SAN ANTONIO — UTSA Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox announced Friday that he has added the duo of Kareem Streete-Thompson and Jackie Richards to his coaching staff and their appointments are effective immediately.
Streete-Thompson, a former Olympian who represented the Cayman Islands, will serve as the program's associate head coach in charge of the sprints, jumps and relays, while Richards will be an assistant who will mentor the squad's quarter-milers, hurdlers and relays.
"I am excited to announce the addition of Kareem and Jackie," Fox said. "They both are outstanding coaches who bring a wealth of experience from some of the best programs in the country. I think our student-athletes are going to learn a tremendous amount from them and I am looking forward to having them be part of many successful seasons in the future."
Streete-Thompson arrives in the Alamo City following a successful three-year stint as an assistant coach at Texas. His primary duties included working with the Longhorns' sprinters and horizontal jumpers.
In his first year in Austin, Streete-Thompson coached Nick Phynn to a fourth-place performance in the triple jump at Big 12 Indoor Championships. He also helped Basil Fares score points in both the indoor triple jump and outdoor long jump. On the women's side, Melissa Gonzalez finished eighth in the triple jump during the indoor campaign.
He built on that success in his second year, as Fares finished second at the Big 12 Indoor when he missed out on a gold medal by just one centimeter. He also was sixth in the triple jump indoors and went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the long jump. Outdoors, Phynn jumped to eighth place in the triple jump.
The 2016 season saw Steffin McCarter (long jump) and Asa Garcia (triple jump) earn All-America accolades at the NCAA Championships as freshmen and five of his six athletes scored points at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.
Streete-Thompson came to Texas after spending the 2012-13 season coaching sprints, hurdles and horizontal jumps at Missouri.
He was instrumental in the development and success of Southeastern Conference Freshman Runner of the Year Markesh Woodson, who was an indoor All-American in the 60 meters. Woodson clocked four 60m school records, the last of which was a 6.60 gold medal performance at the SEC Championships. He went on to place fifth at the NCAA Championships and followed that up with a 10th-place showing in the 100m at the NCAA Outdoors, the highest finish for a Tiger in the event at the national outdoor meet since 1987.
Prior to his stint at Missouri, Streete-Thompson had a successful stay at Florida State. He focused on coaching the Seminoles women, primarily in the sprints, hurdles and relays events. He coached nine All-Americans, including the women's 400m relay team that finished second at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships. That year also saw Florida State win the Atlantic Coast Conference triple crown and it went on to finish fourth in the team race at the NCAA Championships. The 2008 campaign saw the Seminoles place ninth at the NCAA Indoors and 20th at the national outdoor meet.
Streete-Thompson's coaching career began as a volunteer assistant at Florida, where he worked with the the Gators' jumpers and multi-event athletes for two years.
However, his success is not limited to events on the track, as he also has excelled as a jumps mentor. In fact, Streete-Thompson has worked with British long jumper Greg Rutherford, who has won gold medals at the 2012 Olympics in London and 2015 World Championships and the British record holder recently won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A 1995 graduate of Rice, Streete-Thompson put together a very impressive career professionally before moving into coaching.
He competed in three Olympic Games, qualifying in both the 100m and long jump for the Cayman Islands. Streete-Thompson also competed in seven World Championships and his highlights include a silver medal in the long jump in 2001 and qualifying for the 100m final in 1999. He holds numerous national records for the Cayman Islands and was the first athlete to win Pan-American, Central American and Caribbean and Commonwealth titles for his home country.
Streete-Thompson holds personal-best marks of 9.96 in the 100m dash and 28-3 ¾ (8.63m) in the long jump and he and Carl Lewis are the only athletes to ever to run under 10 seconds and jump beyond 28 feet.
While at Rice, he was an 11-time All-American who swept both NCAA titles in the long jump his senior year. In 1998, he was enshrined into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame.
He completed his master's degree in sports management while at coaching at Florida State and is a USATF Level I certified coach.
Meanwhile, Richards comes to UTSA after spending one year as a volunteer assistant coach at Southwestern (Texas).
An accomplished coach, she has mentored student-athletes at five NCAA Division I universities.
Richards spent eight successful seasons as an assistant track & field/cross country coach at Florida State. While in Tallahassee, Richards helped lead the Seminoles' men's team to three consecutive NCAA Outdoor Championships from 2006-08 and mentored a total of 19 All-Americans. She also helped Florida State recruit two top-three classes in the country.
Prior to joining the Seminoles, Richards was the head horizontal jumps coach and assistant cross country coach at Sacramento State. During her first year, she coached eight Big Sky Conference finalists, including two that earned all-conference accolades.
Prior to her position at Sacramento State, Richards served as the assistant coach at Idaho. She helped guide both the men and women track & field squads to the 2001 Big West Conference Championship. After a successful NCAA finish, the Vandals women ranked 14th in the nation, while the men finished 23rd.
She also spent two years at Missouri as the volunteer assistant in charge of the Tigers' sprinters and hurdlers.
Her coaching career began in 1994 with the Prince George Track & Field Club in British Columbia, where she served as the head junior development coach. After her fifth year with the club, she was recognized in Canada for excellence in coaching. She ran for the Prince George Track & Field Club and competed nationally for Canada, including a three-medal performance at the Canadian Junior Championships. She was a multiple provincial champion in her native British Columbia.
Richards went on to compete for New Mexico. She earned All-Western Athletic Conference scholar-athlete honors from 1995-98 and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in exercise science.
In 2002, Richards received her master's degree in physical education with a concentration in sport science from Idaho.
Richards is a USATF Level 2 Track and Field certified coach.
