SUNY University at Albany Men's Track

Abel Gilet began his coaching career as a volunteer with UAlbany's track and field program in 2014 after competing on the team for two seasons. In 2019, Gilet coached Venique Harris on her way to becoming the first All-American First Team honoree in UAlbany women's track and field history when she placed sixth in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She also earned Northeast Region Athlete of the Year, Most Outstanding Field Performer at the America East Championships, set a school record 190-09.00 in the discus and 50-04.75 shot put school record during the indoor season under Gilet's guidance. He also helped Tara Belinsky to an outdoor school record in the shot put and Ludith Campos to a freshman record in the hammer throw.  Both Belinsky and Harris are the only two UAlbany women's throwers to exceed 50-feet in the shot put. Between 2014-18 as an assistant coach, he coached six American East Conference Champions in women's events - two shot put, two javelin, one discus and one weight throw. He also helped Byran Nicholson qualify for the USA Junior National Championships in the discus, where he placed 11th. Before coaching, Gilet competed for two seasons at UAlbany and was two-time America East All-Conference as a thrower. The Spring Valley, N.Y. native transferred to UAlbany after playing football at Lackawanna College. 

Nadir Simohamed, a native of Algiers, Algeria who arrived in the Capital Region in 1997, begins his 17th season as the horizontal jumps coach at the University at Albany. Simohamed's athletes have helped the Great Danes win 52 America East Conference titles.   Simohamed’s athletes have collectively won 62 America East individual titles and 18 IC4A and ECAC individual titles.  He has coached 22 NCAA East Preliminary qualifiers, 12 USATF U20 qualifiers, and five USATF Senior qualifiers.  His athletes have also put up 15 school record-breaking performances.  Additionally Simohamed has coached one U20 Pan American medalist and one USTFCCCA All-American, and has coached all current UAlbany record holders in the horizontal jump events.  Further, Simohamed has helped with the conditioning and development of six of UAlbany’s Division I All-Americans; Alexander Bowen Jr., Matthew Campbell, Mark Pallozi, Alfonso Scannapieco, Luke Shoen, and Devon Willis.   In 2020, during the indoor season, Simohamed coached two America East long and triple jump champions, eight IC4A and ECAC qualifiers, and eight America East All-Conference honorees.  Omahri Sturdivant won the indoor triple jump and EJ Onah won the long jump at America East and ECAC Indoor championships.   2019 saw Simohamed’s jumpers sweep all four events at indoor conference championships.  Victor Cotto and EJ Onah won the long jump, and Omahri Sturdivant and Lynda Brundige won gold in the triple jump.  Devon Willis would also set a new school record in the men’s triple jump during the indoor season.  Two freshman records fell during the year, in the men’s triple jump by Robert Blue and in the women’s long jump by Onah.  Outdoors, Onah won the long jump and Willis won the triple jump.  Onah went on to qualify for the USATF U20 Championships, qualifying to represent Team USA at the U20 Pan American Games, where she won bronze.   In 2018, Simohamed coached one America East champion in the triple jump, eight ECAC and IC4A qualifiers, and eight All-Conference honorees.  One of his athletes, Victor Cotto, qualified for the USATF Junior Championships in the long jump, and Devon Willis set a new triple jump school record in victory at the America East Outdoor Championships.   Two of Simohamed’s athletes won the triple jump at the 2017 America East and IC4A Championships.  His group also saw 10 IC4A and ECAC qualifiers, eight America East All-Conference honoreers, and two NCAA East Preliminary qualifiers.   Simohamed saw his athletes claim victory in the triple jump three times at America East Championships in 2016.  Solene Bastien swept the women’s event at the indoor and outdoor championship meets, and Matthew Campbell won the men’s event outdoors.    In 2015, Devon Willis became the first men’s freshman to win a field event at IC4A Outdoor Championships when he won the triple jump.  Later in the season, he claimed bronze at the USATF Junior Championships.  In addition to Willis, Simohamed coached three America East triple jump champions, 18 America East All-Conference honorees, and had 15 IC4A and ECAC qualifiers.   Aiyanna James, Youssef Benzamia, and Kareem Morris each won America East individual titles in 2014, among 16 of Simohamed’s All-Conference honorees and eight IC4A and ECAC qualifiers.   