University of California - Davis Women's Track

Director of Athletics Kevin Blue announced on July 31, 2019, that Ngoni Makusha, a 2008 Olympian, two-time track athlete of the year and former Drake assistant track and field coach, is UC Davis' new men's and women's track & field head coach.  Makusha has enjoyed some unprecedented success at the helm of the Aggies' track and field program. He has guided two Aggies to All-American honors - Brianna Weidler (2023) and Dani Barrett (2024) while overseeing multiple Big West Conference champions.  He saw his first conference champion in the pole vault when Jered Española stepped to the top of the podium in 2021. Marlene Guiterrez was the next Aggie to capture a conference title under Makusha when she won the individual shot put championship at the same meet. Makusha's first full conference meet culminated in Matthew Okonkwo's Big West Athlete of the Meet honors following his victory in both the 400m and 200m. Okonkwo was later named Big West Male Track Athlete of the Year. Theo Goodwin added another individual title for the Aggies with his win in the 100m dash. In 2022, Gutierrez won two more individual titles and Okonkwo defended his title in the 200m. Sierra Atkins came onto the scene to win the 5,000m. The success continued in the 2023 campaign when Chelsea Daye won the long jump and Brianna Weidler brought home the 5,000m title. Weidler went on to compete in the national meet where she finished 21st in the nation, earning her All-American Honorable Mention recognition while setting a new school record. Makusha guided Dani Barrett (10,000m) and Weidler (5,000m) to a couple more conference titles in 2024. Barrett, Weidler, and Madison Kackley reached the NCAA West Prelims that season before Barrett enjoyed a historic run to the national meet where she finished 11th in the nation, garnering Second Team All-American honors. Throughout Makusha's coaching career at Florida State (his alma mater) and Drake, student-athletes enjoyed an elite level of success both in the classroom, and on the track.   Under Makusha's tutelage, three Seminole student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, two received All-America First Team honors and another collected All-America Second Team distinction.   During his tenure at Drake, his indoor and outdoor sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers earned seven conference championships, six runner-up and six third-place finishes, 60 All-Missouri Valley selections, Most Valuable Track Athlete of the Year, Indoor Freshman of the Year and Outdoor Freshman of the Year honors.   Twelve of his student-athletes also advanced to the NCAA regionals.    "I am very grateful for the opportunity to work at UC Davis, a prestigious institution with outstanding academics, world-class student-athletes who get the training to become world-class professionals, and an unmatched student-focused culture," said Makusha.   "I am excited to work with the team and build a positive and collaborative program. We have an outstanding roster and will continue to recruit local, national, and international talent to our sunny and vibrant California campus. Thank you to Dr. Kevin Blue and his staff for believing in me… GO AGS!"   In 2008, Makusha represented Zimbabwe in the Summer Olympics, and finished fourth in the long jump after moving to the United States from his native home on a track scholarship to Florida State. Three years later, he returned to international competition at the IAAF World Championships, advanced to the semifinal round of the 100m and won a bronze medal in the long jump.   Makusha's storied track & field career began at Florida State, where he won seven NCAA titles in the long jump, 100m and 4x100 relay, six ACC championships, and played a key role in the Seminoles' 2008 national championship season.   The five-time All-American set a NCAA and ACC record in the 100m in 2011; his time was the NCAA's standard for six years and is the league's current benchmark.   Following his senior season, three organizations recognized his unparalleled (and consistent) success by presenting their top honor to Makusha: The Bowerman Award, NCAA Male Track Athlete of the Year, and ACC Male Athlete of the Year.   The Bowerman is presented annually by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Coaches Association to the most outstanding male and female NCAA track & field athletes in the nation; ACC officials selected Makusha from a pool of student-athletes comprised from its sponsored men's sports.   Makusha graduated from Florida State with an economics degree in 2011 and received his master's in leadership development at Drake in 2019. 

Kearney returns "home" after spending a season as the women's cross country and men's and women's mid-distance and steeplechase coach at Hillsdale College in Michigan. In her only season, Kearney helped the Chargers' cross country squad reach the NCAA Division II championships, posting a 15th place team finish, while helping one of her athletes, Emily Oren, earn indoor and outdoor All-America honors in both the mile and 3K steeplechase. She coaches Oren and teammate Amy Kerst to a total of four Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference indoor distance titles as well as six conference all-academic awards. Prior to her work with the Chargers, Kearney followed up a stellar collegiate career with the Aggies by spending the 2012-13 season as a volunteer assistant coach at UC Davis working with both the cross country and track and field squads, including helping the Aggies to a Big West track and field title. During her first coaching stint with the Aggies, Kearney helped tutor a pair of Division I All-Americans in Lauren Wallace (800m) and Katie Fry (steeplechase) as well as four Big West champions on the track: Wallace (800m, 4x400m), Fry (steeplechase), Sarah Sumpter (10K), and Raquel Lambdin (1500m). As a student-athlete, Kearney served as team captain for the Aggies' first Big West titles in cross country and track and field while also excelling in the classroom. She finished her career ranked third on the UC Davis all-time steeplechase list with a time of 10:37.62 and finished 35th in the event at the NCAA West Region preliminary meet. Off the track, Kearney was a member of four USTFCCCA All-Academic teams and was a five-time Big West All-Academic Team honoree. She also earned a spot on the Dean's List twice during her academic career. A 2012 graduate of UC Davis, Kearney earned a bachelors degree in exercise biology with a minor in Spanish. She also earned her USTFCCCA Track and Field Technical Certification Level 1 in 2013.

