Auburn Track & Field Coach Leroy Burrell announces staff

Auburn Track & Field Coach Leroy Burrell announces staffAuburn Track & Field Coach Leroy Burrell announces staff

AUBURN, Alabama—Auburn's new track and field head coach, Leroy Burrell, has completed his coaching staff by hiring five staff members that along with Burrell collectively has over 80 years of experience. This impressive group has been part of five NCAA team national titles while coaching 29 individual national champions and over 300 All-Americans.
 
His staff includes:
 

 
"I believe this is one of the more high-powered staffs in the country and I think we will quickly raise the fortunes of the Auburn program," Burrell said. "I can't be more excited about what they individually bring to the table, but more importantly, what each will bring to the team aspect and dynamic. We are going to compete day-in and day-out against the best programs in the country and it's my goal that when we look at the scoreboard, Auburn will be at the top. That's our goal and our plan, now we need to go and execute it."
 Quoting Auburn Head Coach Leroy Burrell 
"Ken is a veteran of the NCAA track and field world, winning several team and individual national titles as a coach at Florida State and Tennessee. I got to know Ken through my wife's association as a former student-athlete at Florida State and he recruited my son Cam. He is the only NCAA coach to coach two sub-9.9 sprinters in the 100. He's a proven recruiter, developer and has won championships at the SEC and NCAA level. As a former world record holder like myself, it takes a lot to hire a sprints coach and Ken is one of the few people I would trust to hire and do the job. He's a true rock star and capable of leading a program in his own right. We are very lucky to have him coming to the Plains."
 
"Lacena is the crown jewel of the staff as she is an Auburn alum and one of the greatest female track and field athletes in Auburn history. She is a wonderful person and someone I've been wanting to work with since our days in Conference USA, but the opportunity never presented itself. When I was offered the position at Auburn, she was the first person I thought of and called. Lacena brings a wealth of experience from her time at UTEP and as a volunteer coach for Coach Spry at Auburn. She has coached an NCAA Champion in Tobi Amusan and I believe is the perfect person to lead the Auburn women's sprints program to be competitive at the SEC and NCAA level."
 
"Nick has been a part of a national championship team at Southern California and coached NCAA individual champions, including most recently at Tennessee. He is a proven developer of talent and is the current national assistant of the year. When Nick and I discussed the opportunity, it was a no brainer. He is an unbelievable recruiter, coach, teacher of biomechanics and tremendous motivator of student-athletes. Nick brings instant credibility to our horizontal and vertical jumps and it was an unbelievable opportunity to bring him to Auburn."
 
"Pat has proven the ability to develop a throws program and we have that at Auburn with a very strong group of women and an amazing young group on the men's side. Pat's throwers have been a proven commodity with points at the NCAA level and has come close to having a national champion, while coaching several national champs at the Division II and Division III level. Given the quality of this staff, Pat is a steady hand on the rudder of the ship. I wanted him to be a part of this staff as he's laid a very good foundation."
 
"Aaron is one of the bright young distance coaches in our business. He brings a unique perspective given his time at Florida as a student-athlete and volunteer under Mike Holloway. In a short time, Aaron built a strong distance program at Southern Miss and he's opened up middle distance and distance in the state of Alabama for us and will bring much needed conference and soon NCAA points. I like his youth and vitality as a coach, not only as a distance coach, but as a track and field coach who can support the rest of the staff as we build into a national power."
 Quoting the Staff 
Ken Harnden
"I would like to thank Coach Leroy Burrell for affording me this opportunity to come to Auburn, a program with such tradition and success in its history. I would also like to thank coach Sullivan for hiring me at Tennessee to be part of a team that we grew into national prominence. I look forward to doing the same thing at Auburn. War Eagle!"
 
Nick Newman
"I am delighted for the opportunity to work alongside Coach Burrell and the rest of the Auburn staff. Coach Burrell has a great vision for where this program can be and I will do all that I can to help facilitate those goals."
 
Lacena Golding-Clarke
"I am extremely happy and pleased for this opportunity to come back to my alma mater. I want to thank Head Coach Leroy Burrell and the Auburn family for their consideration. Auburn has such a great tradition and I cannot wait to make an impact. War Eagle!"
 
Pat Ebel
"I would like to thank Head Coach Leroy Burrell for my continued opportunity to be the throws coach at Auburn University. Under Coach Burrell's leadership and the staff we have assembled, we will be a program that is consistently a strong presence on the SEC and NCAA stages. I'm very excited to work with this staff and make this program better."
 
