Texas Tech University Women's Track

Kittley has built the Texas Tech program into a perennial power on the national stage throughout the past decade. Under his tutelage, Texas Tech has produced 10 Olympic Qualifiers, six Olympic Medalists, 20 national champions, over 200 All-Americans and 136 Big 12 Champions. At this year's U.S. Olympic Trials, Kittley's crew will be represented in nine events, with 11 individuals looking to represent the United States in Rio this summer. The group is a mix of current or recently graduated students, as well as alums and one future Red Raider. Representing Texas Tech in Eugene on July 1-10 will be: Bradley Adkins (High Jump), Hannah Carson (Javelin & Discus), Kyle Collins (400m), Trey Culver (High Jump), Norman Grimes (400H), Candace Jackson (200m), Omo Osaghae (110H), Tori Polk (Long Jump), Gil Roberts (400m), Kole Weldon (Discus) and Jason Young (Discus). For the second-straight indoor season and third consecutive NCAA Championship meet (Indoor-Outdoor-Indoor), Texas Tech captured the high jump title thanks to Trey Culver. On March 11 in Birmingham, Alabama, Culver was the only competitor in the field to clear 2.23m/7-3.75, doing so on his third attempt, to win NCAA gold. His victory made Texas Tech the first school to win the NCAA Indoor Championship in the event in back-to-back years with different athletes (JaCorian Duffield in 2015). It was the first of two first team All-America honors for Culver in 2016, as he would finish fifth at the outdoor meet, while teammate Bradley Adkins placed sixth. It was also an historic season for Hannah Carson. In 2016, Carson became the first woman to ever break the 60-meter barrier in both the javelin and the discus in the same NCAA career, let alone the same season. It started on April 23 in Waco, as Carson unleashed a toss of 60.42m/198-3 in the javelin, breaking her own school record and making her the No. 3 all-time collegiate & No. 5 all-time U.S. performer in the event. Two weeks later, she heaved the discus to a school record 61.97m/203-4 at the Masked Rider Open, which helped her become the first woman to qualify for the NCAA's in both since 2012. At the NCAA Championships, she broke her own javelin record again in an intense battle for the title, tossing it over 60 meters twice, the furthest at 61.20m/200-9. The mark would give her runner-up honors for the second-straight year and would also make her the first woman to toss the javelin and discus 200 feet in the same NCAA career. She would also earn second team All-America honors in the discus at the NCAA Championships as well. Texas Tech also racked up nine Big 12 Champions in 2016. Chris Caldwell claimed both the 60 & 110-meter hurdle titles for the second-straight year, becoming the first student-athlete to ever accomplish the feat. He was also the first to win the 110H in back-to-back years since Red Raider Marlon Odom when he won titles in 2005, '06 & '07 and the first to win the 60H in consecutive years since Jermaine Cooper in 2001-02. The Red Raiders went 1-2-3 in the pentathlon, led by Shanice Stewart, marking the first time a team has ever swept the top three spots in the event at the conference championship. Viershanie Latham rounded out the indoor titles, winning the program's first Big 12 indoor championship in the triple jump. At the Big 12 Outdoor Championship, Tech tallied six individual titles. Along with Caldwell, Natalie Thompson picked up her second-straight heptathlon crown after notching a personal-best in the event. She and teammate Kaylee Hinton finished 1-2, becoming the first teammates to do so since 2010. Trey Culver recorded the program's third-straight high jump championship and also made it three-straight years Tech teammates had placed 1-2 in the event, all with different winners over that stretch. Charles Brown picked up Tech's third long jump outdoor title in the last four years and was the first freshman champion since 2010. C.J. Jones brought the program's seventh outdoor crown in the men's 800 meters, while Benard Keter claimed Tech's first 3,000-meter steeplechase victory at the Big 12 Championship. The men's team was ranked in the top 25 of every poll during both the indoor and outdoor season, climbing as high as seventh during indoors and eighth in the outdoor campaign. It marked the third-straight year the Red Raiders have been ranked inside the top 10 of the weekly poll. Through seven weeks of competition, the Texas Tech men's team was the only team to not drop in the rankings. The women's team moved as high as No. 19 in the polls during the outdoor season. The Red Raiders & Lady Raiders have both been ranked inside the top 25 every year since the poll first began in 2008. History was made by the Red Raiders in 2015. JaCorian Duffield and Bradley Adkins not only went 1-2 in the men's high jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, but they duplicated their performances at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The duo became the first teammates since 1939 (Southern California) to go 1-2 at the outdoor championships and the first teammates to go 1-2 at both the indoor and outdoor championships in the history of the NCAA. Duffield and Adkins represented four of Tech's 11 first team All-America accolades