Miles Smith - Assistant Coach (Sprints/Hurdles) - Men's Track and Field Coaches

Miles Smith

Title:
Assistant Coach (Sprints/Hurdles)
Email:
msmith95@memphis.edu

Miles Smith, arguably one of the best student-athletes in the history of Southeast Missouri athletics, joined the University of Memphis track and field staff, Tigers head coach Kevin Robinson announced in late August of 2016. Smith comes to Memphis after serving as an assistant at his alma mater the past two seasons.

"I'm excited to welcome Miles to our program and into the Tigers track and field family," said Robinson. "He brings an invaluable work ethic, attitude and motivation that will be great for our program. He has a wealth of experience both competitively and in coaching.

"Miles did a tremendous job at Southeast Missouri, and he's going to bring a lot of energy and passion to our program. He's going to be a great fit here."

In his short time as an assistant at Southeast Missouri, Smith made an immediate impact on the Redhawks program. He helped lead Southeast Missouri to five Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) championships, including sweeping the conference crowns in men's indoor and outdoor track and field in both 2015 and 2016. He also helped guide the women's program to one OVC outdoor title in his time in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Under his tutelage, Smith coached 12 individual OVC title holders, four relay team champions, 30 All-OVC performers and seven NCAA Preliminaries qualifiers. He had one student-athlete earn All-America honors. Six school records were set by the Redhawks sprints/hurdles group in Smith's two seasons.

Prior to his time at Southeast Missouri, Smith served as a volunteer assistant coach for sprints and hurdles at Tennessee State in 2012-13. During his one season in Nashville, Tenn., Smith helped direct the Tigers women's squad to an OVC Indoor Championships runner-up finish. He coached the women's 4x100 meter relay to the OVC crown and a spot in the NCAA East Preliminaries. Three of Smith's relay teams earned All-OVC distinction.

Smith moved to the coaching ranks after a stellar professional track and field career. He was a United States Olympic Trials semifinalist in the 400 meters in both 2008 and 2012, and also a 400 meter finalist at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2005 (6^th place), 2009 (8^th) and 2011 (6^th). In 2005, Smith was a member of the gold-medal winning 4x400 meter relay at the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

As a student-athlete at Southeast Missouri, Smith earned All-America honors five times in the 400 meters (indoor/outdoor combined). A 15-time OVC champion, Smith was named the OVC Athlete of the Year three times in 2005, 2006 and 2008. He stills holds five school records in the 400 meters (indoor/outdoor), 200 meters (indoor) and 4x400 meter relay (indoor/outdoor).

Smith is a 2008 Southeast Missouri graduate with a degree in mass communication. In 2014, Smith was inducted into the Southeast Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame.