SAN FRANCISCO – Following the departure of
Torrey Olson to
Cal State San Marcos, director of athletics
Brad Jones has announced head track & field coach
Kevin LaSure will be elevated into the Urban Knights' director of track & field/cross country.
After joining Academy of Art in August 2015, LaSure's first year saw the men's track & field program produce their two highest team finishes to date (
third Indoor and
fourth Outdoor) while LaSure himself was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)
Division II West Region Indoor Men's Head Coach of the Year.
Year two was highlighted by LaSure earning
USTFCCCA DII West Region Indoor Women's Head Coach of the Year after that squad had
13 All-Region performers with 20 NCAA Nationals provisional qualifying marks.
LaSure continues to work closely with 14-time All-American and
2018 PacWest Male Athlete of the Year Mobolade Ajomale who started his career as the
2016 NCAA DII national champion in the Indoor 60m before defending that title twice more while adding two championships in the Indoor 200m and Outdoor 100m as well as his first in the Outdoor 200m this past year.
Those honors were part of the five total individual national titles collected by Urban Knights in 2018. A year that began with LaSure taking on the role of
USTFCCCA President of the NCAA Division II Track & Field Executive Committee, ART U's 2018 campaign featured the
largest number of qualifiers for NCAA Indoor Nationals,
10 Pacific West Conference champions, 21 All-America selections, and had LaSure named
PacWest Men's Track & Field Coach of the Year.
Guiding student-athletes to no fewer than 19 program records each of the past three seasons, LaSure helped both the men's and women's track & field teams produce more than 50 All-American selections and nine individual national titles in that time.
"We will look to continue to build on the foundation of a well-rounded program in the distances, sprints, jumps and hurdles that has been set over the past few years," said LaSure.