Aaron Kindt
"I am honored and excited for the opportunity to work with Coach Burrell. Auburn track & field is poised to enter a new era under his leadership. I am looking forward to continuing my part to help build Auburn into a national contender."
 Staff Bio Sketches 

Ken Harnden, Assistant Head Coach/Men's Sprints and Hurdles
Two-time Olympian and veteran sprints coach Ken Harnden comes to Auburn with 18 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience under his belt. Under his leadership, Harnden's student-athletes have earned 25 individual NCAA championships and 160+ All-American Honors. Additionally, Harnden has coached 15 Olympians and has been a part of five NCAA team championships and is a three-time winner of the USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year award. 
 
In three years at Tennessee, Harnden guided the Vols to multiple SEC medals in three events: the 60m, 200m and 4x400m relay. Harnden's group also contributed on the national stage, snagging points at NCAAs in each of his three seasons, highlighted by a bronze medal in the men's 4x4 at 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships. 
 
Numerous student-athletes have achieved world-class times under Harnden's watch. Six of his sprinters have broken the 10-second barrier in the 100-meter dash. His short sprints coaching prowess is also exemplified in the 200 meters with six NCAA individual championships in the event.  
 
Among that group is Walter Dix, a six-time NCAA champion and 18-time All-American for Florida State. He was a bronze medalist in the 100m and 200m at the 2008 Olympics and remains the NCAA record holder in the 200m (19.69).
 
Harnden also coached 2011 Bowerman Award winner Ngoni Makusha, who became the fifth man in NCAA history to win the 100m and long jump at the same championship. Makusha also set the then-NCAA record in the 100m (9.89). 
 
Harnden represented Zimbabwe in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games in the 400m hurdles, and he competed in the event three times at the IAAF World Championships, making the finals twice. He holds Zimbabwe's national record in the 400m hurdles (48.05). 

On the collegiate stage, Harnden competed for North Carolina, where he won the 1995 NCAA title in the 400m hurdles. He was also part of the 1995 NCAA indoor champion 4x400m relay team.
 


Lacena Golding-Clarke, Assistant Coach/Women's Sprints and Hurdles
Lacena Golding-Clarke spent the last 10 years as an assistant coach at UTEP where she directed the Miner's sprints and hurdle events. During her time at UTEP, Golding-Clarke coached 13 All-Americans, 32 regional qualifiers, 32 C-USA individual crowns and eight school records. Golding-Clarke has also received the Mountain Region Coach of the Year award on three occasions (2014 indoor and outdoor, and 2017).
 
Golding-Clarke mentored Tobi Amusan to three consecutive All-American honors after claiming her the 2017 NCAA outdoor title in the 100m hurdles, breaking her own school record with a time of 12.57 and helping the women win their first outdoor conference title in program history. As a freshman Amusan claimed silver at NCAAs and was named C-USA Track Athlete of the Year, C-USA Freshman of the Meet and C-USA High Point Scorer. Amusan went on to compete at the IAAF U20 Championships and 2016 Summer Olympics.
 
Golding-Clarke came to UTEP from the University of Texas at Austin, where she served as an assistant track and field coach for women's jumps and hurdles for five years. She served as a volunteer coach for seven years at Auburn from 1999-2006. She assisted the head coach in hurdles and multi events as she helped guide the women's team to its first NCAA title in 2006. Clarke mentored three SEC champions during her time with the Tigers.
 
Golding-Clarke graduated in 1999 from Auburn. As a Tiger, Golding-Clarke became a six-time All-American claiming silver in the long jump at the 1998 NCAA Championships. She was a four-time SEC Champion and holds the school record in the women's 55m hurdles. In 1998, she became a Southeastern Conference Women's Commissioner's Trophy winner.
 
Golding-Clarke competed for Jamaica at the Olympics in 1996, 2000 and 2004, participating in the long jump and 100m hurdles. In 2004 Olympics, she finished fifth overall in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.73; her personal best is 12.65. She was a professional athlete for 10 years and participated in six consecutive World Championships. She was the Commonwealth Games Champion in 2002; she posted a bronze medal finish at the 2004 World Athletics Final in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.69.
 
 

Nick Newman, Assistant Coach, Jumps/Combined Events
Nick Newman comes to the Plains as one of the top jumps coaches in the country after spending one year at Tennessee, two at USC and three at California-Berkeley. During his tenure, Newman has coached his student-athletes to 21 All-American honors, five individual conference titles and two NCAA titles. Following the 2022 season, Newman was also named the USTFCCCA National Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.
 
