University of Houston Men's Track

Burrell coached 15 student-athletes to the NCAA West Regional in the outdoor season and saw three of thoes student-athletes make the NCAA Outdoor Championships as well as two relay squads. Burrell led Issac Williams to a third-place finish in the 110M Hurdles at nationals. In 2014-15 Burrell led the Cougar men's team to its first American Athletic Conference indoor championship and his 29th team Conference championship. Burrell coached junior Issac Williams to a third place finish and NCAA First Team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 110m hurdles. The Cougars earned 13 NCAA All-America honors during the 2014-15 season and nine individual American Athletic Conference Championships. Last season, Burrell tutored Errol Nolan to a 2013 NCAA Indoor Championship in the 400-meter dash. Nolan was the C-USA Track Athlete of the Year for the indoor season. Burrell also had 13 individuals win conference championships and the men's team took home the 2013 C-USA Indoor Conference Championship. In his first season, he coached the C-USA Indoor and Outdoor Athletes of the Year, Anthony Authorlee and Dennis Darling. Authorlee was named the 1999 C-USA Outdoor Athlete of the Year after winning the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. His victory marked the first time that the Cougars had a conference 100-meter champion since 1993. Darling was named the 1999 C-USA Indoor Athlete of the Year after winning the 200 meters and 400 meters. He also ran the anchor leg on Houston's victorious 4x400 meter relay. Houston also enjoyed success on the national frontier that season, when the women's team ended the 1999 campaign with a 20th place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Meet. In 2000, Burrell guided Houston to the C-USA Men's Indoor and Outdoor Championships for a second straight year. He coached the C-USA Freshman of the Year, Robert Foster, who won the 200-meter dash at the C-USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Burrell was named the C-USA Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2000 after leading the women's team to their first conference championship under his direction. Houston won the C-USA women's outdoor title after finishing as the runner-up team at the C-USA Indoor meet. Later that year, the women's team finished in eighth place at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Jenny Adams won the NCAA long jump title and finished as the runner-up in the 100 meters. Ifoma Jones had a fourth-place finish in the heptathlon and finished seventh in the high jump. Rhian Clarke also had a seventh-place finish in the pole vault. In 2001, the women's team finished in seventh place at the NCAA Indoor Championships, as Adams became Houston's first two-time NCAA champion since 1989 when she won the long jump. She also finished in third place in the 60-meter hurdles to close out her collegiate career. The seventh place finish was Houston's best placing since the 1993 indoor championships and the eighth-place finish at the 2000 outdoor meet equaled Houston's best NCAA outdoor showing in the school's history. Later that year, Foster became the first UH sprinter to qualify for the 100 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since Sam Jefferson who was the 1993 NCAA 100 meters champion. Burrell first gained track and field's national spotlight when he earned All-America honors as a senior at Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne, Pa. in 1985. He was named the Eastern Track Athlete of the Year after single-handedly winning the 1985 Class 3A state championship. Burrell scored all of Penn Wood's 40 points when he won the 100, 200, long jump and triple jump at the state meet. In 1985-86, he broke Houston's freshman long jump record that was held by Carl Lewis, when he leaped 26'9" at a dual meet against UCLA in 1986. Later that season, he faced one of the most challenging moments of his track career. After jumping 26' 7.25" in the preliminaries of the 1986 Southwest Conference Outdoor Championships, Burrell jumped almost 27 feet before landing awkwardly on his third jump. