University of Illinois Women's Track

Garner saw 18 additions to Illinois' all-time top-10 lists. The squad boasted 10 NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifiers and were represented in the discus for the first time in 10 years. Garner was also instrumental in the success of freshman high jumper Kandie Bloch-Jones. The Illinois Female Newcomer of the Year captured the indoor Big Ten title, earned second-team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and finished runner-up at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Before returning to Illinois, Garner spent the past two seasons at the University of South Carolina as an assistant coach for the men's and women's track and field teams, specializing in sprints and relay events. He coached 20 All-Americans in 12 events during his time with the Gamecocks. In his first season at South Carolina, Garner guided sprinter Erika Rucker in becoming the SEC 2012 Indoor Freshman Runner of the Year after she finished the season as the third fastest freshman in the nation. Garner spent one season coaching the James Madison University track and field teams in 2005, where he specialized in throwing events. With his guidance, two school records were broken, and every athlete that he coached established at least one new personal record. Garner also specialized in throwing events at the University of Virginia from 2002-2004, where he coached two 2004 US Olympic Trials qualifiers, one 2004 NCAA All-American, and three ACC Champions. As the head coach of the Clemson women's track and field and cross country programs, Garner led the track and field team to the 1999 ACC Outdoor title, the first in 8 years. That year, the team finished at number four on the final USTFCCCA National "Dual Meet" Team Power Rankings. For his success, Garner was named the 1999 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year. At the University of Illinois, Garner was responsible for coaching the horizontal jumps and throwing events, and also assisted with the sprints, hurdles, and relays. During his time at Illinois, Garner helped the team produce six Big Ten Team Conference titles in six years, as well as two consecutive fourth place finishes at the NCAA Championships in 1995 and 1996. He contributed to the development of Olympic Bronze Medalist Tonja Buford-Bailey, and as the recruitment coordinator, he brought in three top-three nationally ranked recruiting classes. Garner was an assistant coach for Clemson University from 1986-1991, where he assisted in the development of Olympic Gold Medalist Kim Graham. He established and coached the first women's track and field team in program history, and won the program's first ACC Conference title in 1991. Garner began his career at Christopher Newport University in 1983. A 1982 graduate of Christopher Newport University with a degree in Leisure Studies and Physical Education, Garner received a master's degree in education from Clemson University. He founded the Inside Track Racing Team, where he coached track and field athletes aged 10-18. Garner coached the three fastest 4x100m relays ever run by a 17-18 yr. age group club team, and produced nineteen junior All-Americans. He is married to former University of Illinois volleyball player Disa Garner. The couple has two daughters, Kayin and Tori.

Gillon is in his third season as associate head coach of the Illinois womens track and field team. A former Illini hurdler, Gillon returns to Champaign after an eight-year stint as an assistant for Michigan State. He primarily worked with the Spartans sprinters and hurdlers, and assisted with the multi-events and middle-distance. In 2016, Gillon guided hurdler Pedrya Seymour to one of the most successful hurdle seasons in Illinois history. Indoors, Seymour clocked the fifth-fastest time in Illinois history, placed third at Big Ten Championships and 11th at Indoor World Championships. The success continued outdoors where Seymour competed in the 100m hurdles for the first time in her career. Gillon assisted Seymour in dropping 0.64 seconds off her time on her way to a First Team All-American honor and the second-best time in Illinois history. Seymour went on to compete at the Rio Olympic Games, placing sixth in the 100m hurdles. While at Michigan State, Gillon served as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's track & field teams. He coached nine NCAA Championship qualifiers, 30 NCAA Regional qualifiers and helped Spartan sprinters and hurdlers set 18 new school records. Prior to his time at Michigan State, Gillon served as an assistant coach at Illinois State for two years. His coaching resume also includes one year as a volunteer assistant with the Illini women's track & field team. A former Illini runner himself, Gillon was a three-time letterman for the Orange and Blue. When he graduated, Gillon held the eighth-fastest time in the 110m hurdles. Gillon graduated from Illinois in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology. In 2002, he earned his master's degree in Biomechanics from Illinois. Randy is married to former Illini track & field standout Nicole Whitman, who holds the school record in the triple jump. She was an All-American and Big Ten champ in the event in 2002 and also garnered All-American status in the 400-meter relay. Randy and Nicole have been married since 2008 and have two daughters, Nia and Imani.

Price Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Sport Administration Alma Mater: UCLA '01 Keiko Price was named Senior Associate Director of Athletics - Sport Administration in May 2016. Price previously served as Associate Director of Athletics, Academic Services since 2013.  In her current role, Price serves as the sport administrator for several Illinois teams, including mens track and field, womens track and field, womens swimming, womens golf, mens cross country and womens cross country.  Keiko came to the University of Illinois following three years as Director of Football Student-Athlete Development at California, where she coordinated academic support services for the Golden Bear football program. Prior to working at Cal-Berkeley, Price served Stanford as an Assistant Academic Director for Student-Athletes from 2007-2010 and was the Academic Advising Coordinator for Black Student Programs at St. Mary's College in 2007. Her post-competitive career began at UCLA as an Academic Coordinator from 2000-2002 before moving to Cal-Berkeley for the first time as an Academic Advisor for student-athletes from 2002-07. An elite swimmer during her career at UCLA, Price was a 22-time All-American, a member of the U.S. National Team, and, at one time, held five UCLA swimming records. She served as captain of the Bruin swim team in the 1999-2000 season, was a three-time Olympic Trials qualifier and was awarded UCLA's Most Valuable Swimmer Award in 1999 and 2000. A native of Mililani, Hawaii, Price graduated Cum Laude from UCLA in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in African-American studies and Master's in education in language, literacy and culture from Cal-Berkeley in 2004. She was named Golden Key National Honors Society member in 1998 and 1999, earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 2000, earned a Sears Directors' Cup Postgraduate Scholarship in 2001, earned the 2001 Woody Hayes National Scholar-Athlete Award and was the 2000 Pac-10 Conference Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. Updated August 2016

Jones guided Alyssa Schneider to her first All-American finish, the first Illini to do so since 2009. Jones also coached Schenider to a third-palce finish at Big Ten Championships, setting the second-fastest 6K time in Illini history. During the indoor track season, Jones again guided Nicole Choquette to a medal in the 800m, placing second.  In 2015, Jones tutored walk-on Nicole Choquette to her first Big Ten title, winning the indoor 600m.  During the 2014 indoor track season, Jones guided the distance medley relay team of Stephanie Morgan, Kymbriona Taylor, Chloe Schmidt and Alyssa Schneider to a  third place finish at Big Ten Championships with the third-fastest time in school history.  While at Akron, Jones was a two-time MAC Womens Cross Country Coach of the Year and coached two conference champion teams. He also assisted with 10 MAC Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championship teams, as his distance runners contributed to eight of the last nine conference titles. Jones has coached two All-Americans and 22 All-MAC cross country runners, as well as 25 individual MAC Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field champions. In his first stint at Illinois, Jones helped produce three Big Ten team titles, as well as consecutive fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships in 1995 and 1996. Jones began his career as a volunteer assistant coach at Cornell University, where he assisted with teams that finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 1991 and 1992. Jones has also led his teams to academic success, as his womens cross country teams have received USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition every year since 1998. A native of Galveston, Texas, Jones graduated from Duke University in 1982, where he earned a bachelors degree in geology. He also earned a Ph.D in earth science from the University of California, San Diego in 1989.