In 2013, Patricia McNish became the program’s most prolific America East champion, claiming her seventh individual conference title.  Simohamed’s athletes won four additional America East events in 2013, leading a collection of 21 All-Conference honorees and nine IC4A and ECAC qualifiers.   Team MVP Patricia McNish swept all four horizontal jumps during the 2012 season, winning both the long jump and triple jump and America East Indoor and Outdoor Championships.  Additionally, she won the ECAC Outdoor title in the long jump, setting a new school record in the process, before qualifying for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships.  In total, 2012 produced 16 America East All-Conference honorees and seven IC4A and ECAC qualifiers.   In 2011, he coached a combined indoor and outdoor five conference champions in the long jump, triple jump, 60m and 200m. Two athletes under Simohamed broke new school records as Nasim Sideeq leaped a 52-foot triple jump and Kadeem Howell flew 23 feet and nine inches in the long jump. Notably, the jumpers under his lead helped secure a back-to-back sweep of America East Conference titles for men and women in both indoor and outdoor competition.   In the 2010 season, Simohamed coached 16 IC4A and ECAC qualifiers, 11 all-conference honorees, three America East champions, two NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifiers and one NCAA indoor provisional qualifier. Nasim Siddeeq became the first member of the men's squad to win a field event at the indoor IC4A Championship by claiming the triple jump title. Valete Graham made the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Men's Track & Field and Cross Country third team, the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and was honored as the America East Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in both seasons. Ashley Mahlmeister and Pat McNish advanced to the USA Junior National Championships in the women's triple jump. UAlbany's horizontal jumpers had a stellar 2008-09, producing 17 IC4A and ECAC qualifiers, 16 all-conference selections, four America East champions, four NCAA East Regional qualifiers, three USATF National qualifiers and three NCAA indoor provisional qualifiers. Siddeeq was named the USTFCCCA Field Athlete of the Year and America East Most Outstanding Field Performer indoors this past winter, while Jenn Gurrant won both ECAC triple jump titles. Seven of the eight school records were broken and rebroken, and Graham, a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team selection and the America East Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year outdoors, fell one centimeter shy of qualifying for the NCAA national meet in the long jump. The horizontal jumpers combined for a total of 31 personal-best performances.   Eleven UAlbany jumpers have combined to win 24 America East Conference titles through Simohamed's first six years. The program has most notably produced the America East champion every year in the men's long jump outdoors and the men's triple jump indoors under his watch as well as 24 All-East recipients, 13 NCAA East Regional and Preliminary Round qualifiers, five USATF Junior National qualifiers, three USATF Senior National qualifiers and five USTFCCCA Division I All-Academic Team award winners. In addition, all four school records on the men's side and three of the four marks in the women's horizontal jumping events have been broken and rebroken in his tenure.   Simohamed represented Algeria at the World Junior Championships in Sudbury, Ontario in 1988. He later won the Algerian Long Jump National Championship in 1990 and participated in area championships and international competitions in Europe.   Simohamed earned his bachelor's degree in computer information systems at Southwest Texas State, currently known as Texas State, in 1996. As a three-year letterwinner of the track and field programs, he was awarded all-academic honors in 1991 and earned All-Southland Conference accolades in 1992. He still ranks among the school's career leaders in the long jump, triple jump and sprint relay events. Simohamed also holds a coaching certification license from USA Track & Field. He resides in Clifton Park with his wife, Esma, and his two children, Sonia (born in 2010) and Samy (born in 2011).    

Williams as the programs new assistant coach in July 2013.Deshaya Williams enters her third season as an assistant cross country and track & field coach with UAlbany in 2015-16.  She is in charge of all throwing events for the Great Danes.