While on Rocky Top, Newman led freshman Wayne Pinnock to a sweep of both the indoor and outdoor NCAA titles in men's long jump and had three long jumpers earn First Team All-American status at NCAA Outdoors. Newman also coached the NCAA Indoors silver medalist in the event, Carey McLeod. On the women's side, Charisma Taylor captured bronze at indoor nationals in the women's triple jump, also under Newman's tutelage. 
 
During the 2021 season at USC, the Trojan jumps group scored 61.5 points at Pac-12 Outdoors en route to capturing the women's conference title and finishing second in the men's standings. Newman then qualified five student-athletes for NCAAs, a group that pushed Southern California to its second women's national title in three seasons. Coached by Newman, the duo of Ernie Sears and Morgan Smalls led the jumps group with First Team All-American performances in high jump at both national meets. In addition to the national accolades, Newman's athletes also captured the conference titles in both women's high jump and men's triple jump during the season.
 
In three seasons at Cal-Berkeley, Newman coached 10 student-athletes to top-10 marks on Cal's indoor and outdoor lists. He guided Tuomas Kaukolahti to back-to-back Pac-12 titles in the men's triple jump as well as multiple All-American honors.  
 
Originally from England, Newman represented his country in two international competitions and achieved a personal-best long jump of 7.80m (25-7.00) in 2012.

 

Pat Ebel, Assistant Coach, Throws
Patrick Ebel has spent the previous six seasons at Auburn, directing the throws program to one of the best eras in school history. Ebel has coached four Southeastern Conference Champions, one NCAA runner-up, eight school record holders, 15 All-Americans and 25 NCAA qualifiers.
 
This past season, the Auburn women swept the short throws at the SEC Outdoor Championships, marking the first time a school has accomplished the feat, men or women, at the conference meet. Ashley Carter (javelin), Maura Huwalt (discus) and Madi Malone (hammer) each won their first SEC title en route to the sweep. Ebel also coached Kylee Carter to an SEC title at the 2019 outdoor championships. That same season, Carter was the NCAA Outdoor runner up in the event.
 
Malone has four Auburn school marks under Ebel while earning six All-America honors and as a freshman was named SEC Indoor Field Freshman of the Year. Ashley and Kylee Carter earned multiple javelin All-America honors outdoors as Ebel has had eight garner national honors combined during the last four NCAA Outdoor Championships.
 
Prior to Auburn, Ebel had 18 years of collegiate experience, most recently with Penn State from 2013-16. At Penn State, Ebel coached 18 All-America selections, including 2016 United States Olympian and 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Athlete of the Year Darrell Hill.
 
In 2015, Ebel guided athletes to one Penn State record, two- Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year honors and six All-American finishes at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.
 
Prior to Penn State, Ebel spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh. During his time at UW-Oshkosh, Ebel developed 53 All-America selections and guided athletes to 36 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. In 2011, Ebel was named National Indoor Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.



Aaron Kindt, Cross Country/Distance Coach
Aaron Kindt concluded his first year at Auburn after serving as the head cross country coach at Southern Miss for the previous seven years. Prior to his appointment at Auburn, he had been promoted to associate head coach for track and field at Southern Miss in July 2021.
 
In his first year at Auburn, Kindt coached Joyce Kimeli to her first SEC Outdoor title as she won the 3000m Steeplechase, the first in program history. Along with Presley Weems, the two combined for a pair of All-America honors outdoors. Weems broke three school records in 2022, setting Auburn marks indoors and outdoors at 800m along with the indoor mile.
 
Under his direction, Kindt led the USM women's program to a pair of runner-up finishes at the Conference USA cross country championships in 2017 and 2019, while his distance program was instrumental in the program's first-ever Women's Indoor Conference USA Championship in 2020. The Golden Eagles' distance medley relay won the 2020 CUSA title, the first indoor distance conference championship in program history.
 
In seven seasons overseeing the women's distance program, between cross country and indoor and outdoor seasons, Kindt coached six first team all-conference performers along with 17 second team selections and 17 that were named to the third team. Academically, each of his cross country teams were USTFCCCA All-Academic Team recipients.
 
Prior to Southern Miss, Kindt served as assistant coach at the University of North Florida for two years. While at UNF, Kindt helped with the development of the women's A-Sun cross country runner up in 2012 and distance medley indoor relay champion in 2014 while assisting with the men's third-place finish at the 2013 A-Sun Indoor Track Championship.
 
Kindt began his career at the University of Florida, serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the cross country and track programs from 2010-12. Kindt assisted with the training and development of the distance athletes.
 
The Orlando, Florida, native graduated from the University of Florida in 2010. Kindt was a four-year letter-winner with the cross country and track and field programs at Florida running a wide range of distance events, including the 10,000m, 5000m, 3000m and 1500m.