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He finished second at the meet, but many people feared the injury could be career ending. In 1988, he returned to the SWC Championships, where he finished second in the 100 meters and in third-place in the long jump. At the NCAA Championships, Burrell earned All-America honors with a fifth-place finish in the 100 meters and a seventh-place showing in the long jump. The next year, he won the NCAA Indoor Long Jump Championship with a leap of 26' 5.50". At the NCAA Outdoor meet, he set the NCAA outdoor meet record with a personal best jump of 27' 5.50". But, Ohio State's Joe Greene recorded a wind-aided mark of 27' 7.25" to win the event, and left Burrell with a record-setting second-place finish. Two weeks later, Burrell rebounded at the USA Outdoor Championships at Houston's Robertson Stadium. He won the 100 meters in 9.94 seconds, which was the fastest time ever recorded by a collegian. He also teamed with Carl Lewis, Danny Everett and current UH assistant coach Floyd Heard to set a world record in the 4x200 meter relay with a time of 1:19.38. As a senior in 1990, Burrell won the NCAA Indoor Long Jump title for the second straight year with a leap of 27 feet. At the SWC Outdoor Championships, Burrell ran one of the best sprint doubles ever recorded. He ran the fastest 200 meters ever run under any conditions with a windaided time of 19.61 and ran a wind-aided 9.94 time in the 100 meters to easily win both races. He also won the 100 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Durham, N.C., when he posted a wind-aided time of 9.94 seconds. He set the NCAA meet record in the semifinals in 10.03 seconds. His outstanding season resulted in Burrell receiving the "Jumbo Elliott Award" as the nation's top collegiate track and field athlete. After completing his collegiate eligibility, Burrell beat Carl Lewis for the first time on July 23, 1990, when he won the 100 meters in 10.05 seconds at the Goodwill Games in Seattle. He was ranked as the world's top sprinter in 1990 and 1991 after winning 19 of his 22 races in the 100 meters. Burrell set his first individual 100 meter world record on June 14, 1991, at the USA Championships in New York City. With a time of 9.90 seconds in the 100 meters, he edged Lewis, who finished second with a time of 9.92. Later that year at the World Championships in Tokyo, Burrell bettered his time to 9.88; however, he was forced to settle for the Silver Medal as Lewis won the race in a record time of 9.86. Burrell and Lewis joined forces in the 1992 Olympic Games at Barcelona, Spain, when they combined with Mike Marsh and Dennis Mitchell to win the gold medal and set a new world record with a time of 37.40 seconds. Burrell also had a fifth-place finish in the 100 meters at the Olympic Games. In 1993, Burrell ran the anchor leg for the USA's 4x100-meter relay team at the World Championships. The team won another Gold Medal and tied the world record. In 1994, Burrell was a member of the Santa Monica track team that set the world record in the 4x200 meter relay in 1:18.68. On July 6, 1994, Burrell reclaimed the title as the "World's Fastest Human" when he reset his world record time in the 100 meters with a time of 9.85 seconds. In 1996, he earned a spot on the USA Olympic Team, but was forced to withdraw because of an Achilles tendon injury. Two years later, he announced his retirement as the American record holder in the 100 meters and was selected to succeed his collegiate coach and USTCA Hall of Fame coach Tom Tellez. A 1991 UH graduate with a degree in radio and television communications, Burrell was inducted into UH's Hall of Honor in 2000. He is married to the former Michelle Finn, an Olympic sprinter. His son, Cameron, is now a freshman at the University of Houston and is a member of the track and field team. The couple and their family live in Houston.

