past armory camp coaches
Read about the impressive track record (no pun intended!) of professional athletes and coaches that are former Armory Camp staff members. Current coaches will be announced on our homepage.
SPRINTS
Lisa Morgan: Morgan averaged three Division One scholarship-athletes per year while coaching at Columbia High School from 2008-2015. She is currently the head track & field coach at Bloomfield College.
Mike McCabe: McCabe is in his 15th season as the head coach of NJ powerhouse high school program Union Catholic. McCabe’s teams have won numerous county, state, and national titles, producing some of the country’s top track & field athletes, including Sydney McLaughlin. Additionally, McCabe was named the U.S. Girls High School Coach of the Year in 2018-19 (for all sports).
Najee Glass: Glass helped the University of Florida capture a national title in the 4x400m Relay in 2013 and earned NCAA All-American honors 16 times! He now competes professionally and finished 7th at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Joseph Fahnbulleh: Fahnbulleh is the Liberian national record holder in both the 100m and the 200m. He became the first athlete in his country’s history to reach an Olympic final, placing fifth in the 200m in Tokyo, before improving to fourth this year at this year’s World Championships. Fahnbulleh was a three-time NCAA champion at the University of Florida, completing the sprint double to lead the Gators to the team title in 2022.
Dominic Zanot: As a Track & Field coach in Westchester County since 2005, Zanot has led teams to multiple league, county, and sectional championships. In addition, he has helped to send athletes in the sprints, jumps and hurdles to the ACC, Ivy League and America East Conference, among others.
Through his professional training organization, Athletics Westchester, Dominic has also coached athletes who qualified to wear the Team USA and Team Italy uniforms at international competitions including the World and Junior World championships.
George Taylor: Coach Taylor has coached the local NYC youth track and field team NY Novas for decades. Taylor is a certified Level III USA Track & Field Coach and World Athletics Coach specializing in sprints, jumps and hurdles. He has coached numerous youth and high school athletes to national and international titles including Olympic Champion Dalilah Muhammad. Currently, Taylor is the head coach at Benjamin Cardozo High School in New York City.
Kennedy Blackmon: Blackmon is entering her first season as a professional sprinter following a standout career at the University of Oklahoma. She had a breakout performance in her final NCAA Championships, running 10.87 to place second nationally in the 100m. Blackmon is the school record holder in both the 100m and 200m, and she was named the 2023 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year.
Nancy Petryna: Nancy Petryna is the head coach of the Boys Team for Livingston High School in NJ, and she is the sprint specialist for both the Boys and Girls teams. Her teams have swept the Boys’ 55m at the state sectional championships for two consecutive years, placing 1-2-3 in the event. Petryna also coached her team to the 2024 Indoor Super Essex Conference, Essex County Relay, and Essex County Championships. Last year’s outdoor team placed 1-2 in the 100 and 200 meter events and won both sprint relays on their way to winning their first state sectional title. Petryna was named the 2023 Spring NJ.Com Essex County Coach of the year. With a PhD in school psychology, Petryna is also the program’s mindfulness coach with the mindset that failure is an opportunity to learn, and it’s what one does next that counts.
Robin Reynolds: Reynolds was part of the University of Florida's national champion 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams in 2015. She was also a 16x All-American for the Gators and currently competes on the professional track & field circuit.
English Gardner: Gardner is the tenth-fastest woman in the history of the 100m dash. She won an Olympic gold medal in 2016 as part of the Team USA 4x100m relay, then followed it up with an Olympic silver medal in the same event in 2021. A two-time national champion and three-time NCAA champion, Gardner has coached sprints at Princeton University since 2018.
Miles Lewis: Lewis is a sprinter who competes internationally for Puerto Rico, and he is a USATF-certified coach as well. He was a New York state champion in high school, before graduating from the University at Buffalo in 2015. In 2022, Lewis set the national record in the 60m dash with a time of 6.61 at The Armory, going on to compete at the World Indoor Championships. This year, he has placed in the top four at both the Millrose Games and the New Balance Grand Prix.
Maya Stephens: Stephens is a former standout at St John’s University, where she rewrote the record books in the sprints. The native of Toronto, Canada has represented her country at the 2019 World Relays and the 2019 World Championships.
Melissa Jefferson: Jefferson announced herself as a force to be reckoned with in the sprints in 2022, winning the 100m at the US National Championships, and reaching the final at the World Championships. She won a pair of gold medals at Worlds in 2022 and 2023, running on Team USA’s victorious 4x100m relay. Jefferson also won the 2022 NCAA title in the indoor 60m, one of two All-American performances she had while competing for Coastal Carolina University.
