Texas Tech University Athletics
Track and Field
- Title:
- Track and Field Assistant Coach
Horizontal Jumps
Two-time Olympian Victor Houston enters his third year of coaching men[apos]s and women[apos]s long jump and triple jump at Texas Tech.
In 2013, Houston coached senior Bryce Lamb to a national championship in the indoor triple jump and a conference title in the outdoor long jump. It marked the first national championship in the event in school history and the school[apos]s first Big 12 championship in the long jump.
Newcomer Shujaa Benson also shined under Houston[apos]s guidance as he burst onto the scene late during the 2013 outdoor season and went on to finish fourth at the Big 12 meet.
During just his first year with the Red Raiders and Lady Raiders, Houston was pivotal in the development of Lamb who finished third at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He also oversaw the development of freshman triple jumper Avril McGhee who jumped onto the scene scoring points at both the Big 12 indoor and outdoor championships.
McGhee finished fourth at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in 2012 - the highest of any freshman in the conference. She was the only freshman to place in the top five at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets.
Houston, a Barbados native, comes to Texas Tech from Alabama where he coached jumps, throws and multi-events. He had student-athletes qualify six times for the NCAA Championships and walk-on Michael Hughes broke the Alabama school record in the heptathlon. During his time at Alabama, eight top 10 marks in Alabama history were set.
Before joining the Alabama staff, Houston enjoyed four successful years as the an assistant women[apos]s track coach at the University of Iowa where he coached 40 Hawkeye field event and sprint competitors that scored at the Big Ten Conference Championships, 14 All-Big Ten top three finishers, 4 Big Ten Champions, 7 All-Americans, sent 13 out of 19 qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, and the athletes set 19 school records. Iowa also sent 17 field event and sprint student-athletes to the NCAA Midwest Regional.
Houston began his coaching career at UTEP where his athletes garnered five WAC individual championships and four All-Americans honors.
Houston was a two-time Olympian for Barbados at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He ran the 110M hurdles and 400M hurdles in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and competed in the decathlon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He holds the Barbados national records in the 60M hurdles (7.75), 400M hurdles (49.21) and decathlon (7,777 points).
He won the 1996 NCAA Championship in the decathlon scoring 7,762 points and earned four All-American honors while he competed for Auburn University.
Houston is married to Andree[apos] Pickens Houston, who was a two-time NCAA Champion and 14-time NCAA Champion in gymnastics at Alabama. She competed in the US Olympic Trials in the pole vault in 2008. The couple has two children - Nathaniel and Seraphina.
