Hampton University head women's track & field coach Maurice Pierce has been named as an assistant coach for the USA Track & Field National Team for the 2011 Pan Am Junior Championships.

Pierce will serve as a sprints and hurdles coach at the Pan Am Junior Championships, which will be held July 22-24 in Miramar, Fla.

In his ninth season guiding the Lady Pirates, Pierce has won three MEAC cross country titles (2004, '06, '10), eight MEAC indoor track & field titles (2003-09, '11) and seven MEAC outdoor championships (2003-04, '06-10).

Pierce, the 2008-09 Southeast Region Women's Head Coach of the Year as named by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), has coached 10 All-Americans and watched his student-athletes bring home five individual NCAA titles - two from Yvette Lewis in the triple jump and three from Francena McCorory in the 400-meter dash.

But Pierce's success isn't exclusive to Hampton.

He has also coached Olympic athletes - most recently, Pierce coached David Payne to the silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Pierce, considered one of the world's best hurdle coaches, has coached athletes in the last four Olympics - including the likes of former Pirate James Carter and Rachelle Boone-Smith.

Both athletes have won World Championships under Pierce.

Pierce, a native of Newport News, Va. and a graduate of Norfolk State, is also chair of the USATF Virginia Association Women Elite Athletes.