Blackburn is entering his 16th season at the University of Houston. In September, he was promoted to Associate Head Coach by head coach Leroy Burrell and the athletics department. Blackburn coaches Houston's field events as well as coordinates the team's travel and recruiting. During his tenure at the University of Houston, Blackburn has developed many athletes from high school throwers and jumpers into conference champions and nationally respected athletes. Blackburn coached sophomore Cameron Cornelius to the 2015 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship in the shot put en route to the Cougars claiming the team championship. Houston had three throwers qualify for the NCAA West Regional in 2015 including Cornelius, Justine Price and A'Nease Linnear. In February of 2014, Blackburn coached Cougar alum Chris Carter to a victory the USATF National Championship in the triple jump with a jump of 17.18m, a feat which landed him a spot in the World Championships in Sopot Poland. In the college ranks, Blackburn coached John Horton to the NCAA Division I Championships in the long jump where the sophomore earned USTFCCCA All-America honors. Blackburn also helped lead freshman Cameron Cornelius to a win in the inaugural American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship in shot. In the outdoor, Cornelius again claimed the American Athletic Conference title and was the only freshman in NCAA Track and Field to throw 60 feet in the shot put 18.36m (60-3). Blackburn saw three of his athletes post top-five throws in school history during the 2013-14 season. For the women, Justine Price recorded the second best discus mark in school history with a throw of 51.76m (169'-10"), while Nicole Benton threw the fifth-longest hammer throw in school history with an 18.19m (59'-8.25") throw. On the men's side Damon Thompson recorded the second best weight throw in school history with a makr of 18.08m (59'-4") Blackburn, who over the past 15 seasons has coached six All-Americans and 28 Conference Champions. In addition to coaching, Blackburn has recruited a National Champion, 18 All-Americans and 25 Conference USA Champions. In recent seasons, Blackburn developed thrower, Rick Fenton, into a school-record holder and Conference USA Championships medalist. In Fenton's first season as a Cougar, he competed for a spot in the conference championship in the hammer throw and finished in the top 10. From there, he would improve tremendously, medaling in four conference meets and settling in the top-five of the programs all-time list. In the 2012-13 indoor season, Fenton took second place in the weight throw. Fenton's 2012-13 performance of 18.68m broke the men's indoor record. During the outdoor season, the San Clemente, Calif., native claimed gold in the hammer throw at the C-USA Championship and broke the school record with a throw of 65.69m (215-6). In 2013-14, he coached Fenton to a record breaking finish. Fenton was the 2013 Conference USA Outdoor Champion in the Hammer Throw (217 feet), a NCAA regional qualifer and competed in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the Hammer Throw. He also is now the school record holder in the Weight Throw and Hammer Throw. Along with Fenton, Blackburn coached John Fortune to his first conference outdoor shot put title and long jumper Isaiah Sweeney to his third title in four years. He has also coached jumper John Horton to a repeat performance in the triple jump at the C-USA Indoor Championships. Horton went on to Nationals to be named All-America Second Team. Blackburn has also coached the women's indoor weight throw record holder, Emily Nnokwam, who set the record during the 2012-13 indoor season with a throw of 18.99m at the Conference USA meet. Additionally, Blackburn has coached all of the top-five women's performers in the indoor weight throw at Houston, including Amanda Villanueva, Shayla Bowman and Nicole Benton, and numorus Regional qualifiers, such as Alicia Perkins and Ngozi Onwumere whom qualified in the long jump during the 2013 outdoor season. During the 2010-11 season, Chris Carter, one of the best triple jumpers in program history, took home the Conference USA Indoor and Outdoor triple jump championships and an outdoor title in the long jump. Carter went on to qualify in the triple at the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships, where he placed fourth at both meets to earn All-America nods. The 2009 season was one of the most successful track and field seasons in Cougar history thanks to the leadership of Blackburn. The Cougars had 12 student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Midwestern Regional after standout performances at the Conference USA Championships. Two of those student-athletes advanced to the NCAA Championships. Carter qualified for the NCAA Championships and finished in the top-10 that season. Thrower and Heptathlete Brittani Williams had a standout performance at the NCAA Regionals, placing sixth in the javelin throw to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Williams went on to finish 13th at the Championships with a throw of 48.04m. Houston long