Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Track & Field Adds Olympian Associate Head Coach
June 23, 2015 | Track and Field
June 23, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley announced Tuesday the addition of former NCAA Champion and two-time Olympic hurdler Ken Harnden to the Tech track & field staff where he will be associate head coach, overseeing sprints and hurdles.
Harnden comes to Lubbock from Florida State, where he has coached 20 of the Seminoles' 36 individual NCAA champions, a feat not matched by any active assistant coach in the country.
The most recent of Harnden's titles came earlier this month at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as Florida State's Kala Funderburk won the 400 meter dash. Funderburk won the event coming out of lane eight, which almost never happens in track & field.
The collegiate records in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes were set by Florida State sprinters under Harnden's tutelage. The 100 meter record was set in 2011 by Ngoni Makusha, who went on to win the Bowerman Award that year, after FSU came within one point of a team national title in large part because of Harnden's sprint group.
The collegiate 200 meter dash record set under Harnden was done so by Walter Dix, one of the greatest sprinters the NCAA has ever seen. Dix was a six-time NCAA Champion and an 18-time All-American under Harnden, and went on to take the bronze medal in both the 100m dash and 200m dash at the 2008 Olympics, in Beijing, China.
The three-time USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year has guided six different athletes to 10 seconds or faster in the 100 meter dash, five athletes to 20.30 or faster in the 200 meter dash and three athletes to sub-45 second times in the 400 meter dash while at FSU. He has also amassed more than 100 All-American honors to go alongside the 20 NCAA titles.
"Ken brings credentials that are second to none," Kittley said. "Not many schools can say they have a coach on staff who is a two-time Olympian, while also having two world championship finals and NCAA titles under their belt. Ken has established himself as one of the nation's premier sprint coaches, having an astounding 20 national champions. I am so excited to have him on our staff. His passion for the sport is second to none, and he is ready to go to work. He will be a phenomenal addition to what is already a great staff."
Harnden twice represented his native country of Zimbabwe in the 400 meter hurdles at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and was twice a finalist at the world championships in the event. He also took bronze at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Because of that, it would make sense that he has also had great success coaching the hurdles.
His athletes are responsible for three of FSU's all-time top-10 marks in the men's 110m hurdles, as well as the men's and women's 400m hurdles. Harnden's athletes have four of FSU's 10 best women's 100m hurdles marks.
In 2008, Harnden coached Drew Brunson to an NCAA indoor 60m hurdles title and an NCAA fifth-place finish in the outdoor 110m hurdles. He also guided former Olympian and NCAA All-American Anne Zagre to a school-record 12.83 in the women's 100m hurdles.
Earlier this month, FSU's Sage Watson took fourth place in the women's 400 meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
"I'm really honored to be at the top of Coach Kittley's list and for him to feel like I'm the man for the job," Harnden said. "I have worked with Devin [West] before and I really appreciated his input during this process. I'm excited to work with him again, as well. Texas Tech is such a great place, and the people are amazing. My wife and I traveled out to Lubbock and really enjoyed our time there. We're excited to come out here, and I'm looking forward to being a part of something great. The staff is amazing as it is, and I hope I can add to that."
An alumnus of the University of North Carolina, Harnden won the 1995 NCAA title in the 400 meter hurdles as a Tar Heel and still holds the school record in the event. He also ran on UNC's national champion 4 x 400 meter relay that year.
Harnden comes to Lubbock with his wife, Betsy, and his two sons, Garry and Pierce.
