Wayne Norton Track Camp at The University of Georgia
Staff
Wayne Norton
Head Coach
Wayne Norton begins his 10th year as the University of Georgia head track and field coach and his 19th year overall with the program. Norton has compiled an extremely impressive resumé as he has been a major part of arguably the most successful period in Georgia track and field history.
In Norton’s nine years as head coach, Georgia has won 15 individual national titles, earned 91 All-America certificates, won 59 SEC individual titles, and the men’s and women’s teams have achieved a total of 13 top-22 finishes in NCAA competition.
Over the last three years, Norton and his coaching staff further established Georgia’s program as one of the elite program’s in the nation. The Lady Bulldogs claimed both the SEC indoor and SEC outdoor titles in 2006, finished with four NCAA individual championships and four top-10 team finishes at the NCAA Championships. The Bulldog men and women also combined to rack up 25 SEC individual crowns during the last three years. Georgia also claimed its first NCAA men’s javelin title during the 2008 outdoor season.
Norton came to Georgia in 1990 and has been instrumental in guiding the UGA men to five outdoor top-10 NCAA finishes, 12 outdoor top-20 finishes, two indoor top-10 finishes and four outdoor top-15 finishes. The men’s team, which has competed since 1897, has experienced its most sustained success during Norton’s tenure at the University of Georgia.
Norton has also been instrumental in the development of a nationally competitive women’s track and field team. In the 1995 season, Georgia won its first ever SEC Outdoor Championship in the history of the women’s program. In 1996, the Lady Bulldogs claimed their highest NCAA finish in school history as they finished second in the indoor championships. Over the course of the last 10 seasons, the women’s team has captured six outdoor top-12 finishes and four indoor top-12 finishes.
In his time at Georgia, the cross country team also has experienced its most successful period. Prior to the ’90s, the women’s team had never gone to the NCAA Championships, but that changed in 1990 when they made their first ever trip to the NCAAs. Georgia would also get back in 1991, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006 as well as 2007. The Georgia men won the South Regional in 2003 to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time. They returned to the national meet in 2004, which marked the first time in school history that both the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed simultaneously at the NCAA meet.
In 2006, the Lady Bulldogs grabbed their first South Regional title and took 15th at the NCAA Championships. The Georgia women, who saw Natalie Picchetti earn All-American honors, returned to the NCAA meet for the fourth consecutive time in 2007 after Sarah Madebach won the school’s first SEC individual title.
Norton, who began coaching in 1981 as a graduate assistant at Indiana, has had success at all three of the schools where he has coached. While at Indiana from 1981-85, the Hoosiers won three Big Ten Indoor Championships and an outdoor Big Ten Championship.
Before coming to Athens, Norton served as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona University from 1985-89. He coached NAU’s jumpers and sprinters (a group which featured NFL speedsters Mike Haynes, David Lang and Shawn Collins), while serving as an instructor in both physical education and journalism. During his tenure at Northern Arizona, the program had a very successful five-year period. Out of the Big Sky Conference, Northern Arizona won four indoor and outdoor men’s conference championships, three women’s indoor conference championships, two outdoor women’s championships, four men’s cross country championships and three women’s cross country championships.
While at Georgia, he has produced a steady stream of All-American jumpers, including 2008 Olympians Levern Spencer and Patricia Sylvester. Norton was instrumental in 2006 with the pair listed above racking up four All-American certificates and four SEC individual titles. In 1995, Georgia’s jumpers enjoyed one of their best seasons ever, collecting five All-America awards while winning three SEC crowns, thanks to the efforts of Thad Hood, Icolyn Kelly, Reeta Laaksonen and Dillon Phelps. Laaksonen and Phelps added more such honors in 1996 and Sylvester came away with her first conference title in 2005. Norton has also guided other nationally-renowned jumpers including Celly Martinez, Latifah Long, Krysha Bayley, Volker Mai, Hyleas Fountain, Ryan Sheppard, Patrick Thavelin, Wolfgang Kreissig, Marcus Bailey, Tasha Mahone and Antonio Saunders.