jumpers, Ed Turner, Lamar Delaney and Isaiah Sweeney, swept the top-three places at the conference championships. Carter, Turner, Delaney, and Sweeney continued their dominance as all four again placed among the top-seven at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships. Similar results were to be expected in the triple jump and the Cougars under Blackburn's tutelage did not disappoint. Chris Carter won the C-USA Outdoor triple jump while two other Cougars placed in the top five. Carter's title ensured him of the C-USA Male Athlete of the Year award. Shaunda McPherson was the female champion at the C-USA Indoor Championships while Dayo Ogunniyi and Tai'shea Reese finished in fourth and sixth place respectively. The discus throwers showed their muscle as four Cougars, Matt Dudley, Brandon Hubbard, Andy Tackett and Sidney Flores, locked down four of the top seven places at the C-USA Outdoor Championships. Hubbard was a Regional qualifier and finished 20th at the NCAA Championships. Hubbard was also selected as an All-American Strength and Conditional Athlete of the Year. As a true freshman, Dudley would finish in second-place in the discus and shot put events at the C-USA Indoor Championships. Kierra Pulliam would establish the second longest shotput in Houston history with her throw of 14.95 meters at the Rice All-Comers Meet. During the 2008 season, Blackburn witnessed a pair of his throwers break school records; as Brandon Hubbard and William Krokey set new benchmarks in the weight throw and the hammer throw. Blackburn also coached a group of talented freshmen jumpers, including Chris Carter, who won the triple jump and Ed Turner, who won the long jump at the conference indoor championships. Turner would garner C-USA Indoor Freshman of the Year. In 2007, Blackburn coached Brandon Hubbard, James Lee, Ashley Bryant, Quin'shundolyn McPherson and Dayo Ogunniyi. Hubbard set a school record in the hammer during the outdoor season, while Lee earned a C-USA Championship in the discus and qualified for the NCAA Regional Qualifier. He also finished in the top-five in the Houston record books. In her first year as a Cougar, Bryant was an NCAA Qualifier and finished in the top-five of the all-time list in the discus and hammer. McPherson and Ogunniyi were NCAA Regional Qualifiers. Along with qualifying for Regionals, McPherson was named the 2007 C-USA Indoor Freshman of the Year. Blackburn also tutored Houston record holder Amanda Villanueva in 2007. Villanueva set a Cougar record in the weight throw at the 2007 Conference USA Indoor Championships with a throw of 61-1.25. In 2006, Blackburn coached Caresir Hamilton to a Conference USA Indoor and Outdoor Championship in the triple jump. Hamilton also set a school record in the triple jump with a leap of 43-4.50. Jonathan Reeves earned the Conference USA Outdoor Championship in the shot put with a throw of 62-3 and was also a conference champion in the discus with a throw of 189-0. Reeves also qualified for the NCAA Championship in the shot put. Houston Track and Field saw great success in 2005. The program claimed conference titles across the board in men's and women's indoor and outdoor championships. Five of Blackburn's throwers medaled in the indoor and outdoor seasons. Jonathan Reeves would win his first championship in the outdoor discus after transferring from Arkansas, before going on to win a championship again in the 2006 outdoor shot put. Between those two years, Reeves qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships twice, finishing seventh and 11th. In 2005, Blackburn also coached the C-USA runner-up in the men's shot put and a NCAA qualifier in the men's discus. He assisted three of the school's top-five women's throwers in the weight throw and hammer, including Shayla Bowman, the school record holder in the outdoor hammer throw. During the 2004 season, Blackburn coached Vincent Marshall to the Indoor Conference USA Championships in the triple jump and runner-up at the Outdoor Championships en route to qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Blackburn began his coaching career after throwing discus for the University of Houston Track and Field team. He won a C-USA conference championship as a competitor for Houston. Due to an injury, Blackburn had to sit out the 1998 season. Blackburn began his coaching career in 2000. In addition to his coaching duties at the University of Houston, Blackburn has coached the Houston Gold Masters Club. Masters athletes are between the ages of 30 and 85 years old. Blackburn has tutored Linda Douglas, Joe Summerlin and Jean Vander Cruyssen. Born in El Paso, Texas, Blackburn earned his bachelor's degree in Education from the University of Houston. He was a member of the Dean's List, Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and he received an endowed athletics scholarship. He received a master's in Sports Administration and teaches in the Health, Human Performance and Kinesiology Department at Houston. Blackburn married the former Geri Blankenship of Crosby, Texas in 2004. The couple has two children, two sons Hudson and Hawke David and a daughter Haven.