Ackley joined the Aggie track & field staff in the fall of 2011. He works with the Aggie jumpers (both vertical and horizontal) and multi-event athletes and has helped achieve success in both areas, particularly in the pole vault where both the men's and women's school records have come during his tenure with the Aggies. Ethan Ostrom provided half of that stat by twice clearing 17 feet, 6.50 inches, including at the 2013 NCAA West Region Meet where he narrowly missed advancing to the NCAA Finals after tying for 12th in the standings but not qualifying due to misses. Ostrom tied the Aggie record which he shares with Tony Moore (2001). Ostrom was twice the Big West Championship's runner-up. Mike Peterson, who is fourth all-time after twice going over at 16-10.75 in each of the past two years, also participated at the regional meet, giving UC Davis solid representation on the postseason stage. Emily Bush, who was the first Aggie woman to clear 13 feet since Jennifer Swanson in 2000 when she did it at the 2012 Woody Wilson Classic, holds the school record of 13-3.50, set in 2013 after winning the Aggies' second straight Big West pole vault title. Lauren Radke, who captured the 2011 Big West championship in the event, is fourth all-time while Danielle Steffen is tied for fifth after twice clearing 12-5.50 and eventually finishing third at last year's conference meet. Katie Barber (7th, high jump), Catherine Li (T-5th, triple jump) and Diamonne Mitchell (10th, long jump) are among the other Aggies who have found success in the program's all-time annals during Ackley's short time with UC Davis. Kira Rienecker has gradulated moved up the heptathlon ledger and is fourth all-time and helping lead Ackley's multi-event contingent. Ackley finished fifth in the decathlon at the Pacific-10 Conference meet as a sophomore then improved to second and third in his final two seasons. As a junior, he scored a PR of 7,470 points to finish 12th at the national meet, earning All-America status. However, it was Ackley's performance at the 2010 NCAA Championships that etched his name in the storied history of Oregon track & field. In pursuit of a second All-America award , the Nyssa, Ore. native pulled his left hamstring during the pole vault. Ackley posted a no-height finish in that event but refused to withdrawal from the event. He continued to compete in the final two events, the javelin throw and 1,500-meter run. His leg tightly bandaged due to his injury, Ackley limped around the track, receiving a standing ovation from an appreciative home crowd of nearly 12,000. It took him more than seven minutes to complete the race, but Ackley's courage arguably stole the show in his final collegiate meet at OU's Hayward Field. Ackley remained with the Oregon program as a volunteer assistant for multis coach Harry Marra. He also coached and trained alongside Ashton Eaton, the world heptathlon record holder. Ackley earned his degree in history from Oregon.

Singh brings an extensive and impressive throwing background to UC Davis, having also represented India at the Asian Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games while earning national championships in that country in both the hammer throw and discus. Prior to joining the Aggies, Singh was a volunteer assistant throws coach at Fresno State from 2011-13 while concurrently serving as a volunteer coach for the army in India. He competed collegiately at Oklahoma from 2009-11 after earning a trio of California junior college championships in the hammer throw (twice) and discus while at Fresno City College. Singh was a 2010 indoor All-American in the hammer throw before winning the Big 12 hammer throw title later that spring while earning all-conference accolades in both the hammer and discus. Singh earned his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma in 2011 and holds school records in the hammer (218 feet, 10 inches) and indoor weight throw (70-8.25). He was also a team captain.