Anthuan Maybank: Maybank is an Olympic Gold Medalist, anchoring the victorious Team USA 4x400m relay in 1996. He was also the World University Games Champion in 1995. Maybank is now the sprints coach at the Tatnall School in Delaware, as well as the founder and CEO of Champion BODY (Building Outgoing Dynamic Youth), a company that creates programs to motivate both youth and adults while fostering lifestyle changes.
HURDLES
Sydney McLaughlin: McLaughlin has quickly become the face of track & field after making the 2016 U.S. Olympic team at just 16 years old, going on to win Olympic gold and set the world record in the process in the 400m Hurdles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She has broken numerous high school, college, and U20 records in both sprints and hurdles.
Andy Capellan: Capellan is the head track and field coach at New Rochelle High School. Since 1980, he has led his teams to claim 45 County Championships, 54 League titles and 38 Sectional Championships for Section One Class A/AA across the indoor and outdoor seasons. He has coached six State Hurdles Champions and two National Champions in the Hurdles.
Grant Holloway: Holloway is an Olympic silver medalist and 2x World Championship gold medalist in the 110m Hurdles. He set a world record in the 60m Hurdles in 2021. While competing for the University of Florida, he earned 8 NCAA titles (between the former events, the 60m dash, and 4x100m relay) and was a Bowerman Award winner. Holloway is from Chesapeake, VA.
Devon Allen: Allen is a two-time Olympian and three-time U.S. Champion in the 110m hurdles. He was also a three-time NCAA Champion at the University of Oregon. Allen’s personal best of 12.84 seconds makes him the third-fastest man in the history of the hurdles. A two sport star, Allen is currently signed to the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad.
Craig Sutherland: Sutherland has served as the assistant head coach at Paul Robeson High School in Brooklyn since 2015. In his time at Robeson and previously Franklin K. Lane, Sutherland has produced 42 All-Americans, 22 New York state champions, six NYC team championships, and three state record-holders. He holds degrees from the University of Tennessee and NYU.
Dylan Beard: Beard broke out onto the big stage at the 2024 Millrose Games by winning the 60m hurdles in an Armory record time of 7.44. He previously competed for Wagner College and Hampton University, before finding a home at Howard University. At Howard, Beard was on the 2023 MEAC Outdoor All-Academic Team. He was also a two-time All-MEAC First Team selection, winning the 110m hurdles and 4x100m relay at the MEAC Outdoor Championships.
Dalilah Muhammad: Muhammad is a native of Queens, New York and has gone on to become the greatest female 400m hurdler in history. She won the 2016 Olympic gold medal in the event and followed that up with a silver medal in the 2020 Olympic Games. She is also a 2019 World Championships winner.
Dwayne Evans: Evans has coached multiple New York state and city champions and is currently an assistant indoor track & field coach for Team Jamaica. He was an All-American hurdler while competing for Ohio State University.
Danielle Williams: Williams was the 2015 World Champion in the 100m Hurdles, winning the gold medal for Jamaica. Her personal best of 12.32 seconds makes her the tenth-fastest woman in the history of the event. Williams also won the bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships, as well as the silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Sharika Nelvis: Nelvis is a two-time national champion in the 60m hurdles, and she is the third-fastest woman ever in that event. She reached the 100m hurdles finals at the 2015 World Championships, finishing eighth. Nelvis was a two-time NCAA Champion at Arkansas State University.
Daniel Roberts: Roberts is one of the best and most consistent hurdlers on the planet, and he recently earned his first global medal, taking bronze in the 110m Hurdles at the 2023 World Championships. He is an Olympian as well as a three-time national champion in the event, winning top honors in 2019, 2022, and 2023. Roberts was also a two-time All-American at the University of Kentucky, and he placed second in the 60m Hurdles at the 2022 Millrose Games.
middle & long distance
Athing Mu: Though just a high school senior in 2019-20, Mu burst onto the scene as one of the most exciting middle-distance runners in the world and would go on to win two gold medals at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo: one in the 800m, and one as a member of the 4x400m relay team. Prior to that, she broke the 600m American Record at the 2019 USATF Indoor Championships. Mu is from Trenton, NJ, and forwent her eligibility after a freshman season at Texas A&M to turn professional.
Mary Cain: Cain is a native of Bronxville, New York, where she became one of the most decorated high school athletes in the history of track & field and the youngest female athlete to make a World Championships team. In 2013, she signed with Nike Oregon Project. She recently founded Atalanta, a NYC-based nonprofit that provides youth mentoring services and employs female professional runners full-time.