Ferguson-McKenzie as the coach for women's sprints and hurdles. "It feels like a fairy tale," McKenzie said. "Like something you read in a book. But it's real life. I'm looking forward to learning from the staff. I grew up watching Leroy and now I'm hired by him and he's my boss and colleague. It's a dream come true." Ferguson-McKenzie, comes to the Cougars from Southern Miss and will take over for Seun Adigun who stepped down from the position to pursue other opportunities, but will stay on as a volunteer coach. "When Seun Adigun stepped down to pursue other career opportunities, I felt we needed a person with the caliber of Olympic experience that already exists on our staff as a role model for our women," Burrell said. "Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie provides that and then some." Including her Olympic and world championship medals, Ferguson-McKenzie has won 52 medals in international competition and was a 10-time Bahamas national champion in the 100- and 200-meter sprints. She is looking to bring the same hard work and persistence that earned her those medals to the Cougars. "I want us to work hard, but also have fun," Ferguson-McKenzie said. "Our goal as a team is to be number one. It won't be easy, but we have to keep pushing." Ferguson-McKenzie was a specialist at the 100- and 200-meter sprints, represented the Bahamas in five Olympic Games - Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 - and was a three-time Olympic medalist and four-time medalist at world championships. "Debbie will be a tremendous asset to cougar track and field in her role not only as a coach and mentor to our female athletes but she brings a wealth of recruiting connections not only in the Caribbean, but throughout the world," Burrell said. "We plan to thoroughly capitalize on those connections that she has fostered to build our program to be among the elite programs in collegiate track and field." In her time away from the track, Ferguson-McKenzie has built a charitable reputation while spending time as a motivational speaker, mentor and teen pregnancy counselor since 1994 and working with the Willamae Pratt Center for Girls, the Simpson Penn Center for Boys and the Bahamas Humane Society. She has also served as a member of the IAAF Athlete's Commission and was nominated as a Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. "We have a staff that has performed well at the highest level of the sport," Burrell said. "The Olympic games is the pinnacle of track & field. Our staff consists of three Olympians, two of whom medaled, over eight Olympiads." The former NCAA Champion will continue the rich tradition of star-studded Olympians who will help lead the Cougars in the 2014-15 season. Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie Position: Assistant Coach Alma Mater: Georgia, 1999 The University of Houston Track and Field coaching staff is excited to announce the hiring of Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie as the coach for women's sprints and hurdles. "It feels like a fairy tale," McKenzie said. "Like something you read in a book. But it's real life. I'm looking forward to learning from the staff. I grew up watching Leroy and now I'm hired by him and he's my boss and colleague. It's a dream come true." Ferguson-McKenzie, comes to the Cougars from Southern Miss and will take over for Seun Adigun who stepped down from the position to pursue other opportunities, but will stay on as a volunteer coach. "When Seun Adigun stepped down to pursue other career opportunities, I felt we needed a person with the caliber of Olympic experience that already exists on our staff as a role model for our women," Burrell said. "Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie provides that and then some." Including her Olympic and world championship medals, Ferguson-McKenzie has won 52 medals in international competition and was a 10-time Bahamas national champion in the 100- and 200-meter sprints. She is looking to bring the same hard work and persistence that earned her those medals to the Cougars. "I want us to work hard, but also have fun," Ferguson-McKenzie said. "Our goal as a team is to be number one. It won't be easy, but we have to keep pushing." Ferguson-McKenzie was a specialist at the 100- and 200-meter sprints, represented the Bahamas in five Olympic Games - Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 - and was a three-time Olympic medalist and four-time medalist at world championships. "Debbie will be a tremendous asset to cougar track and field in her role not only as a coach and mentor to our female athletes but she brings a wealth of recruiting connections not only in the Caribbean, but throughout the world," Burrell said. "We plan to thoroughly capitalize on those connections that she has fostered to build our program to be among the elite programs in collegiate track and field." In her time away from the track, Ferguson-McKenzie has built a charitable reputation while spending time as a motivational speaker, mentor and teen pregnancy counselor since 1994 and working with the Willamae Pratt Center for Girls, the Simpson Penn Center for Boys and the Bahamas Humane Society. She has also served as a member of the IAAF Athlete's Commission and was nominated as a Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. "We have a staff that has performed well at the highest level of the sport," Burrell said. "The Olympic games is the pinnacle of track & field. Our staff consists of three Olympians, two of whom medaled, over eight Olympiads." The former NCAA Champion will continue the rich tradition of star-studded Olympians who will help lead the Cougars in the 2014-15 season.