earned during the indoor and outdoor meets. Cierra White (200m) and Hannah Carson (javelin) picked up outdoor first team honors, while Shanice Stewart (long jump), Chris Caldwell (60mH), Kole Weldon (shot put), the men's 4x400 relay team of Steven Champlin, Kyle Collins, Joseph Richards III and C.J. Jones, Le-Tristan Pledger (60mH) and White (200m) tallied indoor first team awards. The Red Raiders also had successful conference showings, notching eight Big 12 Champions. The men's team earned its highest overall finish in Big 12 Indoor Championship history, finishing runner-up with 95.5 points. Caldwell won the 60-meter hurdles and Duffield claimed the high jump title, while Cierra White broke a school and facility record in the women's 200-meter dash to pick the Big 12 crown. At the outdoor meet, the men's squad repeated with a second-place finish, getting individual titles from Weldon (hammer throw), Duffield (high jump), and Caldwell (100mH). Weldon was also named the high point scorer for the meet with 26 points, becoming the first male to repeat as Big 12 Outdoor high point scorer since 2009. Natalie Thompson (heptathlon) and Carson (javelin) picked up conference championships, helping the women's team to a third-place finish. The 2014 season may have been his most special in Lubbock to this point. Texas Tech capped the outdoor season by winning the men's team title at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, scoring a school-record 160.5 points in front of the home crowd at the Terry and Linda Fuller Track & Field Complex. The Red Raiders became the first Big 12 team to clinch a track & field title on its own track since Colorado, in 2008. Tech picked up conference titles from Kennedy Kithuka (5,000m & 10,000m), Bradley Adkins (High Jump) and Shujaa Benson (Long Jump) on the outdoor side, and on the indoor side, Tech picked up a conference title from its 4 x 400m relay team of Montenae Roye-Speight, Cierra White, Christen Rivers and Amoy Blake. Bradley Adkins and JaCorian Duffield earned indoor first team All-American honors after tying for fifth in the high jump at the NCAA Championships. On the outdoor side, Kithuka wrapped up his illustrious career by snagging first team All-American honors in both the 5,000m and 10,000m. He was joined by first-teamers Hannah Carson (Javelin), Le'Tristan Pledger (100mH) and Cierra White (200m). Kittley also guided Texas Tech to a Big 12 team title at the 2005 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the Red Raiders won the meet with 149.50 points. In 2013, Kittley's program produced 21 First and Second Team All-Americans between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Meanwhile, Tech crowned six individual Big 12 Champions and two national champions. Kennedy Kithuka and Bryce Lamb captured Texas Tech's first national titles in their respective events. Kithuka capped his remarkable 2013 campaign with a national championship in the indoor 3,000-meter run while Lamb brought his indoor career to a close with a national championship in the triple jump. As a team, Texas Tech finished 5th overall at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships with 28 points - the best finish in program history. Tech went on to finish third at the 2013 Big 12 Outdoor Championships with 117.5 points - the best performance at the conference meet since 2005. At the 2012 London Olympics, the Texas Tech track and field program was represented with a contingent of seven former athletes - all of whom competed at Texas Tech during Kittley's tenure. The group brought home three medals - a gold, silver and bronze. In the fall of 2012, Texas Tech produced the men's NCAA Cross Country Champion as Kennedy Kithuka went undefeated in seven meets during on his way to taking home the NCAA crown, and being named the 2012 Male Athlete of the Year. Kittley has been recognized nationally for his efforts at Texas Tech as he has twice been named the Women's Regional Coach of the Year in the last four years. Kittley most recently earned the recognition following the 2012 season after receiving the award in 2009. Kittley and his renowned coaching staff have produced 11 NCAA Champions in the last eight seasons. Kipyego made history as an athlete under Kittley and his staff. The Kenyan native broke the NCAA record with nine national titles during her career in both track and field and cross country before going on to qualify for the Kenyan Olympic team. At the 2012 London Olympics she won silver in the 10,000-meter run before nearly medaling again in the 5,000-meter run and finishing fourth. Meanwhile, thrower D'Andra Carter went on to win Tech's second national title of 2009 during the outdoor season as she became Texas Tech's first discus national champion. She was followed by Julian Wruck who won a men's discus title during the 2011 outdoor season. Texas Tech brought home a total of 32 All-America honors during the unprecedented 2010 season, 17 indoor and 15 outdoor honors being claimed by Red Raiders and Lady Raiders under Kittley's watch. Following the 2005 men's Big 12 Championship meet, Kittley led 31 of his athletes, the most of any program in the country to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Kittley moved to Lubbock after leading one