NORMAL, Ill. – Shawn Williams is no stranger to the Division I throwing circuit, as he looks to bring his extensive knowledge and recruiting expertise in his new role as assistant track & field coach, specializing in throws, as announced Monday by the director of track & field and cross country Jeff Bovee.
"We are really excited to have Shawn join us at ISU," Bovee said. "He is a very seasoned coach and has Division I coaching experience at Troy and Georgia Southern. Most recently at Troy, Shawn was a recruiting coordinator, coaching two All-Americans, several NCAA first-round qualifiers and a number of all-conference performers. He is a dedicated recruiter, which is probably one of his strong suits. He is a team player, a very hard worker and an up-and-coming throws coach. We are very excited to have him on board."
Williams joins the staff after spending three years as an assistant track & field coach and recruiting coordinator at Troy. As an assistant, Williams ran and oversaw training sessions, including the weights program, assisted in all field events and directed the recruiting efforts. He guided two student-athletes to the NCAA Championships, earning second-team All-American accolades. He has coached 11 NCAA regional qualifiers, eight Sun Belt all-conference members and recently guided a student-athlete to the Sun Belt hammer throw record.
In addition, Williams has coached student-athletes to five Troy school records, an individual Sun Belt conference championship and a conference Sports Women of the Year award. Throughout his time as an assistant coach, Williams signed 58 athletes to the Trojan squad, including the No. 4 high school girls' discus thrower in the U.S., the No. 15 high school girls' 300-meter hurdler and the No. 16 high school boys' 110-meter high hurdler along with five NJCAA All-Americans.
"I would like to thank coach Bovee and the administration here for bringing me on," Williams said. "This is an outstanding program, and I am really excited about where things are going and where they have been. I am especially excited to take over the throws program here. There is a lot of tradition, and it is a great honor. I am looking forward to keeping it going and winning some championships."
Before joining the Trojans staff, Williams spent a semester as the assistant track & field coach at Bethune-Cookman, where he served as the coach of throws and pole vault. He coached two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) records in the pole vault, four MEAC individual champions and four school records in the pole vault. Prior to Bethune-Cookman, Williams spent one year as the assistant track & field coach at Georgia Southern. In that year, he notched five conference-scorers and one top-five all-time athlete.
Before embarking on his collegiate coaching career, Williams had a stint as the co-head track & field coach at South Eugene/Thurston High School in Eugene, Oregon. Along with coaching, Williams assisted in administrative duties and oversaw all aspects of strength training. He coached eight state qualifiers, seven All-State performers, two record-holders and nine district champions. Also during his time as a high school coach, Williams spent one year with the Emerald Valley Track Club, coaching 21 USATF Junior Olympic national qualifiers and nine USATF Junior Olympic All-Americans.
Williams spent one year as a student-athlete at Ball State before transferring to Southern Oregon, where he was a four-time All-Conference performer in the shot put and hammer throw.
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