Rochelle Black - Women's Track and Field Coach - Murray State University Athletics

Rochelle Black

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
rblack4@murraystate.edu
Phone:
(270) 809-6941

Rochelle Black enters his second season with the Racers. As an assistant coach for the cross country and track & field teams, he specializes in the jumps and multi-events.

In his first season, Black coached Academic All-American recipient Ashley Conway to a third place finish in the women’s pentathlon at the OVC Indoor Championships, breaking her own school record in the process. During the outdoor season, he coached Conway to a long jump personal best of 20'1.5", the best outdoor performance in nearly 20 years. Her jump was good enough to advance her to the NCAA first rounds in Jacksonville, Florida. Just as noteworthy was the performance of Chleo LeGrand, who vaulted a personal best of 11'5", at the OVC Outdoor Championships. Her finish was good enough for third at the meet, and puts her second all-time at Murray State. Also moving up in the all-time rankings was Kiara Austin, who’s 40'8.25" personal best moved her to second on the list.

Before coming to Murray State, Black served as the Assistant Head Coach of track and field at Shorter University. He served in several capacities including Director of Operations and Recruiting Coordinator. Black’s daily responsibilities included implementing and coordinating training plans for sprinters, hurdles, and multi-event student-athletes during the season. He was part of the athletic department during their transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. While coaching at Shorter, his men’s and women’s teams won a combined 8 conference championships, and 8 national championships. One of his athletes finished 7^th in the men’s 200-meter dash at the 2014 U.S. Outdoor National Championships, a first in school history. During his tenure, every school record in the sprints, including relays, was rewritten by his student-athletes.

Prior to Shorter, Black began a two-year graduate assistantship at Troy University in Alabama. There, he worked with sprints, jumps, and multi-events. Over those two years, he assisted in the training of 20 athletes that competed at the NCAA Regional Championships.

As a collegian, Black competed at Radford University. While there, he specialized in the high jump and 400-meter hurdles. A multiple All-Conference selection, Black also was a Big South Conference Champion in the high jump and named the 2003 Indoor Conference Championships' Most Outstanding Field Event Performer after jumping a school and then-conference record of 6'11".

A Virginia Beach, Va. native, Black obtained a Bachelor of Science in Exercise, Sport, and Health Education from Radford University in 2005. He earned his Master’s Degree in Leadership from Shorter University in 2014. He has also earned USATF Level II certifications in the sprints, hurdles, and relays.

Notable Accomplishments:
·         77 All-Americans
·         12 Academic All-Americans
·         10 National Champions
·         9 Conference Team Champions (NAIA and NCCAA)
·         8 National Team Championships (NAIA and NCCAA)
·         2 USATF National Championship qualifiers
·         1 USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week
·         1 USTFCCCA Academic All-American