Matt Kane has joined the Oklahoma Track and Field staff as an assistant OU head coach Martin Smith announced Wednesday.
Kane, who will work with the OU men’s sprints, hurdles and relays, comes to Oklahoma from Barton County Community College where he was the head men’s and women’s coach for three years and was named the 2009 NJCAA National Men’s Coach of the Year.
Kane, a native Oklahoman and graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma, has an extensive list of coaching achievements during his time at Barton County both on the collegiate and international level. Most recently, athletes coached by Kane qualified for three finals in the 2009 Berlin World Championships including the 2009 World Champion in the 110-meter hurdles, Ryan Brathwaite, and the 2009 World Silver medalist in the 200-meter dash, Alonso Edward.
“I am really excited in regards to what Matt can bring to his event area,” said Smith. “I thought he did an exceptional job in helping the Barton County program stabilize and return to the national scene. The success he had this summer at the Berlin World Championships are reflective of an extremely talented and skilled professional coach.”
Along with the 2009 Berlin World Championship results, Kane placed two athletes in semifinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was named the Panama head coach for the 2009 South America and Berlin World Championships. In all, athletes under Kane have earned four IAAF National records, two in the U.S. Virgin Islands and one each in Barbados and Panama, and one IAAF area record.
“I’m obviously excited about coming home to Oklahoma and helping this program continue its success and reach the next plateau,” said Kane. “There is a lot of talent in the men’s sprints group and I feel there is the ability to score a lot of points in the Big 12.”
On the collegiate level, Kane has coached athletes to four NJCAA Athlete of the Year honors, five NJCAA national records, 37 NJCAA individual and relay national championships and 151 NJCAA All-America honors. Kane was also part of the Barton County staff that claimed the 2006 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Men’s and Women’s Championships. Along with his 2009 NJCAA National Men’s Coach of the Year award, Kane has been named the Region VI Coach of the Year on four different occasions.
Prior to his time at Barton County, Kane spent five years at Butler Community College as an assistant coach and two years at the University of Central Oklahoma as a graduate assistant with the track and field program.
Kane inherits a sprints group at OU that returns its entire original roster from the 2009 season and currently adds five newcomers in 2010.
soonersports
