Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Men's Track

Block joined the program as an Assistant Coach in the fall of 2009 and was elevated to Head Coach in July 2015. During Block's first season at the helm of the program, his athletes went on to break nine school records and 16 top-three All-Time performances. Under Block's leadership, the teams performed in the classroom with one of the highest team GPAs the program has ever seen (Men XC-3.538, Women XC-3.582, Men TF- 3.32, and Women TF-3.397). Block has coached four athletes to six OVC Individual Championships:              Colleen McDonough in the shot put (Indoor 2013)              Greg Block in the weight throw and hammer throw (Indoor 2013, Outdoor 2015)              Elizabeth Hampl in the Hammer Throw (Outdoor 2014, Outdoor 2015)              Megan Lauzon in the Discus (Outdoor 2016) In the past four seasons, Block has sent four athletes to compete in the first round of the NCAA Championship in six events:              Elizabeth Hampl in the hammer throw (2013, 2014, 2015)              Colleen McDonough in the hammer throw (2013)              Claire Nolan in the shot put (2016)              Greg Block in the shot put (2016) He has been instrumental in the development of several SIUE throwers including Ben Bishop who qualified in the weight throw for the 2011 U.S. Indoor Championships with a throw of (72-1). Ben Bishop then set a new school record in the hammer throw with a mark of (221-4).  Block still holds several SIUE and GLVC throwing records for the indoor and the outdoor seasons. His most recent record was the discus with a throw of 184 feet, 4 inches at the GLVC Championships in 2008. He capped his outdoor career with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships as well as a fifth-place finish in the hammer throw at 190-7. The Great Lakes Valley Conference's Men's Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Block earned first team All-Conference honors and was twice named the Athlete of the Week. His accolades include four All-American certificates in three different events. He earned honors during the 2008 indoor season for the shot put and the 2007 outdoor season in the discus. Block doubled up on his honors at the 2008 outdoor national championships in the discus and hammer throw. Block was a former junior college national champion in the shot put and also won the 2003 Illinois High School Association state title in the shot put while at Lake Park High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from SIUE in 2009 and a master's degree in kinesiology in 2011.

Howard joined the SIUE track and field staff as an assistant coach in 2013, focusing on the Cougars' sprinters and hurdlers. Previously, she worked as an events administrator in the SIUE athletic department from 2012-2013. Her duties include managing ticketing, guest relations, and concession stands at SIUE Intercollegiate events. Howard was a 16-time All-American and two-time national champion for the SIUE womens track and field team. She focused on the 400-meter hurdles as well as the 400-meter dash. She earned the Great Lakes Valley Conferences Athlete of the Year five times. Howard later competed for the University of Illinois where she was awarded the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, Illini Newcomer of the Year, and the Illinois/Big Ten Leadership Merit. Along with her final All-American trophy at Illinois, she totaled 17 awards overall. Howard worked to the highest levels of competition where she was a semifinalist for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2008 as well as a World Championships trials finalist. After completing her collegiate career, Howard moved on to the professional level in athletics. She was ranked in the top 20 in the U.S. for three years (2008-2010) in the 400-meter hurdles. Her travels included competitions on the European Circuit in Finland, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Belgium in 2010. She then turned to passing on her running knowledge to young runners. She worked as an assistant track and field coach at Urbana High School in 2009, as a volunteer assistant at SIU Carbondale, and most recently as an assistant at Edwardsville High School where the girl's team won the 2012 IHSA 3A State Championship under her tutelage. Her experience also includes being an administrator for the Olympic Journey Track Club in 2009 as well as Dynamic Fitness Management in Granite City, and Fitness With Anika in Clayton, Mo. Howard earned a bachelors degree from Illinois in kinesiology and sports management in 2010. She is pursuing a masters in kinesiology - sport and exercise behavior at SIUE, and plans to graduate in May 2014. Formerly Deserea Brown, she was married to Donte Howard in August.

Brown joined the SIUE cross country and track and field programs in August 2013 as an assistant coach. A former standout runner for the Cougars, Brown owns two of the top three 6,000-meter cross country times in school history. Her career best 6K was a 21 minutes, 47 second run at the 2009 Bradley Classic. Brown completed her bachelors degree from SIUE in August 2010, majoring in community health education. She currently is pursuing a masters in exercise physiology/sport and exercise behavior at SIUE. Since finishing her undergraduate degree, Brown has been busy as a running coach. She was the assistant cross country and track and field coach at Peterburg PORTA High School, her alma mater, from 2010 to 2012. She also worked as the head womens cross country coach at Robert Morris University Springfield in 2012. Brown worked as a physical therapist at the Springfield Clinic from 2011 to 2013.