Ce’Aira Brown: Brown finished 8th in the 800m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Originally from Philadelphia, Brown competed for Hampton University and now represents HOKA. She owns personal bests of 1:59.01 for 800m, 2:35.85 for 1000m, and 4:32.23 for one mile.
Olivia Baker: Baker is an alum of Stanford University, where she was an 11x NCAA All-American, Pac-12 400m champion, and one of the most decorated mid-distance runners the Cardinal has ever had. Baker now runs professionally for Garden State Track Club and just missed making the 2019 USA World Championship team in the 800m. She is a product of Columbia High School in NJ. There, she won 13 state titles, became the first athlete to win 4 events at just one New Jersey Meet of Champions (2013: 100m, 200m, 400m, and 4x400m relay), won a national championship in the 400m, and became a 2x New Jersey Gatorade Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year.
Dawn Bowles-Boone: Bowles-Boone is track & field head coach at Neptune High School in New Jersey and coach of 2016 and 2020 Olympian and American-record holder Ajee’ Wilson. Bowls-Boone finished 6th in the 1993 World Championships in the 100m.
Eric Holt: Holt was one of the top athletes in New York State as a high schooler, before continuing his career at Binghamton University. Since graduating, Holt has improved remarkably, lowering his mile PR to 3:54, and finishing fourth in the 1500m at this year’s national championships. He competes for the Empire Elite TC, which frequently trains and competes at The Armory.
Cornel Johnson: As the head coach at DeWitt Clinton High School, Johnson has led his girls’ team to 51 Bronx Borough championships and eight NYC PSAL championships. He has also produced 21 state medalists, 26 All-Americans, and an Olympian. Johnson is a member of The Armory’s Coaches Hall of Fame.
Ollie Hoare: Hoare is among the best middle distance runners in the entire world, winning gold in the 1500m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games for Australia. A Tokyo Olympian, Hoare holds five Australian records, and he has a personal best mile time of 3:47.48. In 2022, Hoare won the prestigious Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games right here at The Armory, before returning this past year to place third. He was also an NCAA Champion at the University of Wisconsin.
Allie Wilson: Wilson is the reigning US indoor champion over 800m, and she is this year’s Millrose Games champion over that distance as well. She took the silver medal at the 2022 NACAC Championships, and later that season she ran her 800m personal best of 1:58.09 at the Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland. Wilson was also a two-time All-American while at Monmouth University.
Queen Harrison-Claye: Harrison-Claye is the only athlete in NCAA history to win both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles at the same championship. She was a member of the 2008 US Olympic Team after just her sophomore year at Virginia Tech, where she was a 6x NCAA All-American. She hails from Richmond, VA.
Kenyetta Iyevbele: Iyevbele, a native of Charlotte, NC, was a 2x All-American in the 800m while competing for NC State University. She ran and trained professionally with NJNY Track Club post-collegiately and was recently named Track & Field Assistant Coach for the University of Delaware.
Ajee’ Wilson: One of the most accomplished American middle distance runners ever, Wilson is a two-time Olympian and two-time World Championship bronze medalist in the 800m. She is also an 11-time national champion, as well as the gold medalist at this year’s World Indoor Championships. The Neptune, NJ native is an Armory legend, winning at the Millrose Games for the seventh time this past January.
Natoya Goule: Goule is a two-time Olympian in the 800m, and she recently placed 5th in the final at this year’s World Championships. She holds the Jamaican 800m records indoors and outdoors, with a personal best of 1:56.15. Goule is also a Pan American Games gold medalist, Commonwealth Games silver medalist, and a three-time NCAA champion while running at LSU and Clemson.
Bart Sessa: Sessa coached his boys’ team at Syosset HS in Long Island to ten consecutive Section 8 cross country championships between 1996 and 2006. He also guided his 2005 squad to an indoor national record in the 4x800m, set at The Armory.
Drew Hunter: Hunter was the national record holder in the high school indoor mile, running 3:57.81 at The Armory in 2016. He has since moved on to a successful professional career directly out of high school. Hunter is the 2019 U.S. Two Mile Champion and qualified to represent Team USA in the 5k at the 2019 World Championships. In 2021, he won the U.S. Road 5k Championships.
John Padula: Padula is the head coach of Susan Wagner HS in Staten Island. He is certified as a USATF Level 3 endurance coach, and he also serves as the Vice President and Youth Chair of USATF New York. Padula’s teams have won ten PSAL city championships, six at Susan Wagner, and four in his previous role at Sheepshead Bay. In 2009, Padula was named the NSAF National HS Coach of the Year.