At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Fountain gave Georgia’s track and field program its 11th medal after earning a silver in the heptathlon.
Norton, a New Jersey native, received his bachelor’s degree in broadcast production from Howard University in 1981. In his time as a graduate assistant coach at Indiana, he earned a master’s degree in journalism in 1987.
Norton and his wife Priscilla have four children: son Christian and daughters LaShawna, Jasmine and Erica.
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Don Babbitt
Throws Coach
With the arrival of his 13th year in red and black, Don Babbitt has transformed Georgia’s throws program into arguably one of the most talented groups in the country. Four NCAA titles, nine All-American honors and six Southeastern Conference crowns during just the 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons further solidified Babbitt’s hold as one of the premier throws coaches in the track and field world.
Under Babbitt’s guidance, a group of Georgia throwers have reached a high level of success including nine NCAA titles, 48 All-America certificates and 35 SEC titles. Chris Hill captured Georgia its first NCAA men’s javelin title in 2008 after breaking the school record in the event (268 feet, 1 inch) earlier in the season. Jenny Dahlgren, who finished her career following the 2007 outdoor season with three NCAA titles, eight All-American certificates and four SEC titles, shattered school, SEC, collegiate, NCAA Championships and South American records in the hammer in 2007 under Babbitt’s guidance. In 2005, the former UCLA Bruin led his throwers to eight top-20 finishes during the NCAA Championships, highlighted by Trevor Snyder’s second-place finish in the javelin and Dahlgren’s pair of top-five finishes in the NCAA Championships.
At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Babbitt joined American shot putter Reese Hoffa and three other former Bulldog All-American hammer throwers at the Games. While Hoffa finished seventh, heptathlete and former Lady Bulldog Hyleas Fountain won the silver medal.
Five seasons ago, Babbitt guided Lucais MacKay to All-America honors in the weight, hammer and discus to become a six-time All-America thrower while at UGA. He also coached MacKay to an NCAA title in the hammer throw and led Panagiotis Mavraganis to All-America honors in the weight throw as well as SEC titles in the weight and hammer throws in 2003.
In 2003, Babbitt was named National Assistant Coach of the Year in the men’s throws category by the U.S. Track and Field Coaches Association. He was also later named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association East Region Women’s Throws Coach of the Year in 2007.
Babbitt also coached Andras Haklits to an NCAA title in the weight throw in 2001 and hammer throw in 2001 and 2002 as well as six total SEC titles, setting several records along the way. In 2002, Georgia swept the javelin titles at the SEC meet, with Trevor Snyder and Lindsay Daniel winning the men’s and women’s titles as freshmen. In 2001, Hoffa, who was the world’s top-ranked shot putter as well as the world champion in 2007 and still trains under Babbitt, earned his fourth straight outdoor All-America honor in the shot put as well as garnering his first such honor in the event indoors. In 2000, Rhonda Hackett earned All-America honors in the shot put at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships. In 1999, Vigdis Gudjonsdottir won her fourth SEC Outdoor title in the javelin, as well as an outdoor NCAA title. Babbitt later led Krista Woodward to four SEC titles in the javelin as well as a school record in the event.
Eight of Babbitt’s athletes competed at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, including former world champion and shot put silver medalist Adam Nelson. Babbitt has been the personal coach of six-time U.S. Champion and current American record holder Breaux Greer (javelin), as well as Canadian record holders Jason Tunks (discus) and Brad Snyder (shot put). Babbitt coaches Andras Haklits, the two-time Croatian Olympian and hammer record holder, Lieja Tunks, the top Dutch shot putter and Grete Etholm-Snyder, a repeat winner of the Norweigian discus championship. In addition, Babbitt also was the personal coach of Terri Steer, the top U.S. women’s shot putter in 2001 and 2002 and was ranked seventh in the world in 2002.
Babbitt came to Athens from California State University in Los Angeles where he was an assistant from 1988-96. He built the Cal State-Los Angeles throwing program into the strongest at the NCAA Division II level, producing 45 NCAA qualifiers, 39 All-Americans and 15 NCAA Champions.
