Transylvania University Women's Track

Pinkerton, a former team captain at North Carolina-Greensboro and head cross country coach for Guilford College, was named head mens and womens cross country and track and field coach at Transylvania in 2011. Each season I have coached at Transy both cross country and the track team have improved tremendously, Pinkerton said.  I look forward to continuing to improve this program to become one of the top teams in the conference and have some appearances at the national level. During the 2014 track season, Transylvania earned conference titles in the womens 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay. Erin Marek earned conference champion in the 400m dash with teammate Kate Cohron earning runner-up. Jordin Fender earned runner-up in the 100m hurdles. On the mens team, Cole Green was named the indoor conference Freshman of the Year. Both teams had several top eight performances at the conference meet. In the 2011 cross country season, Betsy Heines earned all-conference honors by finishing fifth at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Championships. During the 2012 track season, Lucy Wright earned conference champion in the womens shotput. Betsy Heines was the runner-up in the womens 10k and Nicole Coffman was the womens 400m dash runner-up. Prior to Transylvania, Pinkerton was the head cross country coach and assistant track coach at Guilford College from 2008-11. During her tenure, she coached a pair of Division III All-South Region performers in 2009-10 and helped the mens cross country team to a second place conference showing in 2010. She was also an instructor in weight lifting at Guilford College, while holding a number of administrative positions. Pinkerton ran both cross country and track as she pursed a bachelors degree from North Carolina-Greensboro. She was a team captain for both sports and finished third in the Southern Conference Cross Country Championships in 2004. She was also an All-Southern Conference pick in 2003 and 2004. During her career, she set the school record in the steeplechase. Pinkerton earned her masters degree in coaching education from Ohio University in 2013. She has a USATF Level I Coaching license and is CPR and AED certified as well as a Certified Endurance Event Specialist as awarded by the Track and Field Academy. Pinkerton lives in Lexington with her husband, Norman.

Hester has helped take the track and field team to unprecedented heights. In 2015 the womens team earned four victories at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Outdoor Championships, which included the 100 and 200 meter dashes, the 100 meter hurdles and 4x100 meter relay. On the mens side the Pioneers captured a victory in the 100 meter dash, their first ever HCAC running event champion. Additionally, Hesters sprinters earned two male and one female HCAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week honors. Both the womens and mens teams also had their highest point totals and finishes in school history. The 2014 season saw its first HCAC outdoor running event champions in school history with victories in the women's 4x100m relay, women's 4x400m relay, and women's 400m dash. Other honors in the 2014 season for the Pioneer sprinters and hurdlers included an HCAC Male Indoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year award and two HCAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week honors, each of which were also program firsts for both the men's and the women's teams, respectively. Prior to arriving at Transylvania, Hester spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Lexington's Paul L. Dunbar High School, where he coached the jumping events, co-coached the sprinting events, and assisted with cross country. During that time he helped coach the girls' track team to four straight Top 5 finishes at the KHSAA 3A State Championships, including a runner-up performance in 2009. Also over those four seasons, he had 12 jumpers place at the State Meet, six of which were Top 3 performances. Hester has been a USA Track and Field (USATF) Certified Official since 2008 and in 2013 received his USATF Level 1 Coach certification. Hester also earned a Track and Field Technical Certification in 2012 and a Track and Field Program Management certificate in 2013 from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). A native of Lexington, Hester graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. He then graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Kentucky in 2011 with degrees in Kinesiology and Health Promotion. Hester lives in town with his wife, Erin