Louisiana Tech University Men's Cross Country

Stanley has guided the Bulldog and Lady Techster track and field programs through five different conference affiliations (Southland, American South, Sun Belt, Western Athletic and Conference USA) and a bevy of national landscape changes but the constant factor throughout that time span has been LA Tech continuing to win championships. In over three decades in Ruston, Stanley has amassed 21 Coach of the Year titles by his conference peers and won 19 conference championships in four different leagues as a head coach. When he was an assistant coach, Tech won another two conference titles to bring Stanleys overall trophy haul to 21 conference championships. Stanley has guided athletes to 46 All-America honors in his tenure as head coach of the program including 21 of those honors coming in the last five seasons, an average of 4.2 All-America honors per year. The most recent string of team success has been a dominating womens program that has won 13 of the last 14 Western Athletic Conference championships including seven consecutive outdoor titles. The Lady Techsters have laid claim to the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 WAC Outdoor Championships and the 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 WAC Indoor Championships while the men continuously challenging for the top as well. Four different conferences have bestowed the coach of the year honor on Stanley including the Southland, American South, Sun Belt and Western Athletic Conferences. Stanleys long and illustrious career in Ruston began in 1982 when he started his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant fresh off coaching a Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 4A state championship at Bonnabel High School in 1980. He coached John Ratcliffe at Bonnabel High School as the future Tech star set the Louisiana state record in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:12, a mark that still stands today. Ratcliffe then ran an astounding 8:53 in the 3,200m at a national high school postseason event before going on to have a stellar career as a Bulldog. In 1984, Stanley was promoted from graduate assistant to a full-time assistant coach. Also in that year, he was given the reigns as the head coach for the cross country program here at Tech. Two years later, he guided Techs men to a Southland Conference cross country title. Stanley, after being a district champion in the mile and being crowned the city of New Orleans Cross Country Champion while at East Jefferson High School, went on to letter one year at Pensacola Junior College and three years at Southeastern Louisiana. His honors include the 1970 New Orleans cross country city champion, 1972 Southern AAU three-mile champion, 1973 Southern AAU one-mile champion, 1975 U.S. Track and Field Federation all-regional cross country and the 1975 LSU Invitational three mile champion. One of Stanleys highlights was helping lead SLU to its only conference cross country championship in 1973 while finishing eighth overall in the race. Stanley attributes his success to the guidance of former head coach Jerry Dyes during his six-year assistant position under Dyes. Coach Dyes was the greatest coach Ive ever been around, said Stanley. He was so instrumental in my growth as a young assistant. After serving six years as a full-time assistant in Ruston, Stanley was named the head coach at Louisiana Tech in 1988. Since then, his program has become one of the best and most consistent on the Louisiana Tech campus and throughout the state in track and field. Prior to the teams WAC title winning streak, Techs biggest team achievement under Stanleys guidance came at the national championships in 1999 with the womens team finishing 17th in the country in 1999 at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Boise, Idaho, ahead of national powerhouses Tennessee, Michigan and Miami. The womens team finished 10th at the NCAA Mid-East Regionals in 2004 with 22 points, placing the Lady Techsters second in the state behind LSU and ahead of national elite programs like Wisconsin, Michigan State, Purdue and Ole Miss. The Lady Techster 4x400m relay teams in 2007 claimed All-America honors both indoors and outdoors with the outdoor relay finishing third in the nation. Stanleys expertise with distance runners has led Tech to qualify runners in every event at nationals from the 800 meters to the 10,000 on the mens side. LSU is the only other track program in the state to accomplish such a feat. In the past 40 years, the WAC holds an impressive 18 national titles in track and field, meaning Stanley faced a tough task of making Tech competitive among the nations best track and field squads during its 12-year membership. After more than a decade in the WAC with several conference championships, Stanley now turns his attention to Conference USA with the hopes of bringing home a conference title in a fifth league. Louisiana Tech University Athletics Mission is to embody excellence in everything we do. Develop student-athletes to maximize their potential in mind, body and spirit. Bring pride, admiration and loyalty to the University family, community and state. Win with integrity.

Orieukwu came to Ruston after serving as the track and field coach at Norman (Okla.) High School for two years while also jointly serving as the coach at Alcott (Okla.) Middle School. At Norman High, Orieukwu coached Oklahoma's 2014 discus and 2015 shot put state champion, Marissa Fleck, in her sophomore and junior years, respectively. Prior to that she was a volunteer coach with the Sonics Youth Track and Field Club in Houston, coaching two Junior Olympic medalist. Orieukwu got her coaching start at Sam Houston State during the 2012 season. At Sam Houston, she coached Morgan Davis to an SLC Indoor title in the pentathlon and a silver medal in the outdoor heptathlon while Preston Sanders won silver in the indoor shot put and bronze in the outdoor shot put at the SLC Championships. Decathlete Matt Johnson, also coached by Orieukwu, went on to compete at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico -- finishing 10th in the decathlon iwht 6,929 points -- and also as a member of the 2012 USA Pan American Cup team that competed in Ottawa, Canada. She is a member of the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA). Orieukwu graduated from Ole Miss in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She was a member of the Rebels track and field program from 2006-10. She received her master's degree in criminal justice security studies from Sam Houston State in 2012 and then earned a master's degree in adult and higher education with an emphasis on intercollegiate athletic administration from Oklahoama in 2015. Louisiana Tech University Athletics Mission is to embody excellence in everything we do. Develop student-athletes to maximize their potential in mind, body and spirit. Bring pride, admiration and loyalty to the University family, community and state. Win with integrity.