Two-time Olympian and veteran sprints coach Ken Harnden joined Auburn in July 2022 and during that time has made an immediate impact, earning 2024 USTFCCCA Division I Men’s Outdoor National Assistant Coach of the Year honors after helping the Tigers to a NCAA Runner Up trophy at the outdoor championships.
With 20 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience under his belt, Harnden's student-athletes have earned 25 individual NCAA championships, one relay national title and 170+ All-American Honors. Additionally, Harnden has coached 19 Olympians and has been a part of five NCAA team championships and is a four-time winner of the USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year award.
Harnden earned national and south region assistant coach of the year honors after he helped lead the men to a second-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Of the 40 points the men earned at NCAAs, 26 of those came from his unit, led by the NCAA Champion 4x100m relay team.
Azeem Fahmi, Kanyinsola Ajayi, Dario Matau and Makanakishe Charamba combined to win the men’s 4x100m national title after posting a school-record time of 38.03, which was the third fastest collegiate time ever. Favour Ashe and Ajayi combined to finish second and third, respectively, in the men’s 100m dash at nationals, marking a first in Auburn sprints history at NCAAs.
True freshman hurdler Ja’Kobe Tharp, burst onto the national scene in 2024, winning an SEC Outdoor championship in the 110m hurdles while setting an American Junior (U20) record that had previously stood for 46 years. Tharp became Auburn’s first SEC champion in the event since Ty Akins in 2007 and the first Tiger freshman to win a conference outdoor title since 2011.
Tharp, who broke Auburn’s school record at the SEC Outdoor meet, continued his amazing rookie campaign by capturing silver in the 110m hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Champonships and followed that by winning a pair of gold medals at the USATF U20 Championships in July and at the World Athletics U20 Championships in August.
During the Summer 2024 Olympics, Ajayi, Ashe, Charamba and Fahmi all competed in the Paris games with Charamba making it to the finals of the men’s 200m dash.
Harden’s sprinters won two SEC titles in 2024 as Ajayi joined Tharp, winning the 60m indoor SEC title. Ajayi became Auburn’s first male freshman to win a league indoor title in 24 years and was named SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year. Harden’s sprinters established six outdoor school records in 2024.
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.