HAMPTON, Va. – Hampton University Director of Track & Field Maurice Pierce has been named an assistant coach for Team USA for this summer’s IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Beijing, China.
The meet will take place on Aug. 22-30.
Pierce will coach the team’s sprinters and hurdlers.
“This is one of the highest coaching accolades I’ve received so far,” Pierce said. “I’ve coached Olympians and world champions at the individual level, but from a team standpoint, this is the highest appointment I’ve had. To coach the sprinters for Team USA, the most powerful country in the world, it’s a great honor.”
Pierce is in his 13th season overall at Hampton, and his third as the Director of Track & Field, overseeing both programs. So far this season, his Lady Pirates won their fifth straight MEAC indoor championship, and he has already overseen four All-Americans this year.
Junior Trey Holloway (Chesapeake, Va.) was named First Team All-American by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) after finishing third in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a school-record 7.72.
Pierce also oversaw Second Team All-America honorees Edose Ibadin (Glendale, Md., 800-meter run), Le’Quisha Parker (Silver Spring, Md., 200-meter dash), and Ce’aira Brown (Philadelphia, Pa., 800-meter run).
During his tenure, Pierce has led the Lady Pirates to four MEAC cross country titles (2004, 2006, 2010-11), 12 MEAC indoor championships (2003-09, 2011-15), and 10 MEAC outdoor titles (2003-04, 2006-10, 2012-14).
He has also guided the Pirates to the 2013 MEAC outdoor and 2014 MEAC indoor crowns.
In addition, Pierce has guided Yvette Lewis and Francena McCorory to a total of five NCAA Div. I individual champions. Lewis won the indoor triple jump title in 2006 and the outdoor triple jump in 2007, while McCorory was a three-time NCAA champion in the 400-meter dash.
Pierce’s success is not limited to just Hampton, though; he has coached four Olympians over the course of his career, including McCoroy in London in 2012 (who won gold in the 4x400-meter relay) and David Payne, who took silver in the 110-meter hurdles in Beijing in 2008.
Payne was also a world champion under Pierce in 2007. Pierce has coached three world champions – including two-time world champion (and Hampton alum) James Carter and Rachelle Boone-Smith.
Pierce was also an assistant hurdles coach for the USA National Team at the 2011 Pan Am Junior Championships. In addition, he served as Head Men’s Coach at the 2014 NACAC Under-23 Championships, which were held in British Columbia.
For more information, visit www.hamptonpirates.com