Junior Burnett, a three-year letter-winner on the men's track & field team, enters his 10th season as the program’s assistant sprint coach in 2020-21, and 14th overall as a Great Dane dating back to his career as a student-athlete.  Burnett’s coaching has resulted in his athletes setting and holding new school records in nine events, and America East Championship records in four events.   Since his coaching career began, Burnett has coached nine NCAA First Round qualifiers in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, including Stephanie Osuji, Chanel Smith, Dayleen Santana Rodriguez, Taahira Butterfield, Robert Harris III, and Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina.   Burnett has produced 33 America East sprint champions between the indoor and outdoor seasons, and 19 runners-up across his event groups, claiming at least on of each in all short sprinting events and the sprint relays.   In 2020, Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina became the first Great Dane to break the 20-second barrier in the 200m, running 20.98 to set an America East Championship record.  His athletes made up the top sprint quartet in the Northeast at 200m by average time.  Collectively, the UAlbany men qualified five sprinters to the finals of the 60m at the 2020 indoor championships, and four to the finals of the 200m, coming away with 55 total points.  The women scored 33 points, qualifying two to finals in the 60m and three in the 200m   In 2019, the men and women each swept the short sprints at outdoor championships.  Indoors, the women swept the short sprints, while the men won the 200m and placed second in the 60m.   In 2018, the women won the 100m and 200m at America East Outdoor Championships, qualifying five to the finals in the 200m and one to the finals in the 100m.  Indoors, the women swept each sprint event, with Burnett’s athletes taking the 60m and the 200m, with four qualifying for finals in the 60m.  The men swept the top three places in the 200m, and won the 60m as well.   Highlighting Burnett’s run from 2016-18 was his work with the women’s short sprint group, including Stephanie Osuji, Dayleen Santana Rodriguez, Chanel Smith, Taahira Butterfield, and Chidinma Matthew.  The group was undefeated in conference competition over the course of two years in the 60m and over three years in the indoor 200m, while extending that run to four years outdoors in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m.  The group peaked at the 2018 Penn Relays, placing third in the 4x100m Championship of America with a school-record time of 44.83, finishing ahead of Clemson, Houston, Oklahoma, and Penn State.   In 2017, Burnett’s efforts with the short sprinters resulted in five women scoring 53 points across two events at America East Indoor Championships, and four men scoring 19 points across the same two events.  Outdoors, Burnett’s sprinters scored 56 points in three women’s events, headlined by Stephanie Osuji, who claimed the individual 100m and 200m titles, and ran on the victorious 4x100m relay.  For the men, Robert Harris III claimed the 100m crown.  The women’s sprinters scored 18 of the team’s 27 points at ECAC Outdoor Championships, with Osuji winning the 200m and placing third on the 4x100m relay.  Further, the women’s 4x100m relay team, which broke the school record three times during the season, won the College division at the Penn Relays.   Due to the success the women’s sprinters experienced in 2017, Burnett was a nominee for the USTFCCCA Northeast Assistant Coach of the Year.   In 2016, Burnett cultivated the short sprinters to additional championship performances.  Osiris Nicholson won the 60m at the America East Indoor Championships, and was one of four men to place in the top five in the 200m with Robert Harris III, Elliott Everett, and Jaymen Teemer.  Later in the season, the women’s 4x100m relay won the ECAC division at the Penn Relays.   In 2015, Burnett oversaw Jaymen Teemer’s sweep of the 100m and 200m at the America East Outdoor Championships.   Under Burnett’s direction, UAlbany has won six sprint relay conference championships, including the three straight women’s 4x100 titles from 2015-17, and 11 individual conference championships, and has had seven top-five finishers.  In addition, Burnett has coached three IC4A and ECAC finalists and one champion, as well as six IC4A and ECAC sprint relay qualifiers and 10 individual qualifiers.  Each of the women’s short sprint records has been broken during Burnett’s tenure, and two men’s outdoor records have also fallen.    Burnett, an All-East selection in 2007, holds five school records in the indoor 55- and 60-meter dashes, outdoor 100- and 200-meter, and the men’s sprint medley relay. He ran a leg for the winning 4x400-meter relay team at the America East Conference Indoor Championship in 2007, and he went on to win the 100-meter dash while also being victorious as a member of the 4x100-meter relay team at the league outdoor championship meet.  As an indication of the impact Burnett has had on the sprinters’ performances, Robert Harris III improved from 11.10 in the 100m to 10.39, qualifying for three consecutive NCAA East Preliminary Championships, and Stephanie Osuji improved from 12.50 to 11.50 in the 100m and 26.21 to 23.75 in the 200m.   Burnett earned his USATF Level 2 Certification in 2013 in Sprints, Hurdles and Relays, and has also earned a USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning Certification.  Beyond UAlbany, Burnett has worked with the Nigerian women’s 4x100m relay team which qualified for the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London.   A native of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Burnett competed in the 200-meter dash at the Jamaica National Championships in 2005. He earned his bachelor's degree in human biology in 2007 and also has a Master’s degree in geography and geographic information systems (GIS) from UAlbany.