University of North Texas Women's Track

Kelso works primarily with the throwers. Last season, Kelso helped the Mean Green throwers to two school records. Senior Ngozi Nweke broke the weight throw mark with a throw of 17.70 meters at the Houston Indoor invite. Nweke also threw the second best discus mark in school history at 49.15 meters at the John Jacobs invite during the outdoor season.  Sophomore Kevone Kennedy became a conference champion in the men's discus. Senior Riley Donovan has a breakout season finishing top-10 in three events (discus, hammer throw, shot put) at the Conference USA championships. Donovan's personal best hammer throw mark of 56.42 was second best in school history. During the indoor season, Donovan finished fourth in the weight throw at the C-USA championships.   Senior Victoria Clark improved her school record in the hammer throw at 55.52 meters, earning second at the C-USA championships. Kelso guided freshman javelin thrower Javier Lopez to a seventh place finish in conference and his personal best throw of 60.26 meters was third best in school history. During the 2015 season, Kelso guided the Mean Green throwers to two school records. The first of which occurred during indoor competition when Deja McKnight launched a throw of 17.27 meters (568) in the weight throw at the New Mexico Classic to solidify the furthest throw in North Texas history. McKnight also posted the No. 3 throw in the shot put at North Texas with a toss of 14.69m (48 2.5), which was good for third place at the Conference USA Championships. The second school record fell during the outdoor season when Victoria Clark unleashed a massive hammer throw measuring 55.14 meters (180 11). In 2014, Kelso helped coach Tom Kalisky to qualify to NCAA West National Championships Preliminary Rounds in the javelin throw with a monster throw of 64.02 meters (210), the second-furthest throw in school history with a new rules javelin. In his first year at North Texas, Kelso helped coach Deja McKnight to a second-place finish at the Indoor Sun Belt Conference Championships. McKnight, Victoria Clark and Ngozi Nweke claimed three of the eight scoring places in the shot put, adding 17 points to the womens team score tying the 200 meter dash for the most points scored in a single event and paved the way for the womens team to win the 2013 Womens Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship. In that same year, Aaron Sirles broke the school record in the hammer throw and took third place in the shot put at both the Indoor and Outdoor Sun Belt Conference Championships. Sirles capped his senior year with a personal best discus throw, qualifying him for the NCAA West Prelims. Kelso also helped coach Charleston Lewis to break the school record in the 35lb weight throw. Solidifying a fourth-place finish in mens weight throw during the Sun Belt Conference Championships, John Garrish threw a personal best and school record of 18.56 meters (60 10.75), surpassing Lewis mark set earlier that season. Garrish also set the current school record in the hammer throw with a launch of 58.34 meters (191 5), surpassing Sirles mark set earlier that year. As a student-athlete at Hardin-Simmons University, Kelso competed in the 2009 DIII National Championships in the javelin throw and holds the school record in the event. He was a four-time American Southwest Conference Champion in multiple throwing events, including the javelin, shot put, and discus and was once named American Southwest Conference Championships Outstanding Field athlete and twice won the Conference Championships High Point Award. While earning a bachelors and masters degree from Hardin-Simmons, Kelso was named the American Southwest Conference Mens Track and Field Distinguished Scholar Athlete three times and was a member of the USTFCCCA DIII Mens All-Academic Track and Field team in 2009. Kelso is married to Alyssa Kelso. Track & Field Home   Email this article   Printer-friendly format Position: Assistant Coach

Mackel works primarily with the pole vaulters, long jumpers, triple jumpers, high jumpers and multi-event athletes. During his five seasons at North Texas, Mackel has coached one All-American in Shahaf Bareni, 15 all-conference student-athletes, 12 NCAA Preliminary participants and has seen seven school records broken. In 2015, Mackel helped coach three student-athletes who qualified for the NCAA West Prelims in Mona Landry (100 meter dash, long jump), Shahaf Bereni (high jump) and Jazmine Martin (triple jump). Mackel was a part of Berenis first-place finish in the high jump at the C-USA Indoor Championship and a third-place finish at the C-USA Outdoor Championship. He also coached eight top-5 finishes and three podium finishes in Derek Richard (pole vault) and Eddie Wilcox (high jump). Mackels guidance of the 2014 jump squad sent three athletes to the NCAA preliminary round. Mona Landry earned third team all-conference honors in the C-USA Outdoor Championship and two other student-athletes earned all-conference status.   During 2013, junior Shahaf Bareni advanced to the NCAA Championship final and became the second jumper from North Texas to earn All-American honors with a seventh-place showing at 1.83 meters (60), a school record. Chelsea Hermes broke the school record in the heptathlon at the 2013 Sun Belt Outdoor Conference Championships, and Bareni broke the SBC Championships record for the second consecutive year in the high jump. In his second season at North Texas, Mackels athletes brought down two records at the 2012 Sun Belt Outdoor Conference Championship when Bareni won the womens high jump, qualifying her to the NCAA West Prelims, and Hermes claimed the No. 1 spot in North Texas history during the heptathlon finishing the two-day competition with 5056 points and a silver medal. The 2012 campaign saw big improvements from the womens pole vaulters as Sarah Vann took home all-conference honors during both the indoor and outdoor championships. All together, the jumps group would string 42 points up for the team score en route to being crowned team champions. In his first season at North Texas, Mackel worked with the throwers and jumpers. He quickly made an impact as one school record fell, two vaulters qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round and a long jumper would earn a silver medal at the Jr. Pan-Am Championships. In his time at New Mexico, Mackel coached pole vaulter Kyle Walker to a second-place finish, All-Mountain West Conference honors and a spot in the NCAA West Preliminary Round with a vault of 5.35m (174). Mackel also worked with Sandy Fortner, the Mountain West Conference Heptathlon Champion (5723) and a qualifier to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the heptathlon. Fortner was named the Mountain West Female Athlete of the Year in 2010. Mackel mentored pole vaulter Robert Caldwell who would go on to earn All-American honors at the 2008 NCAA outdoor championship with a sixth-place finish. Mackel, the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional pole vault champion, also set the Midwest Regional record in that event at 5.51m (18 1) and was one of the great success stories in UNM track & field history. He began as an unrecruited walk-on in 2002, with a best vault of under 12 out of high school. As a Lobo, Mackel improved by more than six feet during his collegiate career, earning six letters, three All-MWC conference honors and was named MWC Athlete of the Week and Midwest Region Male Athlete of the Year. He is a 2006 graduate of the University of New Mexico, receiving his bachelors degree in university studies and received a masters degree in exercise science from the University of New Mexico in 2010. Track & Field Home   Email this article   Printer-friendly format Position: Assistant Coach

