Nic Fortenberry - Staff Directory

Nic Fortenberry

Title:
Assistant Coach - Sprints/Hurdles
Email:
Phone:
840-5447

Nic Fortenberry was named an assistant coach for track and field at Kansas in October 2022 and works primarily with sprints and hurdles.

The Kansas sprints and hurdles teams have prospered under Fortenberry, whose athletes have broken four school records, with a handful of individuals standing out including Yoveinny Mota, Gabrielle Gibson, Sidney Smith, Aleksandra Wolczak, Aaron Merritt and Devan Mathis.

COACHING CAREER

Prior to his hiring at Kansas, Fortenberry spent time at Christian Brothers University, where he served as the director of both men’s and women’s track & field and cross country from July of 2016 until his Kansas hiring in October 2022. While with the Buccaneers, Fortenberry helped his athletes rack up a plethora of achievements including: three Division II National Qualifiers, a three-time Division II All American in the long jump, a top 25 NCAA Division II final ranking and a six-time Division II All-American in the hurdles and sprints.

Prior to joining Christian Brothers, Fortenberry spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis, acting as the sprints and hurdles coach.

Under Fortenberry the Tigers sprints/hurdles team had eight NCAA Division I National Qualifiers, 18 NCAA Division I Regional Qualifiers and 21 individual conference championships. Additionally, Memphis won the 2007 Conference USA (CUSA) Men’s Outdoor Championship, were 2013 CUSA Men’s Indoor Runner-Up, and were the 2014 American Athletic Conference (AAC) Men’s Outdoor Runner-Up.

In his time at Memphis, his athletes set 22 school records and received an USTFCCA All Academic Team recognition.

Prior to Memphis, Fortenberry spent 10 years as an assistant and head track and field and cross country coach at Houston High School and Kirby High School near Memphis. He was part of three cross country and one track and field State Championship teams.

NOTABLE ATHLETES

In 2026, two athletes stood out with Fortenberry's guidance, Aaron Merritt and Devan Mathis. As a true freshman, Mathis became a top ten performer in the school’s 400 meter hurdles in his first outdoor season, with a personal best time of 51.54 seconds. Additionally, he qualified for and competed in the U20 USATF Outdoor Championships, running the 400 meter hurdles.

Aaron Merritt is another one of Fortenberry’s athletes that has marked his name across the Jayhawks’ record book. Merritt, who is entering his third year with Fortenberry, set the school’s 60 meter hurdles record during the 2025-26 indoor season, finishing in 7.81 seconds. Additionally, he is a top four performer in the 60 meter dash (6.78 seconds), top six performer in the 100 meter dash (10.34 seconds) and a top nine performer in the 110 meter hurdles (13.87 seconds) while competing at the NCAA West First Round in the 110 meter hurdles.

Another recent standout under Fortenberry, Yoveinny Mota rewrote the Kansas record books on her way to a successful season with the Jayhawks, eventually qualifying to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Venezuela. She holds school records in both the 60 meter hurdles and 100 meter hurdles.

During her indoor season with Fortenberry, she broke the school’s 60 meter hurdles record, running an 8.07 second time. She also achieved the seventh fastest time in Jayhawk history with an 8.27 second 60 meter hurdles. During the outdoor season, Mota shined again, setting eight of the top ten 100 meter hurdles times in school history, including seven times below 13 seconds. Her record setting time came at the NCAA West First Round, where she completed the hurdles in 12.66 seconds. She finished second in the event at both the Big 12 Outdoor Championship and NCAA West First Round before earning Second Team All-American honors with a 14th place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championship. In addition to her hurdles success, she is also on two of the fastest 4x100 meter relay teams in school history under Fortenberry.

Gabrielle Gibson, another one of Fortenberry’s pupils, holds the other two top ten times in the 100 meter hurdles, while also dominating the 60 meter hurdles. With Fortenberry’s guidance, Gibson is the second best performer in both events in school history, with two sub-13 seconds times in the 100 meter hurdles of 12.95 and 12.99 seconds. She also holds four of the school’s top 10 times in the 60 meter hurdles, including the second, third and fourth best performances, with a best time of 8.11 seconds. In 2023, she placed second in the 60 meter hurdles at the Big 12 Indoor Championship.

Sidney Smith has also grown immensely with the guidance of Fortenberry. Having entered college with no previous hurdle experience, Smith finished sixth during the finals of the Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 400 meter hurdles and qualified for the NCAA West Regional during her freshman season. Since then, she has finished fourth at the US Junior Championships in the 400 meter hurdles, placed eighth at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in the 400 meter hurdles in 2026 and competed in the 400 hurdles NCAA West Regional in both 2025 and 2026. Smith is entering her senior year and looking to build upon an already impressive resume.

Aleksandra Wolczak, a 400-meter hurdler, also set the school record under Fortenberry, running a time of 50.88 seconds, and is entering her fifth year.

PERSONAL

Fortenberry graduated from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education and a Construction minor. He and his wife Christina have two children: a son, Gabriel, and a daughter, Jada.