Elizondo assumed the reins of the distance programs in the fall of 2014 after former head coach Drew Wartenburg stepped down to pursue other opportunities, and promptly led UC Davis to success in his first season, named the Big West Conference Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year after leading the Aggie women to their first conference title since 2011. Other highlights of his inaugural campaign included guiding the men's team to a fourth-place finish at the WCC Preview and a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Indiana, while the women finished second behind nationally ranked Stanford at the Cardinal's own Stanford Invitational during the regular season. In 2015, Elizondo guided both the men's and women's teams to third-place finishes at the Big West championships -- the highest finish for the men since 2013 and the fifth consecutive top-three finish on the women's side. The Aggies also finished well at the NCAA West Regionals, ending the meet 13th on the men's side and 15th in the women's race -- marking the third time that the men, and the fifth time that the women, have finished among the top 15 in regional competition during his time in Davis. Overall during his tenure on campus, Elizondo has helped coach 20 All-Big West runners (six men, 14 women) and six all-region honorees in cross country. Elizondo began his coaching career with the Brentwood School in Los Angeles where he served as head boys' and girls' track and field coach and assistant boys' and girls' cross country coach. With Elizondo on staff, the boys' cross country team qualified for state championships on six different occasions and achieved five top-five finishes, placing third as a team in 2001. The girls' program advanced to the state meet twice as a team and sent an individual on two other occasions. In 2003, a Brentwood School runner won the individual title. On the track, Elizondo's athletes set 23 school records since his appointment as head coach in 2003. Elizondo also played an active role in coaching education throughout Southern California. He joined the LA84 Foundation in 2007, an organization endowed through surplus funds from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games that works to serve youth through sport and increase knowledge of sport and its impact on people's lives. As Associate of Education Services, Elizondo assisted in organizing clinics and workshops for over 1,600 high school cross country and track and field coaches in the Southern California area. Elizondo has also worked closely with Runner's Workshop, a summer cross country camp that has served over 13,000 runners since its inception in 1985, since 1994. In his role as Clinic Presenter, he created a daily lecture series as well as five-day training and two-a-day workouts for the camp participants. A 1998 graduate of UCLA with a bachelor's degree in history, Elizondo was a standout member of both the cross country and track and field teams. He was the No. 2 distance runner behind Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi and helped lead the Bruins to two third-place finishes at the Pac-10 Cross Country Championships. In 1995, he was selected to te All-District IX first team and was chosen as Most Outstanding Freshman in 1994. On the track, Elizondo was a member of three Pac-10 Championship teams and concluded his four-year career with the Bruins with a third-place finish in the steeplechase, setting a lifetime best time of 8:56.7. Cross Country Home   Email this article   Printer-friendly format Last College: UCLA '98 Position: Assistant Coach

Sheffield, who led numerous San Diego State athletes to All-America honors during his 23-year tenure with the Aztecs program, enters his second season with the Aggies but his first as the Director of Cross Country and Track and Field after serving as an assistant track coach in 2014. His first year was a memorable one for Sheffield who sprinters and hurdlers helped the women's team capture their third straight Big West Conference championship and then men earn third. Standout Ashley Marshall successfully defended her 100- and 200-meter titles, was named the Big West Women's Track Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, and was subsequently presented with the Heitman Award as the top UC Davis female athlete for 2013-14. She later advanced to the NCAA Finals for the second straight year. Cekarri Nixon set a school record in the 400 (53.26) last season and six career-best marks were set by his athletes on the women's team. His men's athletes also achieved success with eight career-best times established, including Kaio Sena (10.42), Sava Boyadjiev (10.45) and Marcus Johnson (10.48) taking the second through fourth spots on the program's all-time 100 list, a ledger that had just one new member since 2007. Besides Marshall's two wins, Nixon (400), Kellie Grigg (400H), Johnson (100) and Karl Moran (400H) also won Big West titles last May. The men's 4x100, which along with the women's relay set school records in 2014, won the Aggies' first-ever Big West championship in the event as well. Sheffield began as an assistant coach at SDSU in 1984 and then was elevated to head coach in 1991. He retired from the position in 2008 after achieving tremendous success which included 78 Aztecs qualifying for the NCAA Championships, 19 earning All-America honors and three capturing individual national championships. Additionally, nearly 30 of his athletes competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials and four advanced to the Olympics. "We are very pleased to be able to bring someone with the breadth and depth of Rahn's background to complete our staff for the 2013-14 year," said former Aggie head coach Drew Wartenburg upon Sheffield's hiring. "Rahn's coaching accomplishments on the regional, national and international levels will provide a valuable asset to the program. Our challenge from this point forward is to bolster the strong components of our sprint and hurdle group while also working to raise the level in areas where improvement can make an immediate impact on the overall strength of the team." Sheffield led his team to several outstanding finishes, including the 2003 Mountain West Conference outdoor championship when the Aztecs ended BYU's 21-year championship reign. His final two seasons featured top-10 finishes at the NCAA West Regionals. Sheffield was a three-time conference coach of the year. His expertise also extends beyond the collegiate borders with several of his athletes making names for themselves on the international stage. One of his more notable athletes was his sister, LaTanya Sheffield, who competed in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics during a career that spanned through the 2000 Olympic Trials. "UC Davis has elite students," Sheffield said. "I'm here to help us have elite athletes as well. The University of California system is attractive on its own. The mental aspect is the most important part of training for an athlete. That will allow them to compete at a higher collegiate level." Sheffield's recognition in the track and field community, particularly as a coach whose unique rotation hurdling technique has been noted by the Olympic Development Committee, has already helped focus attention on the Aggies' program as a destination for hurdlers. Sheffield earned his undergraduate degree from San Diego State in 1980 after enjoying a track and field career that resulted into two All-America honors.