Florida State University Women's Track

Phillips is entering her second full season with the Seminoles, back in Florida where she launched her career and plans to conclude it. A veteran of 15 collegiate seasons, Phillips re-united with Florida State head track & field coach Bob Braman, who provided the New Jersey native with her first full-time coaching job at the University of South Florida in 1997. Phillips quickly jump feet-first into the task of retooling the Seminoles, who had become a national player in both cross country and on the track over the past decade. Working with a lineup dominated by freshmen and sophomores, the Seminoles were seventh at the 2015 ACC Cross Country Championships and outperformed their ranking with a fourth-place NCAA South Region finish. Freshman Carmela Cardama Baez led the way, earning All-ACC honors and was joined on the All-South Region team by sophomore Bridget Blake and senior Christine Griggs, a former walk-on. Phillips' first season with the track program produced more than a handful of top 10 FSU all-time marks. Indoors, Chelsea Jarvis broke the school record in the 800, qualified for the NCAA Championships and was part of the No. 9 DMR which finished second at the ACC Championships and narrowly missed an NCAA berth. Blake, also a member of the DMR, registered the 10th-fastest mile in program history while Griggs moved to No. 8 all-time in the 5000. Outdoors, Blake added her name to FSU's impressive list of NCAA Championship qualifiers in the steeplechase with the No. 6 mark in school history, while Griggs cracked the top 10 in the 10,000. While the Noles were demonstrating steady improvement throughout the year under Phillips' watch, she was hammering the recruiting trail in search of pieces to restock the roster with national-caliber talent. She landed a trio of newcomers - Bulgarian Olympian Militsa Mircheva and state-side talents Hailey Hendry and Megan Mooney - who figure to provide the backbone for the near future. Phillips arrived at FSU from Miami of Ohio, where she spent the six seasons as the womens cross country and track & field head coach, leading the Redhawks women to a pair of Mid-American cross country titles. Her 2013 team snapped Toledos three-year run of MAC titles, as the Redhawks placed four runners in the top 10. In those six seasons the Redhawks never finished worse than fourth, while her track & field teams have produced a combined five top-four MAC finishes between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Twice Phillips was selected as the MAC Womens Cross Country Coach of the Year (2009, 2013), each time after leading the Redhawks to the title in arguably the most competitive mid-major cross country conference in the nation. In addition to team successes, Phillips also mentored outstanding individuals, including NCAA Championship cross country and outdoor track & field qualifier Rachel Patterson, who re-wrote the schools distance records both indoors and outdoors in multiple events. Patterson was just the eighth female RedHawk in school history to make the NCAA Championships in 2010 and came within three seconds and six places of earning All-America honors, as she finished 46th. She also broke the 6K school record at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional where she was fifth. Patterson continued to progress under Phillips in track, earning a berth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5000m run, where she was an Honorable Mention All-American. Patterson also won three MAC titles in her final year at Miami, capturing the 5K and 3K indoors to earn Most Outstanding Track Performer while winning the 10K at the MAC Outdoor Championships. She also broke the schools indoor and outdoor 5K records under Phillips watch. As a team, Phillips led the 2011 Redhawks to third-place finishes at both the Indoor and Outdoor MAC Championships, with the indoor finish tying for the best in school history. For the second straight year, five RedHawks also qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, including Patterson and Tori Paterra, who made the NCAA Championships. Eleven RedHawks garnered All-MAC honors in track in 2011 as well, including four individual MAC champions outdoors and two indoors. In her first season guiding the track & field program, Phillips saw four school records fall during the indoor campaign, including the mile run, the 3000m and the 5000m. Kelley Miller won the Indoor MAC Championship in the mile while the RedHawks distance medley relay team also captured a MAC indoor title under her guidance. Outdoors, Phillips helped her athletes break four more school marks while Amanda Mirochna repeated as MAC champion in the steeplechase and Miller claimed the 1500m.   