A native of Santa Monica, Calif., Babbitt received his bachelor’s degree in biology from UCLA in 1989 and his master’s degree in exercise science from Cal State-Los Angeles in 1994.
An avid writer and clinician, Babbitt has written 36 articles and three book chapters for various publications around the world. He has spoken on the throws at clinics in 11 states. Internationally, he has conducted clinics and seminars in Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Windsor, Canada, Tampere, Finland, Loughborough, United Kingdom, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and San Juan, Puerto Rico. He also hosts an annual Throws Clinic at the University of Georgia which has attracted 579 coaches from 13 different states and three different countries over the past nine years. In 2000, Babbitt served as the field event coordinator for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, California.
While at UCLA, Babbitt competed in the javelin throw for the Bruins, placing seventh at the 1988 Pac-10 Outdoor Championships.
Babbitt is also an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and designed strength and conditioning programs for Cal State-Los Angeles’ basketball, soccer and track and field teams. He also served as assistant manager and throws coach for the U.S. men’s track and field team at the 1997 World University Games in Italy. He has also been a national team coach for Canada, Croatia and Argentina in various major international championships.
Babbitt is married to the former Petra Juraskova. Their daughter, Veronika, was born Dec. 26, 2006 and they have a step-daughter, Julia.
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Petros Kyprianou
Pole Vault, Jumps, Multi-Events Coach
Petros Kyprianou enters his first season as an assistant track and field coach at the University of Georgia after coaching for three years at Boise State University. Kyprianou, a native of Limassol, Cyprus/Greece, coaches pole vault, jumps, decathlon and heptathlon.
Kyprianou, the 2008 USTFCCCA Indoor West Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, had a significant impact on the Boise State program, guiding numerous men and women to Western Athletic Conference Championships and NCAA Championship All-American honors.
During his three-year stint at Boise State, Kyprianou guided Bronco student-athletes to 21 individual WAC Championships, four All-American honors, 10 school records and two WAC records. He also helped the men’s team to indoor (2006, 2007) and outdoor (2006, 2008) WAC league titles.
Most recently, Kyprianou’s coaching helped Ryan Grinnell transform into one of the best jumpers in the NCAA Division I. He helped Grinnell earn four NCAA All-American honors in all three jumps (triple, long and high jumps) in his first year at Boise. Grinnell was also the 2008 West Regional champion in the triple jump and has won four WAC championships and a pair of WAC Outstanding Athlete of the Year and High-Point Scorer awards. In addition, Grinnell won the Indoor and Outdoor triple jump and the high jump with a mark at 7 feet, 2 1/2 inches. Grinnell’s triple jump broke a 33-year old WAC record.
The rest of his 21 WAC champions and NCAA qualifiers came from Eleni Kafourou in the long jump and triple jump. Kyprianou helped Kafourou improve in both events and break her personal bests in both jumps while winning eight WAC championships and being the runner-up at the NCAA West Regionals. Kafourou also was named the WAC freshman of the year during the indoor and outdoor conference meet in 2006. In 2008, Kafourou was awarded the WAC Outstanding Field Performer in both the indoor and outdoor championships.
Kyprianou also led Kafourou to break four school records in the long and triple jumps (indoor and outdoor). Her school records broke a 13-year old record in the long jump. Under Kyprianou’s guidance, Kafourou won two Greek national championships in the long jump.
Another of Kyprianou’s student-athletes, Savvas Diakonikolas, won the indoor and outdoor long jump titles. Zacharias Arnos won the WAC indoor title in his freshman year and was third during the 2008 NCAA West Regionals. Arnos was also fifth in the long jump breaking his personal best by more than a foot. Annelise Bertleson won her first WAC championship and broke the indoor pole vault school record (13-9). Kyprianou also led David Walden, a walk-on, to the indoor high jump title in 2007.
Kyprianou also helped Heigo Nurmsalu to break the WAC and school records in the men’s indoor heptathlon.
Kyprianou’s athletes helped the Broncos win four WAC team championships in a row during his stay at Boise State. During the 2008 outdoor championships, Kyprianou’s athletes scored 85 out of 142 points to help the Broncos win their fifth WAC championship (2004, 2006-indoor, 2006, 2007-indoor, 2008). His groups dominated the jumps by sweeping the triple and long jumps.