Kyle Merber: Merber is the former NCAA record holder in the 1500m, which he set while running for Columbia University. As a professional, he was a member of the relay teams that set the DMR world record outdoors, and the 4x800m world record indoors. Merber also placed third in the Wanamaker Mile at the 2017 Millrose Games. Following his retirement, Merber has remained deeply involved with the sport, working as the Director of Partnerships for Citius Mag.
LONG JUMP & TRIPLE JUMP
Keturah Orji: A 2x Olympian in the Triple Jump (7th place in the 2020 Games; 4th place in 2016), Orji is also the winningest track & field athlete in NCAA history. She won 8 individual NCAA titles while attending the University of Georgia as well as the 2018 Bowerman Award. Orji is from Mount Olive, NJ.
Will Claye: Clay is a 3x Olympian (2012, 2016, 2020), 3x Olympic medalist (2 silvers, 1 bronze), and one of the greatest long/triple jumpers in the history of track & field. At the 2012 Olympic Games, Claye became the first athlete since 1936 to win a medal in both the Long Jump and Triple Jump in the same Olympic Games.
Roderick Townsend-Roberts: Townsend-Roberts is a world recorder holder and Paralympic gold medalist. As a Paralympic athlete at the Tokyo Games, he set the high jump world record (2.15m). There, he also took home a silver medal in the long jump and even competed in the 100m. He graduated from Boise State University.
Richard O’Riley: O'Riley has coached for over 16 years in track and field, at the NCAA Division I and high school levels. As founder of the GANAS Athletics Club in 2021, he currently serves as a private coach of sprinters/hurdlers/jumpers throughout the NYC Metropolitan area. He is also a board member of 12th Rock Sports, based in Middletown, New York. O'Riley has helped to produce dozens of all-state/all-federation performers over the years including the 2023 NYS Division 2 girls state champion in the 200 meters. His work has captured the attention of several internationally renowned coaches and federations including the Global Athletics Coaching Academy. Coach O'Riley's unique and versatile skill set facilitates an environment for athletes to flourish, not just in sport, but also as young people in an ever-changing society.
Thomas Johnson: Johnson was a 2x New York State champion and high school All-American in the Triple Jump. He is a 2x First Team All-State honoree in the Long Jump and 5x in the Triple Jump. Johnson went on to compete for UMBC, where he was American East Championships winner in the Triple Jump.
Jerome Robinson: Robinson is the Coach of Next Level Athletic Club. As a USA Track & Field LEVEL 3 and IAAF LEVEL 5 certified jumps coach, and USA Track & Field LEVEL 2 Sprints/Hurdles certified coach, Robinson has devoted his career to coaching numerous Olympians, collegiate National Champions and All-Americans, and notable high school athletes. A former elite long jumper, Robinson competed in the 1991 and 1992 US Indoor and Outdoor National Championships.
Marquis Dendy: Dendy is a 2021 Olympian in the long jump, as well a two-time national champion. He won gold at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland. Dendy was a seven-time NCAA champion and Bowerman Award winner while at the University of Florida, winning both the long jump and triple jump at the national meet on three separate occasions.
Rayvon Grey: One of the top horizontal jumpers in the country, Grey is the 2022 outdoor national champion in the long jump. He was a standout performer in college at LSU, winning an indoor NCAA title in 2019, one of four All-American performances in his career. Hailing from New York City, Grey is no stranger to competing at The Armory. He won a national title at the facility in 2016, leaping to third place on the all-time high school indoor list with his winning jump of over 26 feet.
HIGH JUMP
Tynita Butts-Townsend: Butts-Townsend represented Team USA in the High Jump at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2019, she earned a silver medal at the USATF Indoor Championships, a bronze medal at USATF Outdoor Championships, and eighth place at the IAAF World Championships. Originally from Hampton, VA, Butts-Townsend is a graduate of East Carolina University, where she was a 7x All-American.
Sean Cooper: Cooper was recently named Assistant Coach of Jumps and Multi Events at Columbia University after working the 2022 season as a volunteer. Cooper guided heptathlete Patrice Smith to the second-most points in program history (4,260) at the outdoor Heps. He was previously an assistant coach at Mt. St. Mary College, and he graduated from the University of Albany in 2013.
Vernon Turner: Turner is the 2022 NCAA indoor champion in the high jump, representing the University of Oklahoma. He is an eight-time All-American in the event, including a pair of runner-up finishes at NCAAs in 2023. A five-time Big 12 champion, Turner was named the 2023 conference performer of the year. Following his extremely decorated collegiate career, Turner will be making his professional debut this upcoming season.
Amina Smith: Smith was an NCAA All-American high jumper at the University of Maryland in 2014. She has continued with an impressive pro career where she has placed 7th or higher at every US Championship indoor and outdoor from 2016 to present including a 4th place finish at the US Olympic Trials in 2016. Smith is from Lusby, MD.