Tellez begins his 25th season coaching with the University of Houston. Tellez coaches Houston's student-athletes in the high jumps, pole vault and multi events. 2014 was a banner year for the Coach Tellez and the Cougars as he helped Houston earn two NCAA Championship berths. Tellez coached John Horton to an 8th place finish and All-American honors in the triple jump at the 2014 NCAA Championships, while pole vaulter Mike Mahnke also reached the NCAA Championship meet. On the women's side, vaulter Karley King jumped 4.21m to set a new outdoor school record in the pole vault. The 2012-13 season was a very successful one for the special events athletes under Coach Tellez. They ended the season with 12 medalists over the course of the season and five first place spots in conference. Among these were Karley King who placed first in pole vault both during the indoor and outdoor championships, Megan Frausto who finished first in the pentathlon, John Horton who jumped for first place in triple jump, and Thomas Lang who not only placed first in triple jump during the outdoor season, but was an NCAA Qualifier as well. Under Tellez' tutelage, a strikingly large number of athletes have achieved high honors in their respective fields. In just the last few years as coach of the multi-events athletes, Tellez helped guide Wesley Bray to a gold at the C-USA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon, qualify for the NCAA Championship and break the school record in the heptathlon all within the 2011 indoor season. Tellez coached another student-athlete to be an NCAA qualifier in 2011: Alex Bentley who qualified for pole vault during the outdoor season. Since he began coaching Houston's jumpers, pole vaulters and multi-athletes, Tellez has produced two-time NCAA long jump champion Jenny Adams and an outstanding seven All-Americans including Krystal Ward, Rhian Clarke, Nick Decker, Ifoma Jones, John Davis, Nathan Labus and Edwina Ammonds. Adams concluded her collegiate career as the 2000 NCAA outdoor long jump champion and 2001 NCAA indoor long jump champion. Ward began her career with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and won the pentathlon and heptathlon at the Conference USA Championships twice in the same year. Clarke had a fifth-place finish in the pole vault at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships after finishing in fourth place at the 2001 NCAA Indoor meet, and seventh at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Decker had a sixth-place finish in the high jump at the 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships. Tellez also coached Jones, who was a four-time All-American after finishing in fourth place in the heptathlon and in seventh place in the high jump at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Tellez has tutored several Conference USA men's champions, as well as several athletes who earned the title CUSA Athlete of the Year. Tellez has coached a variety of champions in a variety of fields. Towards the beginning of his career he coached a trio of C-USA women's champion throwers, in addition to the league's first pole vault champion, Denise Darre. In 2000, Tellez lead Ron Veillon to his third straight C-USA indoor heptathlon championship and later to be the 2003 C-USA decathlon champion. Before Houston began competing in Conference USA in 1997, Tellez also tutored four Southwest Conference champions. As a collegiate distance runner, Tellez ran for Houston's cross country and track teams in 1984-85. He earned a bachelor's degree in education at the University of Houston. Kyle Tellez was born on June 5, 1966, in Fullerton, California. Tellez has two children, son TK and daughter Annie. He is the son of Houston's Hall of Fame head coach Tom Tellez.

Crump enters his fourth year as the team manager for the Houston Cougar track and field and cross country teams. In this capacity, the senior from San Antonio, Texas, facilities the coaches and student-athletes in preparing practices, competition, travel arrangements, equipment and other assorted duties and responsibilities that arise. Crump became involved in managing in high school due to his love of coaching. At Rick Hawkins High School in San Antonio, Texas, he managed every sport but took a special interest in track and field and cross country. After becoming involved in being a team manager, Crump began volunteering during the summers to coach a competitive track team and also volunteered his services for coaching children. During his high school days, Crump was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame for academic and athletic success. In addition to serving the athletics program, Crump helped guide the entire student body as he was Student Council President and Senior Class President. Son of Jacqueline Y. Crump... Born on June 13, 1991... Crump aspires to become a coach at the university level.