Prior to her arrival at Miami, Phillips spent four seasons as an assistant for the womens cross country and track distance assistant at Purdue (2005-09), guiding the middle-distance and distance runners. During that time the Boilermakers took down the home 5k cross country course record and notched the second-fastest 6K time posted. The womens cross country team earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors each year she was there and took home Purdues Presidents Cup, awarded to the team with the highest grade point average, two consecutive seasons. During a three-year coaching hiatus, she founded the Claremont Trails Running Camp in New Hampshire, growing the camp exponentially. Phillips first full-time coaching stint came at USF, where she was hired by Braman in 1997 as the associate head coach for mens and womens cross country and track & field. After three seasons as the top aide, she ascended to the head coaching position when Braman left for Florida State in 2000 and enjoyed remarkable success with the Bulls, leading the womens team to a pair of conference cross country titles and the men to the 2000 Conference USA crown. Along the way she collected three Conference USA Cross Country Coach of the Year honors twice with the women and once with the men - and picked up CUSA Womens Track & Field Coach of the Year honors in her final season. She was also awarded three consecutive NCAA South Region Cross Country Coach of the Year honors (1998-2000). In all, Phillips guided 33 Bulls to the NCAA Championships. She also made sure her teams were achieving in the classroom, as the womens cross country team earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors from 1998-2000, while the mens team achieved the distinction in 2000. For her efforts, Phillips was named Conference USA Womens Cross Country Coach of the Year twice and Mens Coach of the Year once, as well as the leagues Womens Track and Field Coach of the Year in her final season with the Bulls. From 1998-2000, she also was awarded the NCAAs South Region Cross Country Coach of the Year. Phillips also served as the meet director for Conference USAs Cross Country Championships in 1998 and the leagues Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2001. In addition, she helped fundraise over $70,000 during her tenure to help support the South Florida cross country and track and field teams by organizing road races in the Tampa Bay area.   Over the course of her coaching career, 41 of her athletes have qualified for NCAA Championships competition in cross country and track & field. In the classroom, Phillips teams have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic distinction eight times. A Toms River, N.J. native, Phillips (nee, McDonnell), enjoyed a brilliant collegiate career at Auburn, establishing 14 school records and earning All-American honors indoors in the mile and outdoors in the 3000-meter run as a senior in 1991; the first middle-distance or distance runner to gain that distinction in program history. She earned her degree in marketing in 1991 and spent the next two seasons as a graduate assistant for the Tigers. Post-collegiately, she qualified for the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials at 1500 meters, claimed gold at that distance in the 1995 Olympic Festival and also placed fifth at the Pan American Games in Argentina. She trained in Washington, D.C. with the Reebok Enclave under the guidance of renowned coaches Frank Gagliano and Ron Helmer, who were also instrumental in shaping her as a coach.   Phillips has two sons, Michael and Connor, who are standout distance runners on the high school level.

Scott has not wasted any time establishing the Noles as a force at his second home - he was raised in New Jersey, starred for the Seminoles and served an apprenticeship as a volunteer assistant in Tallahassee after a remarkable first-year coaching performance at San Diego State. In his first two outdoor seasons alone, Seminoles Chelsea Whalen (shot put), Kellion Knibb (discus) and Katja Vangsnes (hammer) established new school records under Scotts guidance. Three of the top 10 marks in the womens shot put and discus, and two in the hammer, have also been produced by his athletes. Indoors, Briana Cherry-Bronson, Lakitta Johnson and Sasha-Ann Lebert hold down the top three weight throw marks in school history, while Whalen, Knibb and Johnson occupy three of the top five positions in the shot put. Needless to say, there have been significant contributions from the throws as the Seminole men have won three consecutive ACC mens outdoor titles, highlighted by Jeff Pelages discus gold, Stargell Williams silver shot put finish and Markindey Sineus hammer bronze in 2013. Led by Sineus runner-up finish in 2014, the Noles also received scoring performances from freshmen Chad DaCosta and Austin Droogsma in the discus and shot put, respectively. FSU throwers piled up 17 throws points en route to the 2015 outdoor title. On the womens side, Whalen and Knibb won 2013 ACC Outdoor titles in the shot put and discus, respectively, as the Noles nearly pulled off the team title team. A year later, FSU finished the job with Knibb claiming her second consecutive discus title, with Whalen and Johnson scoring in the shot put and Vangsnes and Cherry-Bronson adding hammer points for a total of 19. The Noles won their first team title since 2009 by a 15-point margin. Knibb has been FSUs most decorated thrower under Scotts watch with the Seminoles, highlighted by an amazing 2014 season which saw her capture Penn Relays, ACC and NCAA East Preliminary discus titles. The sophomore set the Jamaican national record at the NCAA East Preliminary meet (61.34m/201-3) and went on to become the first FSU woman to earn All-American honors by placing fifth at the NCAA Championships. She followed that up by winning the Jamaican National Championship and finishing sixth at the Commonwealth Games in her first international competition