KU Track Coach Pate Wins Assistant of the Year Honors
June 14, 2012
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas Track & Field assistant coach Wayne Pate was named the women’s assistant coach of the year Thursday as was announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Pate, who is in his fifth year coaching the horizontal jumps and the multi-events, has now earned the honor four times, twice while at Indiana (2003, 2005) and twice at Kansas, both coming this year for the indoor and outdoor seasons.
“There’s no doubt that Coach Pate deserves every bit of this award,” said head coach Stanley Redwine. “The awards he has won this season have proven that he is one of the elite coaches in the nation and it’s great to see his hard work is paying off.”
Pate’s athletes notched 14 points at the NCAA Championships where the Jayhawks finished in a tie for fourth as a team with 28 points. Junior Andrea Geubelle finished third nationally in the triple jump while Francine Simpson and Geubelle placed fourth and sixth, respectively, in the long jump.
KU’s jumps squad scored 35 points at the Big 12 Championships as part of a runner-up team showing. Simpson and Geubelle finished 1-2 in the long jump, Geubelle won the triple jump and Lindsay Vollmer placed third in the heptathlon at the league meet.
Pate was also named the women’s assistant of the year following the 2012 indoor season, helping his athletes to the runner-up team finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Geubelle won the national crown in the triple jump. Pate’s athletes also scored 36 points, including a 1-2 finish in the long jump, at the Big 12 Indoor Championships helping KU place third.
Pate hopes to see both Geubelle and Simpson claim spots on their respective countries’ 2012 Olympic teams at Trial meets later this month. Geubelle will be competing in both the triple jump and long jump at the U.S. team trials in Eugene, Ore., June 21-July 1 with Simpson returning to her native Jamaica for the long jump at the Jamaican team trials, slated for June 29.
