University of Alabama - Birmingham Women's Track

Thomas enjoyed success in his first year as head coach throughout the 2011 season as several student-athletes posted personal records, two school records were shattered and two athletes competed in the NCAA East Preliminaries. Rhiannon Johns qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5,000 meters for her first collegiate NCAA final. In addition, Johns also captured her second-straight Conference USA 10,000-meter title, earning first-team all-conference honors. Akira McSwain also earned all-conference accolades as she finished third in the heptathlon at the C-USA Outdoor Championships. During his season as the interim head coach, UAB had five athletes qualify for the preliminary round of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships and Nora Mehl provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in two events. At the league indoor championships, Mehl became a Conference USA champion for the second time after taking the pentathlon title. Mehl and Akira McSwain received all-conference honors. At the C-USA Outdoor Championships, Rhiannon Johns won the 10,000-meter to become a C-USA champion and Lytrice Thomas and Bianca Le'Blanc both received all-conference accolades. Thomas spent his first two years at UAB as an assistant track and field coach to former head coach Ray Stanfield. During those years Thomas primarily coached the jumpers, multi-event athletes, throwers and middle distance runners, along with the sprinters and hurdlers. During the 2008 season, Thomas coached Erica Russ to a first-place finish in the 100m hurdles at the C-USA Outdoor Championships, running 13.41 and setting her own personal record. J.J. Scruggs was also crowned C-USA champion in the 400m hurdles, giving the Blazers conference champions in both outdoor hurdle events under Thomas' guidance. Also at the C-USA Championships, senior Tara Colvin was the runner-up in the 400m, with a time of 53.93. To add to the records in 2008, Thomas' athletes, Tara Colvin, J.J. Scruggs and Alina Varpiotaite, teamed up with middle distance senior Genoah Collins to shatter the 4x400m relay school record at the Texas Relays. The foursome ran a regional-qualifying time of 3:38.54 to finish runner-up to USC in Austin, Texas. During the 2007 season, Thomas coached three school record holders, three freshman record holders and 12 regional qualifiers. He guided fifth-year senior Penny Shields in breaking seven-time All-American Vonetta Flowers' school record in the triple jump, with a jump of 41 - 6 1/2. Freshman Samantha Hamilton set the frosh record under Thomas' coaching eye, jumping 41- 4. J.J. Scruggs also set a freshman record in the 400m hurdles, running 58.95 over the one-lap barriers. Prior to coming to UAB, Thomas spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Mississippi State. His primary responsibilities included coaching hurdlers, jumpers and women's sprinters. While there, he coached several relay teams and individuals to first-place finishes. He also helped his athletes break four Mississippi State Outdoor Track and Field records, and set 33 personal-best marks. Before his stint at Mississippi State, Thomas was a student assistant at the University of Tennessee. During his three years in Knoxville, Thomas assisted with the men's program and was a member of two Southeastern Conference championship teams and two NCAA national championship squads. Thomas also assisted with the UT Championship Track and Field Camps and coached the Knoxville Track Club. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in history. Thomas has three USATF Level II certifications in sprints, hurdles, relays, combined events and jumps. He is a native of Hobbs, N.M., where he graduated from Hobbs High School as an all-state sprinter. Thomas and his wife Jill have two sons, Toliver Knox and Lucas David, and a dog named Rosie.

Potter also guided three athletes to career personal-best times including Ali Meister and Avril McGhee to scoring positions in the Conference USA Championships. During the 2014-15 season, Potter oversaw an All-Conference USA performer in Shelby Barker. Barker finished third in the Pentathlon and fourth in the Heptathlon during the outdoor season, both personal-bests. Aided in five other athletes setting personal-bests including Kelli Smith with a sixth place finish in the Long Jump at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships While with the Wildcats, the multi-event, vertical jump and women's throws athletes aided the team in its first-ever men's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Outdoor Championship and a MEAC men's Indoor Runner-Up finish. In the 2013-14 season, athletes under Potter's charge proved to be significant scorers at both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships, contributing to the Wildcats' program-high finish on the men's side, as Indoor MEAC Runner-up and Outdoor MEAC Champions. Six student-athletes earned All-MEAC honors under Potter's watch, in addition to 2013-14 conference titles for Deidra Jordan (indoor pentathlon), Ed'Ricus Williams (indoor high jump), Keron Stoute (indoor heptathlon) and Nnamdi Davis (outdoor decathlon). Williams finished the indoor season ranked 30th nationally in the high jump and progressed through the outdoor season to rank in a 17th-place tie nationally in the 2013-14 outdoor standings. In her first season with Bethune-Cookman, she guided Martin Embry III to a MEAC outdoor title in the decathlon. In the fall of 2013, Potter was selected to receive a grant from the United States Olympic Committee (OSOC) and attend the USOC's Ethnic and Minority Women in Coaching Leadership Conference (EMWICL) in Colorado. A USA Track & Field Level I Certified Coach with a Level II Certification in Jumps, Potter spent seven months working with the Bears at Shaw University as an assistant coach in both track & field and cross country, joining the staff as part of the NCAA Division II Coaching Enhancement program. In addition to her coaching role, she worked as an administrator with Shaw's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Potter also received a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academy scholarship as an assistant coach. Before Shaw, Potter was at her alma mater, Temple, where she worked as a graduate assistant after completing her competition eligibility. During her two seasons as a GA, her coaching emphasis was in sprints, hurdles, jumps and multi-events. Potter graduated with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology in 2010, serving as the Owls' student assistant coach that same year. A four-year letter winner in track at Temple, Potter competed in the heptathlon, 400-meter hurdles, 800 meter run and the triple jump. She also served as the head of the fundraising committee for Temple's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Esche coached All-American Kristen Busch, an NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier in the 10,000-meter run, as well as five NCAA Preliminary qualifiers. Esche's 2014 women's cross country team won the Missouri Valley Conference and finished runner-up in 2013. The men's cross country team finished third in 2014, the highest finish by the men's team since 1987. Bradley's success continued in the spring of 2014 under Esche, as the women's indoor team scored 44 points at the conference championships, the most in school history. Overall, Esche coached six Missouri Valley Conference champions at Bradley. Prior to his time at Bradley, Esche spent 2009 at Nicholls State and the 2010 track season at Butler. While at Nicholls State, Esche coached the cross country team to a number of program firsts, including its highest Southland Conference finish (sixth in 2009 after finishing 11th in 2008), its first NCAA South Central Regional Poll ranking (14th) and its highest NCAA South Central Regional meet (12th). Following the turnaround season, Esche was selected as 2009 Louisiana Cross Country Coach of the Year. Esche made his coaching debut as a volunteer assistant coach from 2006-2009 at his alma mater, the University of Iowa, where his 2006 cross country squad placed fifth at the Big Ten Championships, third at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet and 28th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. "The distance program has been a cornerstone of our program for a long time," Thomas said. "I want to continue that tradition of conference champions and All-Americans and Matt is the guy to do that. He shares the same program philosophies and that will be important for this team to be successful." As an athlete, Esche was an All-Midwest Region cross country athlete in 2002 and 2004. His holds the school record in the 10k (30:10), while ranking 10th all-time at Iowa in the 8k (24:31). He is a 2006 graduate of the University of Iowa.