Prior to arriving on the Boise State campus, Kyprianou spent the previous two seasons as an assistant track and field coach at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and was in charge of the field events. While at UNO, he guided two student-athletes to five All-American performances at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
During the 2005 season, Kyprianou coached one of the top division II track and field athletes in the country in Anastasia Kyvelidou. At the 2005 outdoor championships, Kyvelidou broke the NCAA and meet record in the heptathlon with 5,780 points to earn a second national championship. The point total ranked her 16th in the world in 2005. At the 2005 division II indoor meet, Kyvelidou won the national championship in the triple jump and finished runner-up finish in the long jump to earn the 2005 NCAA Division II National Indoor Female Athlete of the Year award.
In addition to track and field coaching at Nebraska-Omaha, Kyprianou also served as the strength and conditioning coach for two different professional soccer teams and a women’s volleyball team in Cyprus. He has been the national team coach for the decathlon and heptathlon in Greece in 2001 and 2005 and was a the Greek national team coach assigned to the European Cup. Before gaining a full-time position at UNO, Kyprianou was a volunteer track and field coach and volunteer assistant strength and conditioning coach for the UNO soccer team.
Athletes Kyprianou has coached include Georgios Andreou, who is the Cyprus national record holder in the decathlon with 7,802 points. Andreou was the European Cup Champion in the decathlon in 2002, placed fifth at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Manchester England and represented Cyprus in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sidney, Australia. Kyprianou also guided Diamantis Stavros to the Greek U23 record in the decathlon with 7,623 points.
While competing in track and field, Kyprianou won several Cyprus and Greek Championships from 1991 to 1999. They included the decathlon, pole vault, 110 hurdles and long jump.
He has won several awards during his career which include being named the 2008 Indoor West Region coach of the Year, the Most Improved Coach Award from Cyprus in 2002, the Cyprus Athlete of the Year Award in 1999, an award from the Cyprus Soccer Association for the “Best Fitness Team” in 2003 and the Track and Field Coaching Specialty Academic Award from Greece in 2001.
Kyprianou has written numerous technical articles for several track and field publications including the USTFCCA magazine “Techniques” and the Estonian site “Decathlon2000.”
Kyprianou received his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in June of 2001 from Aristotle University in Greece. He completed his Master of Science degree in Exercise Science/Biomechanics from the University of Nebraska in 2006. Kyprianou is a certified level III coach in the jumps, a level I and II USA Track and Field certified coach in the combined events, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and a certified USA weightlifting sports performance coach.
Kyprianou and his wife Masa welcomed their first child, Alex Kyprianou, in January 2008.
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Tonya Lee
Sprints/Hurdles Coach
Tonya Lee begins her seventh season with Georgia, coaching the women’s sprints, hurdles and heptathlon.
Lee was instrumental in the signing of a pair of promising sprinters for the 2008 season - Georgina Nembhard and Odeika Bent - and the Lady Bulldogs repeated immediate benefits. Nembhard moved to No. 6 on Georgia’s all-time list in the 100-meter dash after clocking an 11.41 to advance to the NCAA East Regional while Bent took the No. 8 spot in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.53.
Lee also plays a role in the success of Georgia’s student-athletes competing in jumps. The 2007 season was a particularly strong year for Georgia’s female jumpers as Levern Spencer and Patricia Sylvester combined for an NCAA title, two SEC individual titles and three All-American certificates. Also on the national level, Lee was instrumental as Sarah Gretzmacher finished 18th in the heptathlon at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships. In addition, Lee helped lead the Lady Bulldogs as they captured both the 2006 SEC indoor and outdoor conference titles. This was the first SEC indoor team crown in school history.
