Sategna adds Streete-Thompson, Sevin and Herbster to Track and Field staff

Texas Track and Field head coach Mario Sategna announces the hiring of Kareem Streete-Thompson, Ty Sevin and Brad Herbster as assistant coaches.

 

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track and Field head coach Mario Sategna announced Tuesday the hiring of three new members to his Longhorns staff.  Kareem Streete-Thompson (horizontal jumps and sprints), Ty Sevin (field events) and Brad Herbster (distance/cross country) will serve as assistant coaches for the combined UT Track and Field program, joining recently-appointed associate head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey.

 

“Outside all of the coaching accolades that Kareem, Ty and Brad are bringing to the table, I am so excited about how their passion and goals along with Tonja’s and my own align here at The University of Texas in terms of taking this program forward,” Sategna said.  “The foundation that will start with the staff will have a ripple effect to our current student-athletes and future ones of the Longhorn program.  It’s a win-win for all of us, and they are excited to hit the ground running.”

 

Streete-Thompson comes to Texas after spending the 2012-13 season coaching the horizontal jumps, short sprints and hurdles for the University of Missouri.  He was instrumental in the development and success of freshman standout Markesh Woodson, an indoor All-American in the 60-meter dash who was the Southeastern Conference Freshman Runner of the Year.  Woodson set four 60m school records, the last of which came in a 6.60 SEC title-winning performance. He was fifth in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships and followed up with a 10th-place showing in the 100m at NCAA Outdoors, the highest finish for a Tiger in the event at the national outdoor meet since 1987. 

 

Before joining the Missouri staff, Streete-Thompson spent four seasons at Florida State, guiding the women’s team in the sprint, hurdle and relay events. During that time, he coached nine All-Americans, including the NCAA runner-up 4x100m relay squad in 2009, when the Seminole women finished fourth nationally.  Prior to 2009, Streete-Thompson served as a volunteer assistant for the multi-events and jumps at the University of Florida.

 

Streete-Thompson had a standout athletic career at Rice University, where he earned 11 All-America honors and won a pair of NCAA long jump titles as a senior in 1995.  For his efforts, he was inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.  He continued on to the professional ranks, where he won the silver medal in long jump at the 2001 World Indoor Championships in Lisbon and competed in the 100m at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

 

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime for me, having spent over 10 years of my life between Houston and Austin in my collegiate and professional running career,” Streete-Thompson said. “I consider Texas to be my second home, and it’s truly an honor for me to have the opportunity to come back to one of the most respected and best track programs in the country.”

 

“In Kareem, similar to Tonja, you have someone who has competed at the highest level, being a part of World Championships and Olympic Games, in addition to a quality coaching record,” Sategna said.  “I have the utmost confidence in and respect for him to turn over the horizontal jumps, but knowing, too, that he’s going to be a tremendous asset for Tonja in sprint-hurdle-relays group for both the men and the women.”

 

Sevin (prounounced SAY-van) arrives on the Forty Acres armed with impressive coaching experience at the collegiate, national and international levels.  He spent the 2012-13 season as head track and field coach at the University of New Orleans, also guiding the cross country program in its inaugural season. 

 

During the previous five years, Sevin established himself as one of the elite field event coaches in the country with the U.S. National Team.  His athletes have won eight U.S. national championships and set a pair of American records as well as a Canadian record.  Sixteen of them have qualified for the Olympics, IAAF World Championships and Pan American Games, including Brad Walker, the American outdoor record-holder in the pole vault, who advanced to the final of the event at the 2012 London Games.  Sevin also coaches javelin thrower Kara Patterson, who competed in the London Olympics on a completely torn anterior cruciate ligament. 

 

“Ty has worked to help take athletes to the highest level, and I’m thrilled to have him bring his experience to Texas,” Sategna said.  “We have some tremendous talent on both the men’s and women’s group in the field events, and I’m excited to build further in those areas with Ty’s expertise.”

 

Leading up to his time with the U.S. National Team, Sevin served as head coach at McNeese State (2005-07), where he led the Mustangs to a top-25 finish and mentored Brad Gabeaur to a pole vault title at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships.  He began his coaching career as an assistant at Oklahoma State (1997-99), Texas A&M (1999-2001, 2004) and Michigan State (2004-05).

 

“I’m thrilled to join the Texas staff and be a part of the vision that Mario has for the track and field and cross country program,” Sevin said.  “The academic standing that UT carries and the resources that Texas has to offer puts us as a program in a position to be as successful as we want to be.  It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m just really excited about the opportunity.”

 

A four-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, Sevin’s accomplished athletic career included three years at LSU, where he competed in football and track & field from 1990-92.  He was a member of the 1990 NCAA outdoor championship track team, earning all-SEC honors the same year in both the decathlon and javelin.  He went on to compete for Texas A&M during the 1993-94 track and field season, earning All-America accolades and a Southwest Conference championship in the javelin as well as degrees in economics and history in 1994.     

 

Herbster begins his Texas career after four years (2009-12) at Clemson, where he served as assistant coach and associate head cross country coach for the 2012-13 season for the combined men’s and women’s program.  The Tigers captured Atlantic Coast Conference championships in women’s indoor and outdoor track & field during each of the four seasons with Herbster on the staff. They also recorded eight consecutive NCAA top-20 finishes, the last four of which were top-10 showings. 

 

Herbster helped take the Clemson distance program to new heights, exemplified by standouts Alyssa Kulik and Kim Ruck.  Kulik, a 3,000-meter steeplechase specialist on the track, was a two-time All-American and 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in the event, won the 2012 league steeplechase title and was a two-time all-region honoree in cross country.  Ruck was a two-time ACC champion and a 2010 indoor All-American. He also is the Clemson school record-holder in the 5,000m and earned all-region cross country honors in three consecutive seasons.  On the men’s side, Herbster coached Chris Slate to four straight all-ACC performances in the indoor and outdoor 800m during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.  Slate advanced to the NCAA Championships in the event in 2012, the first Tiger to do so in the 800m since 1999.

 

Prior to his time at Clemson, Herbster guided the distance athletes at the University of Charlotte from 2002-09, during which time he was an integral part of four consecutive women’s Atlantic-10 cross country championships and three of the last four 49er team conference cross country titles on the men’s side. 

 

In 11 years, Herbster has coached four All-Americans, seven all-region selections in cross country, 30 all-conference cross country selections and 38 conference track champions. 

 

“I was born in Houston and raised in Kingwood, so I have grown up a Longhorn. It’s so exciting to be a part of The University of Texas,” Herbster said. “Mario is amazing and one of the many great people here at UT, which I believe to be one of the best schools in the country and the world.” 

 

In the process of earning his degree from the University of South Carolina in 1991, Herbster competed for the Gamecocks’ cross country and track & field teams.  A specialist in the 3,000m steeplechase, he was a three-time all-conference performer and ranks fifth in school history in the event on the all-time performance list. 

 

“Coming from a combined program and being in charge of the distance program for both men and women, Brad is obviously inheriting a great nucleus on both sides here,” Sategna said.  “We are looking to continue to build upon those strengths that we’ve had here at Texas.”