of the most successful programs in the history of collegiate track and field. While at Abilene Christian University, Kittley won an unprecedented 29 national track and field championships, the most in Divisions I and II combined. His total is only three short of the all-time record held by Division III Kenyon College swimming and diving coach Jim Steen. Kittley won his first national championship in 1985 when his women's Wildcat squad won the Division II outdoor championship, a title he would win again in `86, `87 and `88. When ACU combined their programs in 1993, Kittley was selected to head the men's team, as well. He wasted no time taking a floundering men's program to an elite level, winning the Division II indoor title in his first season. His 15-year tenure at ACU included coaching 10 Olympic qualifiers, three Pan-American Games athletes, five World University Games athletes, 16 athletes who have qualified for the world championships and three United States national champions. In the fall of 2006, Kittley was honored by the Lone Star Conference for his coaching efforts while at ACU as he was named to the conference's Hall of Honor. Kittley is married to the former Linda Rhoads, and the couple has three sons, Zachary, Christopher and Jonathan. 2000-present Texas Tech University Head Coach 1993-99 ACU, Men's Head Coach 1985-99 ACU, Women's Head Coach

Boone has worked at some of the more prestigious programs in the country and now brings her talent to a Lady Raider program vying to earn their place as a championship caliber program. In her first year working with the Lady Raiders, Tech qualified three sprints events to the NCAA West Preliminaries. Freshmen Tiffani Johnson (100 meters) & Sara Limp (400 meters) ran in their respective individual events, then joined Viershanie Latham and Amani Nesmith on the 4x100-meter relay at the meet. The women's team tallied 16 entries into the NCAA West Prelims, four to the NCAA Outdoor Championships and one to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Limp also earned All-Big 12 honors individually indoors in the 200-meter dash & outdoors in the 400-meter dash, as well as on both 4x400-meter relays and the 4x100-meter relay in 2016. Boone's event group totaled 26 PR's during the 2016 season. The Lady Raiders were ranked as high as No. 19 in the 2016 outdoor campaign. The women's team also racked up three individual Big 12 titles, while placing fourth at the indoor championships and fifth at the outdoor meet. Boone came to Lubbock after four seasons as the head coach at Texas State. During her time there, she led the Bobcats to four conference championships, while also racking up conference Coach of the Year honors behind each title. In each of her four years at Texas State, Boone's teams qualified 20 or more athletes for the NCAA West Preliminary. In 2015, 29 athletes in 24 events represented the Bobcats at the regional. Boone also took three athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships and two athletes in three events, as well as a 4x400-meter relay team to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. "I could not have found a better coach to guide our women's sprints & hurdles program," Kittley said. "Dana has coached at the highest level, and also caries valuable head coaching experience. I can't wait to see Dana elevate our women to greater heights. There are few coaches out there who can match what she has done at the collegiate level." Boone brings a vast amount of high-level coaching experience to Texas Tech, which featured positions at Oklahoma, LSU, Texas, Texas State, Tulane, Middle Tennessee and South Carolina. During her coaching career, she has had 59 All-America honorees. She spent six years at Oklahoma where she coached sprints, hurdles and relays and served as an assistant coach for two seasons before her promotion to associate head women's coach in 2007. Boone was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year after training five NCAA All-America First Team and six NCAA All-America Second Team student-athletes between the indoor and outdoor seasons, including NCAA 100-meter dash champion Candyce McGrone (11.08). Boone also coached Ti'Anca Mock in the long jump to a NCAA runner-up finish (6.64m). The sprint group accounted for 23 of the 41 points at the NCAA Championships with just two athletes in 2011. The women's team finished fourth at the NCAA meet, which was the highest finish in program history. Boone's athletes helped the Sooners enjoy the program's best finishes at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, place sixth and fourth, respectively. While at Oklahoma, her group set 14 new school records in the sprints/hurdles and jumps. The men also won the Big 12 titles in 2007 and 2010, while also taking the Midwest Regional Championship in 2007. Those championships helped her earn the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Men's Coach of the Year; she was the only female to win the award that year. Boone wrapped up her time at OU with 48 NCAA qualifiers. Boone also served as the USATF World Junior Championship women's head coach in 2014 and the USATF Junior Pan American assistant coach (jumps) in 2011. She is also USATF Level II Certified in the Sprints, Hurdles & Jumps.