Priscilla Frederick: Frederick is the national record holder for Antigua & Barbuda in the high jump. She is a 2016 Olympian, and she also earned silver at the 2015 Pan American Games. Frederick was a two-time All-American while at St. John's University.
Inika McPherson: McPherson is a 2016 Olympian in the high jump, and a four-time competitor at the World Championships. She holds the all-time record for height jumped above one’s own height, clearing six feet, five inches despite being only 5’5 herself.
Throws
Matt Ellis: Ellis is the owner of Primal Athlete Training Center and Elite Throws Coaching based out of Rhode Island. He threw the shot and discus at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. Ellis has held overnight and weekend camps all over the United States, coached 16 RI state champions in the shot put and discus, and has produced over 750 how-to throwing videos on his YouTube channel Elite Throws Coaching.
Eric Favors: North Rockland's Eric Favors is the indoor Irish national record holder in the Shot Put. He has a personal best of 19.93 meters (more than 65 feet). Eric was also an NCAA championships qualifier and SEC outdoor bronze medalist as a University of South Carolina Gamecock. Most recently, he competed at the 114th Millrose Games at The Armory.
Andrew Liskowitz: Liskowitz is the indoor and outdoor school record holder in the shot put at the University Michigan with a lifetime best of 21.18 meters. He was a six-time NCAA All-American and a three-time Big Ten Champion, before going on to place sixth in the shot put the 2021 Olympic Trials. Liskowitz has also trained and competed in the discus and hammer throws, and he has developed a deep understanding of the basic fundamentals across all throwing events.
Scott Menin: Menin is the head throws coach for AOC, an AAU club team in Pennsylvania that has produced national medalists in 21 of his 22 years, along with three national champions. He also coaches the throws at Cheltenham HS, which has won six AAA girls state championships.
Nick Ponzio: Nicknamed “Chubby Diamonds,” Ponzio is a Tokyo Olympian in the shot put. A three-time Italian national champion, Ponzio won the silver medal at the European Throwing Cup, and he placed ninth in the final at this year’s World Championships in Eugene.
Chris Scarella: An alum of Iona Prep High School and now the Assistant Principal, Scarella has been the Head Throws Coach at Iona for 13 years. He specializes in the throws for winter and spring track and field seasons. As a coach, his primary focus is training for technical mastery while developing the mental skillset to compete at a high level. He has led his athletes to over 20 Sectional, Catholic State, and State Federation Titles. Last season, he was able to coach one of his athletes to a National Championship in the Hammer Throw.
Lexia Robinson: Robinson is the Throws coach at St. John’s University, after previously coaching at Farleigh Dickinson, Sacred Heart, and Manhattan College. While at Sacred Heart, Robinson coached seven conference champions and guided three different throwers to Northeast Conference Athlete of the Year Honors. As an athlete, Robinson qualified for the Jamaican National Championships while competing for Western Kentucky University.
POLE VAULT
Lawrence Johnson: Johnson is one of the most decorated US pole vaulters in history. In his career he was a 4x NCAA Champion, 7x US Champion, World Champion, Olympic Silver Medalist, and the Indoor American Record Holder. He founded LoJo Vault Assault, dedicated to mentoring the next generation of vaulters at all ages and skill levels. He previously coached at the University of South Carolina, where he produced two SEC champions and five NCAA All-Americans.
Katie Moon: Moon (formerly Katie Nageotte) is the reigning World and Olympic Champion in the pole vault. Her personal best of 16 feet, 2 3/4 inches makes her the fourth-highest vaulter in history. Moon is a three-time national champion, and a two-time NCAA Division 2 champion as well.
Steve Keating: Keating is a former pole vault champion and record holder at Rutgers University. He holds a personal best of 17 feet, 8.5 inches. Keating is on staff at Hudson Valley Flying Circus, and he emphasizes a positive coaching style that benefits everyone from beginners to elite vaulters.
Emily Grove: Grove competes in the pole vault, and she was the silver medalist at both the 2022 NACAC Championships and the 2023 USA Indoor Championships. She was a six-time All-American at the University of South Dakota, and as a high schooler she set the Illinois state record. With a personal best of 4.75 meters, Grove also represented Team USA at the 2017 World Championships.
Zach Bradford: Bradford is the 2018 World Junior Championships silver medalist in the pole vault, and he earned another silver medal at the 2019 NACAC Championships. He was a seven-time All-American while competing for both Texas Tech and Kansas, and he holds the Indiana high school state record as well. Bradford’s personal best is 5.91 meters, or over 19 feet and 4 inches.