In 2005, the women’s squad boasted one SEC champion - which was Sylvester in the high jump (she later took eighth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships) - and a host of strong finishes. Also in outdoor competition, Shenae Dawkins finished second in the triple jump (42 feet, 10 1/4 inches) in the SEC Championships. While participating in the indoor championships, Sylvester was seventh place in the high jump at the SEC Championships and Krysha Bayley, who was in her final season in red and black, had a fitting finale with a third-place finish in the long jump at the SEC Championships and a fifth-place finish in the NCAA Championships. In addition, Lee helped Jessica Stockard to a first-place finish in the heptathlon at the SEC Outdoor Championships and a fourth-place finish in the pentathlon during the NCAA Championships.
Two sprinters who stepped up for Lee in the last several seasons were Yendy Gilchrist, who took seventh in the 400 at the 2005 SEC Championships, and Bayley, who was the 14th finisher in the prelims of the NCAA Championships in the 200.
In 2004, Lee assisted in coaching SEC and NCAA Champion and Olympic Trials qualifier Hyleas Fountain to several SEC and school records in the pentathlon, heptathlon and long jump. Lee also coached Bayley to a Regional and NCAA Outdoor qualifier in the 100m (11.29) and 200m (22.89).
Fountain continued her progress in the track and field world by winning a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In 2003, Lee coached Illia Miles and Sherita King to All-America honors in the 200 meters and 100 meters, respectively.
Lee, a native of Mount Holly, N.J., joined the UGA track and field staff after a successful three-year stint at Penn State University where she coached women’s sprints, jumps, hurdles and multi-events. While at PSU, Lee coached athletes to All-America status, conference titles and several school records. Most notably, Lee coached Big Ten champion Chi-Chi Aduba in the long jump and triple jump as well as Consuella Moore to All-America status in the 100 and twice in the 200, Big Ten titles in the 100 and 200 and numerous school records. Moore became Penn State’s first-ever track All-American in an event under 800 meters.
Prior to Penn State, Lee coached men’s and women’s jumps and hurdles for three seasons at Kent State University. Lee coached two NCAA qualifiers in the high jump and 400 hurdles, three Mid-American Conference champions in the same events and also helped athletes to several school records.
Lee began her collegiate career at Tennessee, both as an athlete and coach. In the coaching capacity, Lee served as an assistant cross country and track and field coach for the Lady Vols from 1995-1996 after serving two seasons as a volunteer coach. As an athlete, Lee competed for Tennessee from 1989-1992, earning four All-America certificates, winning six SEC titles and setting several UT records while competing in the heptathlon, 400 hurdles and on the 4x400 relay team. Lee continued to compete after college, ranking seventh in the U.S. in the 400 hurdles from 1994-1996. In 1996, Lee made the Olympic Trials finals in Atlanta in the 400 hurdles, placing seventh. She placed seventh in the event at the two previous USA Track and Field Championships as well and was named to three USA national teams in her career. She competed on the national team in 1995 at the USA versus Great Britain meet, the World Cup meet in 1994 and the World University Games in 1991.
Lee graduated in 1993 from Tennessee with a degree in psychology. She earned her Level II coaching certification in sprints and hurdles in 2000.
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Jon Stuart
Men's Sprints/Hurdles Coach
Jon Stuart, a 1992 graduate of Georgia, enters his ninth year directing Georgia men’s sprinters and hurdlers. Under his guidance during the 2007 seasons, the Bulldog sprinters/hurdlers tallied their first Southeastern Conference individual title since 1992 and racked up an impressive five All-American certificates.
In only his second season working with Justin Gaymon, Stuart coached the New Jersey native to an SEC outdoor championship as well as All-American honors in the 400-meter hurdles. Gaymon, who has clocked the No. 2 time in the Georgia record books in the 400 hurdles (49.25), also joined David Dickens, Brian Etelman and Michael Proctor as they clocked the second-best outdoor time in school history in the 4x400 relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to finish fifth (3:04.13) and earn All-American distinction. Thanks in part to Stuart’s crew, the Georgia men tied for 26th at the 2007 NCAA meet. Also in 2007, Stuart helped Dickens cap his career off in style as the Wheeler High School graduate broke the school’s indoor 400 record (46.27) at the SEC Championships.
