Assistant coaching jobs for Freeman, Pullen at US colleges

Jamaicans Michelle Freeman and Clive Pullen are continuing their development as coaches with new posts in the United States college system. Freeman, a pioneer in Jamaica’s 100-metre hurdles history, is now assistant coach for sprints and hurdles at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), while Pullen, an Olympic triple jumper, has moved to the University of Kansas.

“I’m very excited to add a coach of Michelle’s calibre to our coaching staff,” said Avery Anderson, UCLA’s director of track and field and cross country. “She has proven to be an excellent coach, who will add to our mission of competing at an elite level.”

Freeman, who won Jamaica’s first global medal in the 100m hurdles back at the 1997 World Championships, has coached at the University of Texas, San Diego State, and the University of Oklahoma, where she coached Kennedy Blackmon to a silver medal in the 100m at the NCAA outdoor championships.

She spent 12 years at the University of Texas as a volunteer assistant, assistant coach, and strength and conditioning coach. She worked with the Longhorn sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and relay squads, while also managing the team’s weight training programme. She helped coach four Olympians, 15 All-Americans and seven NCAA individual national champions, and was part of three national championship teams.

Now 54, Freeman was NCAA gold medallist in 1992, Commonwealth Games champion in 1994, an Olympic finalist in 1996, and World Indoor 60m hurdles champion in 1997.

Pullen arrives after a long stay at the University of Arkansas and will serve as assistant coach of the Kansas jumpers. While he was still competing, the 2016 NCAA triple jump champion was a volunteer assistant coach at Arkansas and the University of Tennessee.

The man who played a role in the development of triple jump prodigy Jaydon Hibbert and World Championships long jump silver medallist Wayne Pinnock, said, “I’ve been fortunate to have good, solid people around me throughout my development as a young athlete, a student athlete, an Olympian and a professional athlete.”

Then he added, “I just feel highly blessed and favoured.”

Pullen competed in a pair of World Championships, one World Indoor Championship and the Commonwealth Games during his volunteer coaching stints. When he did the men’s triple jump at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he was the first Jamaican to do so since the 1964 Games.

Freeman and Pullen left their mark as athletes. Both were winners at the high-school level for St Jago High and Kingston College, respectively. Even now, long after her retirement, Freeman is the 10th-fastest Jamaican of all time at 12.52 seconds. Similarly, the 28-year-old Pullen is the number-six Jamaican triple jumper ever, at 16.90 metres. His indoor best is 17.19m.

The appointments were reported by the track and field departments of UCLA and University of Kansas, respectively.