Track and Field
- Title:
- Volunteer Assistant Coach - Pole Vault
- Email:
- tom.slagle@ttu.edu
- Phone:
- (806) 834-4592
At Texas Tech...
2 National Chmapionships (2019 outdoor, 2024 indoor)
11Â All-Americans
3 Big 12 Individual Champions
Tom Slagle joined the Texas Tech track and field staff as a volunteer assistant coach overseeing the pole vaulters, beginning with the 2013 season. Before the start of the 2023-24 season, head coach Wes Kittley announced that Slagle would be a full-time assistant.Â
The 2024 season saw the development of two freshmen in Sean Gribble and Kashlee Dickinson. Gribble, despite finishing 12th at the Big 12 outdoor meet, placed 10th at the NCAA regional to punch his ticket to the NCAA outdoor meet. Meanwhile, Dickinson led the Tech women pole vaulters indoors and outdoor placing sixth.
In 2023, grad transfer Zach Bradford re-wrote the entire Tech record book in the pole vault. Already one of the elite pole vaulters in the nation, Bradford capped off his final collegiate season as a Red Raider. He captured the Big 12 indoor/outdoor titles, becoming a five-time conference champion. At the NCAA indoor meet he placed second, while finishing tied for third at the outdoor meet. For Tech indoors, he left owning each top-10 mark, while holding all but one top-10 mark outdoors. Over on the women's side, sophomore Olivia Cade continued to make strides as she placed second at the Big 12 indoor meet.
The 2022 season saw the development of Slagle's pole vaulting crew reach new heights. Chloe Wall wrapped up her final season as a Red Raider as an All-American in both the indoor and outdoor potions of the season. Meanwhile, freshman Colton Naffziger turned in a 5th place outing at the Big 12 Indoor Championships as Logan Fraley scored for Tech, coming in 8th at the BIg 12 Outdoor Championships, including a new personal best of 5.21m (17-1).Â
Prior to the rest of the 2020 season being canceled due to COVID 19, Slagle was able to produce Chinne Okoronkow's third Big 12 title in two years as she took home the indoor title. Three All-Americans would come out of the 2020 season in Brandon Bray, Okoronkwo, and Chloe Wall. Â
Slagle, a veteran in the track and field coaching scene, brings a vast array of experience to the Texas Tech program. That experience paid dividends in Tech's historic 2019 national title run when his two vaulters, Brandon Bray and Drew McMichael, grinded through the most talented pole vault competition ever at an NCAA meet to earn First Team All-America status. Bray topped the school record with a top height of 18'-8.25" (5.70m) in the process. McMichael topped the previous record too, which he set twice earlier in the season, and finished with a 18'-4.5" (5.60m) to end his career with a personal best.
Slagle also saw Chinne Okoronkwo sweep the Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles in the vault. His work with Okoronkwo was well done, considering the Wisconsin transfer had not vaulted in two years. In her first year back vaulting, Okoronkwo record one outdoor program top-10 jump and three on the indoor campaign.Â
During the 2017 season, Slagle coached sophomore Drew McMichael to achieve the outdoor school record pole vault height of 5.51m/18-1 at the Big 12 Championship for a silver medal finish. This was the first time the height had been reached since 1989. During this conference competition, McMichael notched a total of four personal records to achieve his final lifetime-best height. McMichael then went on to enter the NCAA West Preliminaries in the No. 6 nationally ranked spot, only just missing the advancement to nationals finishing 13th at 5.25m/17-2.50.
Reece Timmons had a standout year on the women’s side of the vault, recording a two-inch personal record improvement at her senior meet, clearing 4.11m/13-5.75 fir first-place, which ranked her seventh in the Big 12. Timmons closed out her season at the NCAA West Preliminaries with an almost four-inch lifetime-best 4.20m/13-9.25 height for a 21st place finish.
In 2015, Slagle coached six All-Big 12 performers and on All-America honoree. Kyle Thompson racked up all-conference accolades during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, finishing runner-up at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships at a height of 5.20m (17-0.75). He would earn second team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Haley Cook and Reece Timmons also garnered All-Big 12 awards after finishing fourth and sixth, respectively, at the outdoor meet.Â
Slagle coached Kyle Thompson (fourth) and Kyle Padalecki (sixth) to All-conference performances at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, and nearly had a third, as Kyal Meyers just missed the cut line, taking ninth. On the women's side, Slagle did get three outdoor All-Big 12 perofrmances as Haley Cook and Reece Timmons tied for fourth and Blake Wood took sixth.Â
At the Big 12 Indoor Championships, Slagle coached Meyers to a tie for second place in the pole vault, earning seven team points. On the women's side, Slagle's Red Raiders earned 4.5 team points and two more All-Big 12 honors, as Cook finished fifth and her teammate Blake Wood took eighth place.Â
In 2013, Slagle oversaw four athletes who scored at the Big 12 meet in the pole vault. Under his tutelage Kyal Meyers finished runner-up in the pole vault at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships where he cleared 5.19-meters (17'-feet 0.25-inches).Â
A native of Lometa, Texas and graduate of Tarleton State, Slagle has spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at South Plains College where he also oversaw one of the top pole vaulting programs in the country. As a veteran in the pole vault coaching ranks, Slagle helped guide South Plains to six women's national team championships and five men's national team championships. In 2012, he oversaw K'don Samuels who broke the Jamaican national record on his way to capturing the 2012 outdoor NAIA national championship in the pole vault. Slagle was also key in guiding Kelsey Wilson to two NJCAA national championships during the 2009 indoor and outdoor seasons. During his tenure at South Plains, Slagle coached a total of six men's national qualifiers and four women's national qualifiers in the pole vault. Slagle also found success at the high school level where he gained head coaching experience and led teams to 12 district championships and two regional championships. In the pole vault alone he oversaw 12 state qualifiers and two state champions.