During the 2006 campaign, Stuart saw Dickens break the indoor 200 record (21.05) and earn All-American honors at the NCAA indoor meet. Dickens, who scored in four events at the SEC outdoor meet, joined Gaymon, who advanced to the semifinals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400 hurdles and moved to the then-No. 3 spot in the school record books in the event (50.20), as two of the top performers in the conference. Stuart also led another freshman, Jarrell Stewart, to break into Georgia’s record books in several events.
In 2005, a pair of Bulldogs led another outstanding group of Georgia sprinters and hurdlers and showed why their program is one of the most highly respected programs in the nation. LaRon Bennett, who completed an outstanding career in Athens, and Demiko Goodman, who began his career at Georgia in an impressive fashion, were Georgia’s leaders throughout the season. While Bennett logged a career-best time in the 110 hurdles (13.86) in the early rounds of the SEC Championships and then took fifth in the 400 hurdles at the NCAA Championships, Goodman finished in third place in the 400 (a career-best 46.23) in the NCAA Regional meet and placed 16th in the NCAA Championships in only his first year competing at the collegiate ranks.
In 2004, Stuart coached Bennett to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and a seventh-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Bennett’s time in the 400 hurdles ranks him atop the Georgia all-time list. Stuart also guided the men’s 4x400 and 4x100 meter relay teams to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1999 and 1987, respectively. The 4x100 meter relay team posted a season best time of 39.60 to place third at the East Region Championships while the 4x400 meter relay placed second with a season-leading mark of 3:06.23. It marked the first time in school history that both relays were represented at the NCAA Championships. Indoors, Stuart’s sprinters have continued to rewrite the Georgia record books with new marks in the 400 meters (Bennett, 46.53) and 4x400 meter relay (Dickens, Foster, Roberts, Bennett; 3:07.93). In all, Stuart’s sprinters have accounted for eight of the all-time sprint records in Georgia’s history.
Stuart coached the women’s 1,600 meter relay teams that qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships from 2001-2003 and the 2000 team that qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships and set the school indoor mark. He also guided Ken Garrett to a school record and NCAA qualifying mark in the 400 meter hurdles in 2001.
Prior to returning to Georgia, Stuart served as the head track and field coach at Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana-Monroe). The Indians placed 16th on the men’s side at the 1999 NCAA men’s outdoor track and field championships under Stuart’s direction, producing three All-Americans as well as one national champion in Andras Haklits. Before his coaching stint at Louisiana-Monroe, Stuart led a nationally recognized sprint squad at the University of Texas-Arlington for three years. While at UTA, he helped produce 20 Southland Conference Champions and 11 NCAA Division I All-Americans. Stuart also helped the Mavericks capture nine Southland Conference team titles.
Prior to his collegiate coaching career, Stuart was the head track coach at East Paulding High School in Dallas, Ga., where his athletes set 11 school records.
Stuart started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Bulldogs under John Mitchell, from 1993-94. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Physical Education at Georgia in 1992 and his Master of Education in Physical Education in 1994.
He married the former Gail Moreland in December of 2002 and has two sons named Jake (4) and Scot (2).
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Jeff Pigg
Distance Coach
Jeff Pigg began his tenure as Georgia’s cross country coach in June 2008 after spending the last six years as the head cross country coach at the University of Florida.
The Gators had one of their strongest showings in the program’s history during the 2007-08 academic year. During the fall cross country season, Pigg led the Florida men to a second-place finish at the Southeastern Conference meet. In fact, the Gators finished third-place or better during all of Pigg’s six cross country seasons in Gainesville.
After the Florida men and women advanced to the 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships together for the first time in school history, the women further strengthened their program by earning a spot at the national meet for two straight seasons, which had also never happened. The Florida women finished 11th at the 2007 NCAA Championships, which was the highest finish in school history.
Leading the way for the Florida women during the 2008 track season were freshman Rebecca Lowe and senior Lindsay Sundell. While Lowe finished fifth in the 5000-meter run (15:50) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year after winning both the 5000 and the 10,000 at the SEC Outdoor Championships, Sundell was the runner-up to Georgia’s Sarah Madebach in the steeplechase at the SEC meet and later competed in the Olympic Trials in Eugene along with Madebach.