Magness joined the University of Houston cross country and track and field programs as an assistant coach with his hiring in August 2012. He was promoted to serve as the Cross Country teams head coach prior to the 2014 season. 2014 began as a special year for Magness as he helped lead sophomore Brian Barraza to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Barraza became the first Cougar since 2011 to qualify for nationals. Magness would go on to lead Barraza to the NCAA West Regional as well as senior Drevan Anderson-Kaapa in the 800m. During his first cross country season, Magness helped sophomore Yonas Tesfai earn all conference honors, as well as a 21st place showing at the South Central regional meet. As the assistant coach in charge of the middle and long distance runners during the track season, Magness made an impact immediately. During the indoor season, Anthony Coleman recorded the 4th fastest 800m time in school history (1:51.33). While Yonas Tesfai broke the school record in the 3,000m (8:19.60) and recorded the 4th fastest mile time in school history (4:07.04). Outdoors he helped Yonas Tesfai (1:49.62), Drevan Anderson-Kaapa (1:49.58), and Anthony Coleman (1:50.20) all advance to the first round of NCAAs in the 800m. Anderson-Kaapas time was the 5th fastest in school history, while Anthony Coleman was the Conference USA outdoor champion in the 800m. Additionally, Yonas Tesfai ended up with the 5th fastest 1,500m time in school history, recording a best of 3:46.75. On the womens side, Kat Duccomun recorded the second fastest time in school history in the 3,000m steeplechase. Magness joined the Cougars after spending a year and a half working for Nike as a coach and scientific advisor with several of their professional runners. During this time, Magness assisted with athletes who came away with gold and silver medals at the 2011 world championships and 2012 Olympic games in London. While in Oregon, Magness was responsible for coaching several elite runners including, Irish miler Ciaran OLionaird who recorded an indoor personal best of 3:54 for the mile, as well as an appearance at the 2012 World Indoor Championships. Magness also worked with Israeli steeplechaser Itay Magidi, and Olympic trials qualifier in the 3,000m steeplechase Lindsay Allen. Magness still coaches a handful of professional runners including Jackie Areson, Sara Hall, and Tommy Schmitz. Jackie Areson is a current Houston volunteer assistant coach, Jackie Areson, for the cougars. Under Magness guidance, Jackie has finished 11th at the 2012 world indoor championships in the 3,000m run and finished 15th in the 5k at the 2013 World outdoor track Championships in Moscow, Russia. She has recorded personal bests of 4:12.59 for 1,500m and 15:12.09 for 5,000m. Tommy Schmitz has recorded personal bests of 3:39 for 1,500m and 1:49 for 800m, as well as qualifying for three USATF outdoor championship meets under Magness guidance. While Sara Hall finished 8th at the 2013 USA cross country championships and competed at the 2013 USA championships in the 3,000m steeplechase while being coached by Magness. Prior to working with Nike, Magness coached at the high school level, guiding Klein Oak HS runner Ryan Dohner to a state championship in the 3,200m run, and an 11th place finish at the Nike Cross Country National championships. Magness competed his freshman through junior years at Rice University, where he was the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and a regional qualifier in track during the 2003-04 season. In 2004, Magness qualified as an individual to the NCAA cross country championships by placing 5th at the south central regional meet. As a senior in 2007-08, Magness ran for the Cougars and finished in the Top 10 at the Conference USA Championships and was 11th at the NCAA South Central Regionals, missing making nationals by .08 seconds. For those efforts, he was named to the C-USA Academic All-Conference and the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic teams. As a prep, Magness ran under Gerald Stewart, where he won the State Championship in the 1600M and set a state record in the event. As a high school runner, Magness competed against some of the worlds best at the Prefontaine Classic, recording a time of 4:01.02, which still stands as the 7th fastest high school mile time ever run in the U.S. Magness was also part of the fastest high school Distance Medley Relay team in the nation in 2003. Magness holds a bachelors degree in kinesiology from the University of Houston in 2008 and a masters in exercise, fitness, and health promotions from George Mason University in 2010. He is also a current contributor to Running Times Magazine and Competitor Magazine and has contributed to articles published in Runners World, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New Studies in Athletics and the International Journal of Athletic Training.