as a senior athlete. Knibb followed up by claiming the 2015 ACC Indoor title in the shot put, her secondary event, before an injury sidelined her for the outdoor season. Scott has incorporated some of the coaching techniques from Harlis Meaders, his coach at Florida State and the man he succeeded, while adding his own touch. He has applied the same tireless work ethic and approach to conditioning and preparation that catapulted his own career. Scotts ascent from a 64-foot high school thrower to the No. 2 shot putter in FSU history (66-4) and a first-team All-American in 2005 was dramatic. He still holds the Mike Long Track record (70-4.50), which he set as a professional in 2008 prior to representing Jamaica in the Beijing Olympic Games. In addition to his Olympic feats, he is a two-time World Championship finalist, finished sixth at the 2008 World Indoor Championships and won a silver medal in the Pan American Games. He has won 10 Jamaican national shot put championships and silver medals at the 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games. Scott graduated from Florida State in 2007 and previously served as a volunteer assistant with the Seminoles, working directly with Meaders, his predecessor. In his lone season at San Diego State, Scott helped Whitney Ashley capture the 2012 NCAA Outdoor title in the discus. Since returning to Tallahassee he has developed quite a reputation as a recruiter - especially in Jamaica - not only of athletes in his own event area, but also in the sprints and jumps as well.

Nobles connection to the program runs four decades deep, dating to his undergraduate days as a pole vaulter and multi-event athlete for the Seminoles. Widely recognized as one of the nations most accomplished coach of horizontal jumps, he also instructs FSUs vertical jumpers, multi-event athletes and javelin throwers. Nobles will forever be linked to former Seminole Kim Williams development as college track & fields most decorated womens triple jumper. Williams, who holds the collegiate record, is a five-time NCAA champion and advanced to the finals of the 2012 Olympic Games. He also mentored Ngoni Makusha through four NCAA long jump titles. Considered one of the finest track athletes in FSU history, Makusha capped his career as the 2011 winner of The Bowerman Award, presented to the nations top collegiate track & field athlete. The two multi-time NCAA champions only scratch the surface when it comes to outlining Nobles impact. Since joining Terry Longs staff full-time in 1987, Nobles athletes have combined for 15 individual NCAA and 96 ACC titles. They have also claimed 111 All-American honors. He has coached nine former Seminoles who have gone on to represent their countries at the Olympic Games, including two-time NCAA champion pole vaulter Lacy Janson (USA), who made her Olympic debut in 2012. Nobles reputation as a coach extended well beyond the boundaries of the Florida State campus. Great Britains Jonathan Edwards, one of the worlds elite triple jumpers, employed Nobles as his coach. Edwards went on to win the Olympic gold medal in 2000 after claiming the silver medal in 1996. Among the many stars who have shined under his direction with the Seminoles are Rafeeq Curry, who won the 2006 NCAA triple jump title and claimed the 2011 US National championship. Janson won the US indoor national title in 2011. Decathlete Gonzalo Barroilhet established a new school and ACC Outdoor Championship record in 2012, piling up 8,065 points en route to second a second trip to the Olympics representing Chile. One of Nobles current multi-athletes is redshirt junior Grete Sadeiko, who won an ACC heptathlon title with a school-record 5,705 points less than a year after enduring reconstructive knee surgery. Like Barroilhet, Sadeiko - who earned second-team All-American honors outdoors last season - has her eyes set on the 2016 Games. Florida States outdoor top 10 lists for the jumps and vaults are littered with Nobles athletes, particularly on the womens side. His female jumpers and vaulters have 38 of the 40 top-10 marks, while the men have 33 of the top 40 marks. Including the multi events, all 10 of the mens indoor and outdoor records, as well as eight of the nine womens marks, belong to athletes coached by Nobles. Inducted into the State of Florida Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2012, Nobles earned National Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and has been the South Region Womens Indoor Assistant of the Year in 2011 and 2012.. Nobles graduated Cum Laude from Florida States School of Physical Education while also competing as a pole vaulter and decathlete on the Seminole track team from 1979-81. He went on to obtain his masters degree from FSU in exercise physiology in 1983. In addition to his coaching duties, he is an associate professor at FSU as well. Nobles began his coaching career at Wayland Baptist College, an NAIA track powerhouse in Plainview, Texas. While at Wayland, he coached 17 All-Americans, two national champions, a pair of Olympic qualifiers and a national record-holder. He also led the school to a national championship and two runner-up finishes. He returned to FSU in 1985 and spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach before stepping into a full-time role. No assistant on the Florida State campus has served longer.