Slekis led the Mean Green men's team to their first Conference USA Championship, and the women to a third place finish. Ten North Texas runners received all-conference individual honors. Charlotte Wilson was named to the Conference USA All-Academic team.

Sheffield helped coached nine student-athletes qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries during the outdoor season. Senior Shahaf Bereni qualified in the high jump and finished in the top 25 with a jump of 1.73 meters.   At the 2015 Conference USA Outdoor Championships, Sheffield helped the mens team finish sixth with three podium finishes and 14 top-8 finalists. On the womens side, two student-athletes came in the top-3 and 10 finished in the top eight. During the indoor season, the mens team finished fifth and the womens team came in fourth thanks to three individual wins from Troy Taylor (3000 meter run), Shahaf Bereni (High Jump) and Susie Kemper (1 mile). Under Sheffield, the Mean Green has continued to see success at the national level. North Texas has sent at least one athlete to the NCAA Championships in nine out of the last 11 years. At the helm of the prestigious track and field program at North Texas, Sheffield has led the Mean Green to two conference championships and two runner-up titles in the last four years. The womens outdoor program won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, while the womens indoor team picked up second-place honors in 2012 and 2013. The 2012 outdoor title was the best finish for the women since winning the championship in 2003. Sheffield also guided the mens team to the most individual outdoor champions, five in 2012, since 2008 when North Texas had six individual outdoor champions. Individually, Sheffield has been recognized for his teams success. He was named the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2013. He was also named the indoor coach of the year in 2012. Under Sheffields leadership, athletes have broken a total of 17 school records. In 2014, Sheffield coached both Clinton Collins and Chastity Stewart to the NCAA Championship with Collins earning All-American honors with a 15th-place finish in the semifinal round of the mens 400. Both Collins and Stewart were also individual champions at the 2014 Conference USA Conference Championship. Sheffield guided 12 athletes to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries in 2014. At NCAA West Prelims, the 4X400M Relay team of Connor Bey, Clinton Collins, Collin Heard and Anthony Hamilton placed 18th, and freshman Elisha Peters placed 25th in the womens high jump. In 2013, track and field sent a combined three athletes to the NCAA Finals. It was the first time that three Mean Green athletes participating in individual events went to the NCAA Championships since 1983. Shahaf Barenis sixth-place finish at the NCAA West Prelims ensured her a spot at the NCAA Championships. Bareni placed seventh at the championships with a record-breaking jump of 1.83 meters, one of the top finishes in school history. Steven White finished his career with a third-place finish in the mens 400-meter hurdles in a school record 49.32 at the NCAA Championships Whites third-place finish is the best for North Texas by an individual or relay team since Bill Schmidt finished second in the mens javelin at the championships in 1970. In 2012, White was named an USTFCA Second-Team All-American after finishing 14th in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 400-meter hurdles. White also participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Sheffield spent 12 years coaching as a Mean Green track & field assistant coach from 1996 to 2007 before departing for an opportunity to be the performance coach at the Michael Johnson Training Center in McKinney, Texas. Under Sheffields guidance as the sprints and hurdles coach at North Texas, his athletes established or tied over 20 school records and earned more than 70 all-conference awards from 1996-2007. The Mean Green won four team championships with Sheffield on staff, two each on the mens and womens sides. He brings enhanced credentials through his work at the Michael Johnson Training Center where he focused on improving the ability of his athletes to integrate linear speed concepts through biomechanics, motor control and performance analysis. Sheffield began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at LSU in 1988. The Tigers went on to win a string of 11 consecutive NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He also coached national-caliber athletes with Nike-sponsored teams in Texas and along the Atlantic coast before his first stint at North Texas. A native of Dallas, Sheffield was one of the top-five hurdlers in the state while attending Skyline High School and attended UTA on scholarship as a high hurdler. After earning his bachelors degree from UTA in 1993, Sheffield earned his Master of Science from North Texas in exercise physiology in 1996. In addition to his coaching duties, he served as an adjunct instructor for North Texas from 2005-07 for the Department of Kinesiology. Carl and his wife, Tara, have two sons, Julian and Aiden. Track & Field Home   Email this article   Printer-friendly format Position: Head Coach Track & Field Announces Recruiting Class For 2017 Head coach Carl Sheffield has announced the signing of 10 student-athletes to a National Letter of Intent for the 2016-17 track & field season.