieved. He was also honored at the Mountain Regional Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year on the men's side. Light stated that his goals include working to continue the strong tradition that Adams State has already built, while preparing student-athletes to achieve at a high level as they prepare for their conference and national championships meets. As a student-athlete, he was a two-time All-America sprinter at Adams State, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in health, physical education and recreation in 1979, and added a master's degree in exercise physiology in 1980. A native of Lamar, Colo., Light and his wife Shanny have two sons, Tyler and Brett.