Hon most recently contributed to the men claiming the program's 11th ACC Outdoor Championships and the women placing sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.Those feats came on the heels of the 2014 seasons, when the FSU men and women swept both the indoor and outdoor conference team titles. Over the past two years, Hon has had a hand in developing athletes who earned All-American honors in 18 events, including 11 first-team All-American performances between the men and the women. The group is highlighted by 2014 NCAA 60-meter champion Dentarius Locke and 2015 NCAA Outdoor 400-meter champion Kala Funderburk. Hons passion and area of expertise is the hurdles, and his impact has been quickly realized. Redshirt sophomore Sage Watson finished fourth at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400-meter hurdles in 55.97 - out of lane 1 - which was both an Olympic A standard but also good for the Canadian national lead. It was also the best NCAA finish in the event by a Nole since Kim Batten was third in 1991. In 2014, Anne Zagre set the school record (12.83) and placed  sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100-meter hurdles. That too was the best finish in the 100-meter hurdles bya Seminole since Kim Batten was fourth in 1991. In addition to the All-American efforts of Watson and Zagre, Nicole Setterington has twice qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary in the 100-meter hurdles and ranks seventh all-time outdoors with a lifetime-best of 13.43. Zagre (8.21) and Setterington (8.45) also rank second and sixth on FSU's indoor 60-meter hurdle top 10 list. Hon joined the Noles in 2013-14 after spending 13 formative years at the University of Cincinnati as both a record-setting student-athlete and an assistant coach. A Cincinnati native, Hon spent seven seasons as an assistant with the Bearcats, directing the hurdlers and sprinters, including his last two as the recruiting coordinator for the program. His second season as the recruiting coordinator saw him land four athletes ranked among the top 10 nationally in their respective events. That recruiting experience carried over to the Seminole brand as he played a role in helping FSU land the top-ranked 2014 mens recruiting class, according to Track & Field News. Florida States most recent womens class was also ranked among the top 10 in the nation. Hons vast experience coaching the hurdles is well-documented. He was instrumental in developing 2008 Olympic silver medalist David Payne and multi-time All-American Terrence Sommerville in the 110-meter hurdles during his days at Cincinnati. Sommerville won his third consecutive Big East title in 2013 and earned Great Lakes Region Track Performer of the Year. A 2012 Olympic Trials qualifier, Sommerville also holds the Cincinnati, Big East and Drake Relays records in the 110 hurdles. In all, UC hurdlers established 12 school records under Hon's guidance. He also mentored Big East 100-meter champion John Bowie, a fourth-round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders, and put together UC's school-record 4x100 relay team. On the women's side, he helped Monica Hundley claim the 2008 Big East Indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles. Prior to coaching, Hon enjoyed a record-setting collegiate experience as a hurdler with the Bearcats. The one-time Cincinnati record-holder in the 60-meter hurdles, he qualified for the 2004 and 2008 US Olympic Trials in the 110-meter hurdles. He was the MVP of the 2001 Bearcats squad after capturing the Conference USA title in the 400-meter hurdles. A 2002 Cincinnati graduate with a degree in criminal justice, he is married to the former Grace Murdock. They are the proud parents of a son, Zachary.