Jones and Kearney Inducted Into USTFCCCA Hall Of Fame
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 | Track and Field
Former University of Florida head track & field coaches Tom Jones and Beverly Kearney, who oversaw the UF women's program for a combined 20 years, were inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Tuesday night.
Jones, who lost a courageous battle with cancer on March 21, was a 35-year veteran of the college coaching ranks and one of the most successful teachers of his generation. In coaching stops at Florida (1992-07), Arizona State (1988-92), Texas-El Paso (1984-88) and North Carolina State (1978-84), he mentored athletes to the tune of 335 All-America honors, two NCAA team titles and 12 team conference championships.
He held the reigns of the Florida women's track & field program for nearly half of its existence, serving as head coach for 15 of the program's 35 seasons. Hired prior to the 1992 cross country season, Jones guided 71 athletes to 245 All-America honors on the track, while his teams posted 15 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Under Jones, Florida turned in NCAA runner-up finishes in 2003, 2004 and 2005, all at the indoor championships.
Jones led his squads to six Southeastern Conference titles (1997 indoor & outdoor, 1998 outdoor, 2002 indoor, 2003 outdoor, 2004 indoor), while helping UF athletes claim 77 SEC individual or relay titles. He was named the NCAA Women's National Indoor Coach of the Year in 1997 and 2002 and the NCAA Outdoor Coach of the Year in 1997.
A litany of Olympians also honed their skills under Jones' guidance. At Florida, he coached 2004 Olympic competitors Novlene Williams (Jamaica) and Tiandra Ponteen (St. Kitts), among others. While at Arizona State, he tutored Nigerian Olympian Ime Akpan, Lynda Tolbert (USA) and 1996 U.S. gold medal 4x400m participant Maicel Malone. In his stint at UTEP, Jones oversaw two-time Bahamian Olympian Norbert Elliott, U.S. Olympian Cynthia Henry, the Netherlands Olympian Frans Maas and Canadian Olympian Linda McCurdy. While at North Carolina State, Jones saw athletes John Crist (USA) and Augustin Young (Jamaica) participate in the 1984 Olympics.
In addition to his enormous success on the track, Jones also guided the Gators to unparalleled success in the classroom. In his tenure as head coach, athletes under Jones' watch were named to the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll 224 times, including at least 20 athletes in each of the last six years. Florida was honored as the 2003 USTFCCCA's All-Academic Team of the Year. In the first two NCAA Graduation Success Rate reports, the Florida women's track & field team had perfect GSRs of 100 percent in both the fall of 2005 and 2006.
Jones' predecessor at UF, Kearney oversaw the Florida women's track & field squad for five years (1988-92), presiding over one of the most prosperous time spans in the program's history. Her crowning achievement at UF was leading the Gators to the 1992 NCAA indoor team championship.
During her tenure, Kearney mentored seven athletes who won a combined nine NCAA individual and relay titles, including a sweep of the NCAA 4x400m crowns in 1992. Former Gator Leah Kirklin also won both the 1991 NCAA indoor and outdoor long jump championships under Kearney's guidance. Gator athletes collected 79 All-America honors, 35 individual and relay SEC titles and three SEC team titles with Kearney at the helm.
Three of Kearney's UF athletes – Michelle Freeman, Anita Howard and Dionne Rose – went on to represent their countries in the Olympics, and Freeman brought home a bronze medal in the 4x100m at the 1996 Games.
Kearney's accomplishments at Florida were widely recognized on both the conference and national levels, as she earned 10 Coach of the Year awards during her stint in Gainesville. Included in that haul are three-consecutive NCAA Indoor Coach of the Year honors from 1990-92.
Jones and Kearney are joined in the 2007 USTFCCCA Hall of Fame Class by Lew Hartzog, Cyrus Jones, John Mitchell, Irv Mondschein, Jim Sackett and Karl Schlademan.
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