   |
An 11-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year, head coach Phil Olson is in his 13th season as the SFA head track and field coach. During his time at the helm, Olson has built SFA into a perennial conference power, as well as a program that is respected on a national level. Olson's tenure has brought a combined 19 SLC team titles in cross country and track and field. During the past nine seasons, 25 of Olson's athletes have competed in the NCAA Championships, including one Lumberjack who competed at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. With all of the success that SFA has experienced under Olson, the 2011-12 campaign will go down as arguably the best season in program history. The Ladyjacks took the Southland Conference triple crown winning the cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field titles. The 'Jacks followed suit by recording their first conference outdoor title in program history. The indoor/outdoor sweep pushed the women's run of championships to three consecutive during both seasons. While the Ladyjacks are setting new standards of success in the conference, the SFA men were making headlines on a national level. The 'Jacks sent five athletes to the NCAA Championships with hurdler Nick McCloud competing at the NCAA Indoor meet, and the men's 4x400-meter relay team advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships where it placed 19th in the country. Following the season, Olson was named Southland Conference Women's Indoor Coach of the Year, and Men's and Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year. In addition to Olson's hardware, two of his athletes were honored by the league as well. Senior distance runner Amy Shackelford was named SLC Outstanding Track Athlete of the Year, while thrower Jon Arthur was named the league's outstanding field athlete. The 2010 campaign only added to those numbers as the Ladyjacks posted their second-straight SLC indoor and outdoor title. Included in their overpowering performance, the Ladyjacks scored a conference record 201 points at the outdoor championships. The SFA women recorded seven individual titles, including five during the indoor season, and 32 all-conference honors on the year. Senior thrower Frednisha Marshall returned to the NCAA Indoor Championships where she placed 12th in the weight throw. The Lumberjacks recorded SLC runner-up finishes during the indoor and outdoor seasons. The 'Jacks recorded four individual titles during the year, and 15 all-conference performances. Sophomore hurdler Nick McCloud was one of 18 SFA athletes who advanced to the opening rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. McCloud finished third in the 110-meter hurdles to advance to the national meet. The SFA women won the 2009 SLC Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field titles, of which Olson was named SLC Coach of the Year for both seasons. Along with the Ladyjacks' success, a youthful Lumberjack squad showed signs of things to come finishing the season with three SLC Individual championships, 14 All-SLC performances, six school records, eight NCAA regional marks and two NCAA provisional marks. All told, Olson's troops finished the season with two team titles, 56 All-SLC performances, 24 NCAA Regional marks, 17 school records, 11 SLC individual titles, eight NCAA qualifying marks, five SLC Freshman of the Year, four USTFCCCA All-Academic and Academic All-SLC selections, an SLC Indoor Outstanding Track and Field Athlete, one SLC record, the 2009 SLC Female Student-Athlete of the Year and an All-American. Making those stats even more impressive is the face that SFA accomplished all of this with relatively young squads. The SFA men and women graduated only one senior from each team. On top of all that, Olson's athletes proved a success in the classroom as well when the Ladyjacks were named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. The most impressive highlight of the season was Marshall. A three-time SLC Athlete of the Week selection in 2009, Marshall dominated the conference in the throws. She was named the SLC Indoor Outstanding Field Athlete for a second consecutive season after winning the weight throw with a school and conference record of 67-1.50. Marshall broke the school record four times during the season, and advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships where she earned All-America honors with her school-record throw of 69-4.25 to finish third in the event. Marshall finished the season with three individual league titles, four All-SLC honors, and earned Academic All-SLC and USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors. Olson's athletes also have made an impact at the national level since his arrival in Nacogdoches. Olson has had 51 athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships during his time in Nacogdoches. Former Lumberjack DeVaughn Rettig followed a stellar SFA career by competing at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in the triple jump. Under Olson's watch, SFA has produced 480 All-SLC performances, won 130 SLC individual titles, set 208 school records and had 51 NCAA qualifiers. Olson's teams also achieve success in the classroom. SFA has produced nine Academic All-Americans in the last 10 years, and 16 athletes have been named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic team. Former distance runner Rodney Joseph was twice named SLC Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year, while Amy Shackelford was named the 2009 and 2011 SLC Track and Field Female Student-Athlete of the Year. The SFA women have been named to an USTFCCCA All-Academic team each of the past three seasons. With coaching responsibilities distributed among a staff of six full-time coaches, Olson concentrates on the SFA throwers. The throws program has really taken off under Olson's direction. The SFA throwers have posted 27 NCAA qualifying marks and 66 NCAA regional qualifying performances, won 22 SLC individual titles, earned 63 All-SLC honors, and set 56 school records. Olson came to SFA in 2000 as the head coach of the Lumberjack program. The following season, Olson was named head coach for both the SFA men's and women's teams. Olson brought home the first track and field title in school history in 2003 when he guided the Ladyjacks to the SLC Outdoor Title. Since then, SFA has accumulated eight more team championships (a sweep of the 2005 SLC Indoors). The men's and women's cross country programs also have combined for eight championships during Olson's tenure. Prior to taking over at SFA, Olson spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Virginia, where he directed the throws program. While at Virginia, Olson developed 21 NCAA Division I qualifiers, 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Champions, eight school record-holders, four All-Americans, four Olympic Trials qualifiers, three ACC record-holders, and an American and collegiate record-holder. From 1990 to 1993, Olson was an assistant coach in the women's track and field program at Clemson, where he was part of two conference championship teams. Olson also coached an NCAA All-American and an Olympic Trials qualifier in the shot put, as well as ACC Champions in the shot put, discus and javelin. Olson received his master's degree in sports medicine from Virginia in 1990. He and his wife, Donna, an athletic trainer in Lufkin, have a daughter, Addie, and a son, Tobie.
|
|||||||||||||||||||