A tireless worker whose enthusiasm inspires his athletes, Pigg has coached more than 30 All-Americans in his 19 years of collegiate coaching. A 1988 graduate of Florida, Pigg returned to Gainesville in 2002 and spearheaded a turnaround in the Gators’ cross country program.
In the 2004 cross country season, Pigg guided the Florida men’s team to its first national ranking since 1994 and a second-place finish at the SEC Championships. For an encore, he guided the Gators to a top-10 ranking during the 2005 season and upped the ante in 2006 by guiding the Gators to another top-10 national ranking and a runner-up finish at the SEC meet.
The outstanding 2006 cross country season came on the heels of a solid 2006 outdoor track campaign in which Pigg helped lead the Gators to the SEC indoor title in the distance medley relay and coached Shane Stroup to All-America honors in the mile and an SEC outdoor title in the 800.
The 2005 cross country season followed a banner showing by Florida’s distance athletes on the track. At the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Stroup (3:38) broke Pigg’s 1500 Florida record (3:41) to finish fifth. During Pigg’s tenure in Gainesville, his athletes rewrote the Florida record books.
In 2004, Pigg guided a pair of UF runners to All-America honors in the steeplechase. In addition, the Gator distance medley relay team earned All-America honors in 2004.
Pigg returned to Gainesville from Normal, Ill., where he spent two years as the head track and field and cross country coach at Illinois State University. In his first season, he guided the men’s cross country team to its first Missouri Valley Conference title in eight years and was voted the Valley’s Coach of the Year, which was followed by the school’s first NCAA berth in 10 years.
The following year, Christian Goy capped his indoor eligibility by claiming the NCAA indoor mile title with a personal-best time of 3:59.6.
Another highlight from Pigg’s career was the 10-year span he spent as an assistant coach and head cross country coach at the University of Missouri from 1990-2000. In his decade at Missouri, he guided 25 athletes to All-America honors and numerous Big 12 titles. His women’s cross country teams automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships five times and the men qualified three times. In 1992, Pigg coached Susan Bliss who earned All-America honors for a third place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. She also was the Midwest Regional individual champion in 1992. The MU women won the Midwest Regional every year from 1995-97 and Rebecca Davis and Erin Windler were the 1996 and 1997 individual champions. Pigg received Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors each of those three seasons as well.
The 1998-99 season was a great one for Pigg and the Tiger distance and middle distance athletes. Pigg guided both the men and women’s cross country teams to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history. He also coached his first NCAA champion, as Georgia native Derrick Peterson won both the indoor and outdoor 800 and also became the American Collegiate record holder in that same event (1:45.88). In all, the Tigers earned 37 All-Big 12 Conference honors in distance and middle distance events that season alone.
Prior to accepting his position at Missouri, Pigg spent a year as the head track & field coach at Gainesville High School. He also was an assistant coach for the Gator track & field program from 1989-90. In his first coaching stint with the Gators, Pigg worked with several All-Americans and helped guide Florida to a second place team finish at the 1989 NCAA Indoor Championships.
A 1988 graduate of the University of Florida, Pigg was a member of Florida’s cross country and track and field teams that earned the SEC triple crown in 1987. He earned Cross Country All-SEC honors in the fall of 1985 and 1986 for the Gators and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 1987. He had 10 top-10 finishes in cross country races in his career as a Gator and still ranks on several of the school’s cross country top 10 lists. He earned two All-America honors and eight All-SEC honors in both cross country and track. He won the SEC indoor mile twice in his career as a Gator. Pigg’s personal-best times were 3:41.08 in the 1500-meter run and 1:48.75 in the 800. In 1986, he led the Gators to the SEC Cross Country Championships title and an eighth-place finish at NCAAs.
Pigg began his collegiate career at Missouri before transferring to Florida. In two seasons at Missouri, Pigg earned eight All-Big Eight honors. In the spring of 1985 he set a conference record and was an All-American in the 1000-yard run.
Pigg and his wife, Vicki, have two daughters, Olivia and Liberty, and a son, Cole.
