Johnson Finalizes Track and Field/Cross Country Coaching Staff

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - CSUN Track and Field and Cross Country Head Coach Justin Johnson has finalized his 2019-20 coaching staff, announcing that Sean Denard (throws), Vanitta Kinard (jumps), Jake Hurysz (distance) and Jacob Yowell (sprints/hurdles) will comprise his inaugural coaching staff.

Denard comes to CSUN from Grand Valley State University. From 2014-2019, no other coach across all three NCAA Divisions has coached more All-American throwers. Denard's Lakers earned 45 All-American certificates, with two NCAA championships while over 20 have earned Academic All-American awards. During his time at GVSU, Denard led his teams to five NCAA Program of the Year Awards.

"Sean brings a lot of experience to CSUN," said Johnson. "He has coached quite a few national champions at the Division II level and has had several student-athletes qualify for World Championships and Olympic Trials. Sean has proven he can coach at a high level so making the jump from Division II to Division I will be an easy move for him.

A former world-class track and field athlete, Kinard comes to CSUN after most recently working with the sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers at Michigan State.

"With over 15 years of coaching, Vanitta brings the most experience to the staff," said Johnson. "She began her coaching career at CSUN while she was an elite-level triple jumper post-collegiately. She's also coached at Ole Miss and Michigan State and was a jumper at Kansas State. Her experience will be very valuable to a young staff. As a first-time head coach, I will lean on Vanitta a lot for her knowledge and experience."

At Michigan State, 29 of the Spartans' points came from Kinard's athletes, leading the women's program to the 2014 Big Ten Championship, it's first since 1982. Highlighting individual success under Kinard was Tori Franklin who finished fifth at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in the triple jump and repeated as the Big Ten Indoor Champion in the triple jump in 2015.

Prior to joining the Michigan State staff, Kinard worked at Ole Miss, where she helped coach two triple jumpers to All-American honors and one who earned Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team recognition in 2011. In her first season at Ole Miss, Kinard helped coach a triple jumper to a win at the 2009 SEC Outdoor Championships, the first Rebel since 1992 to accomplish that feat. Kinard was also the recruiting coordinator for the Rebels, helping bring in one of the top recruiting classes in school history.

She began her coaching career prior to the 2002-03 season where she served as an assistant coach at her alma mater Kansas State before opting to pursue her individual career as a triple jumper.

As a collegiate jumper, Kinard began her career at Santa Monica College where she was the 1995 CCCAA triple jump and long jump champion under legendary track and field coach Tommie Smith. Kinard transferred to Kansas State where she competed for the Wildcats from 1996-98. She was a six-time All-American with five distinctions in the triple jump and one in the long jump. In her first year with the Wildcats, Kinard finished second at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in the triple jump, turned in a fourth place showing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and finished 10th at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

As a senior, she won a Big 12 Outdoor Championships in the triple jump, finished third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, placed fourth at the USA Outdoor Championships and took 14th at the qualifying World University Games. Kinard continued her career by winning her first national title in the triple jump at the 2002 USA Indoor Championships, knocking off the defending champion. She then finished second in the triple jump at the 2002 USA Outdoor Championships, before repeating as national champion at the 2003 USA Indoor Championships.

In addition to his duties with the Matadors' distance runners, Hurysz will assist with the CSUN cross country programs.

"Jake is a young coach who brings a lot of energy," said Johnson. "He's been a part of some really elite programs so he knows what it takes to be successful. He also competed at a high level as a student-athlete both collegiately and afterwards, so I'm very excited about what he brings to CSUN."

Hurysz comes to CSUN from Florida State where he served as an assistant track and field and cross country coach during the 2018-19 season. Hurysz began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Gonzaga in 2017 before serving as as a volunteer assistant at Ole Miss in 2018.

Hurysz earned indoor All-American honors three times for the University of Colorado from 2014-15 and holds the school record holder in the indoor mile (3:58.13). Upon graduation from CU, he held the second best indoor 3,000m performance in CU history (7:50.50). Outdoors, Hurysz ranked third all-time in Colorado's 1,500-meter history with a time of 3:40.63. He also owned the ninth fastest individual time in the event at 3:41.75, which he timed at the NCAA West Preliminary on May 31, 2014. Hurysz is on the Colorado outdoor 5k list, ranking eighth all-time in 13:38.58.

As a member of the Colorado cross country team, Hurysz helped lead the Buffs to the 2013 and 2014 NCAA National Championships and earned All-American honors as a junior. He began his collegiate career at North Carolina where in 2011 he became the first Tar Heel to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships since 1997; finishing 62nd.

Yowell has Big West experience as a collegiate runner at UC Irvine where he was a six-time NCAA regional qualifier, three-time Big West Conference Champion, and sits on the Anteaters' all-time top 10 list in multiple events which includes the 110m Hurdles and the 200m Dash.

"Jacob has roots in the Big West having competed at UC Irvine so he knows the conference well," said Johnson. "He has a lot of ties to California, especially the junior colleges, and knows the area very well. His knowledge in the sprints and hurdles is very impressive and will help us immensely."

Yowell comes to CSUN after serving as a graduate assistant coach at Baker University (Kan.) for the last two seasons. During his time with the Wildcats, Yowell would develop daily and weekly workout regimens for the short sprint and hurdle athletes. He also implemented new training techniques for the sprint, hurdle, and jump athletes.

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Johnson Finalizes Track and Field/Cross Country Coaching Staff

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