Dismuke becomes first female head coach of USATF Men's National Team; Fowler to lead women at IAAF World U20 Championships
INDIANAPOLIS -- Coaches Kim Dismuke and Sandy Fowler will lead Team USATF at the IAAF U20 Championships, set for July 10-15 in Tampere, Finland. Dismuke will be the first woman to serve as head coach for a Team USATF men's junior or senior national team.
The Team USATF staff for the U20 Championships, featuring the world's best athletes under the age of 20, was selected by USATF's Men's and Women's Track & Field Executive Committees and approved by USATF's Board of Directors.
Dismuke is a longtime coach on the youth, high school and university levels, while Fowler has been a stalwart of Team USATF coaching staffs at the international level who oversees both women's and men's track and field at Coastal Carolina.
"USATF is proud to have two accomplished women leading our delegation for the IAAF U20 Championships," USATF CEO Max Siegel said. "The IAAF U20 Championships is one of Team USATF's most important international competitions, with many future Olympic stars getting their first opportunities to win a medal on the global stage. We look forward to Coach Fowler, Coach Dismuke, and the entire delegation continuing Team USATF's impressive run of success in international competition."
Team USATF has won 21 medals at each of the last two IAAF U20 Championships, in 2014 and 2016, to dominate the medal tables.
Kim Dismuke, Men's Head Coach: Kim Dismuke is in her 11th year as assistant head coach of women's sprints at Central Arizona College. For 10 years prior to joining Central Arizona, Dismuke served as head coach at Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona. During her tenure at MVHS she coached numerous regional and state champions and was voted the Arizona 4A Desert Sky/Skyline's Track & Field Coach of the Year four times. She also served as an assistant coach for the Arizona Rising Suns youth team that competed at the Junior Olympic level. Dismuke previously served as assistant coach for Team USATF for the 2011 Thorpe Cup, events manager at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, and women's head coach at the 2012 Great North City Games, and women's head coach at the 2015 Pan Am Junior Championships. She is currently the Women's Committee Chair of USATF's Arizona Association.
Sandy Fowler, Women's Head Coach: A nine-time All-American, national champion and Olympic alternate in the shot put, Sandy Fowler currently serves as the director of track and field for both the men's and women's programs at Coastal Carolina University. Prior to joining Coastal Carolina in April 2017, Fowler spent five seasons as an assistant coach for the University of Michigan women's track and field program, overseeing throwing events for the Wolverines. She also enjoyed a successful 14-year stint as the head women's track and field coach at the University of Alabama (1997-2011), and eight years as the field events coach at the University of Florida (1989-97). In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Fowler most recently represented Team USATF as an assistant coach of women's throws at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London. She also has served as an assistant coach at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, and was Team USATF's head coach at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
Team USATF's full coaching and support staff for the 2018 IAAF U20 Championships is below.
Sandy Fowler
Women's Head Coach - Throws
Amy Begley
Women's Assistant Coach - Distance
Rahn Sheffield
Women's Assistant Coach - Sprints/hurdles
Richard Mercado
Women's Assistant Coach - Jumps/Multis
David Watkins
Women's Head Manager
Kim Dismuke
Men's Head Coach - Sprints/Hurdles
Dan Mecca
Men's Assistant Coach - Throws
Kevin Reid
Men's Assistant Coach - Jumps/Multis
Jebreh Harris
Men's Assistant Coach - Distance
Manny Bautista
Men's Head Manager
Cathleen Cawley
Lou Andreadis
Kibwe Johnson
AAC Liaison
Michelle Freeman
Relay Coach
Delaney Farmer
ATC (Head)
Sean Gateley
Yolanda Lawrence
Kurt Ray
Rebecca Breslow
Leo Kormanik
Chris Stanley
Sport Psychologist
Jessica Dale Bartley