JACK HOYT

Jack Hoyt was hired in 2017 to lead the Azusa Pacific track and field program, joining the Cougars with nearly 30 years of collegiate coaching experience including the previous five years as associate head coach at UCLA.

In 2021, Hoyt was named women’s coach of the year by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as he guided the Azusa Pacific women’s outdoor track and field team to the NCAA Division II national title, the first national championship won by Azusa Pacific in any team sport as a member of the NCAA. The women’s team set five school records during the season and had 13 athletes earn All-American honors at the national championships. Three of those All-Americans were individual event national champions, as Mechaela Hyacinth (100 meters), Jaylah Walker (400 hurdles), and Chin Agina (high jump) claimed the top spot on the podium.

While the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cougars saw eight athletes earn all-American honors, with six women and two men qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Between the men’s and women’s indoor teams, Hoyt saw 20 athletes named to the all-regional squads. The teams excelled in the classroom as well, with 50 athletes earning PacWest academic honors and pole vaulter Sara Wagenveld being named the West Region Scholar Athlete of the Year by the D2CCA.

During the 2019 season, Azusa Pacific swept the PacWest championships at home, winning both the men’s and women’s outdoor titles for the fourth consecutive season. The team also saw 32 members earn PacWest all-Academic honors. The women’s team saw four athletes earn all-American status at the national championships.

In Hoyt’s first year in charge at Azusa Pacific, the Cougars won both the men’s and women’s titles at the PacWest conference championships for the third year in a row. Five athletes earned all-American honors at the NCAA indoor championships as the women’s team earned a top-10 finish. With three all-American performances at the outdoor championships, the women’s team again finished in the top 20. In the classroom, 22 women and 15 men earned places on the PacWest all-Academic honor roll.

Prior to Azusa Pacific, Hoyt coached the jumps and multi-events at UCLA, and his previous coaching experience includes seven years at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and over a decade of coaching at his alma mater Seattle Pacific with the last six (2000-05) as head coach, giving him over 20 total years of coaching experience across two divisions of NCAA competition (Division I & II).

Hoyt inherits a program which claimed 30 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national titles and produced 14 Olympians before Azusa Pacific's transition to NCAA Division II membership. In the first three years of the program's NCAA era, the Cougars have produced eight individual national champions and 26 All-Americans in track and field and cross country, along with four top-10 team finishes at NCAA national championship meets.

"I've known about Azusa Pacific for a long time and have long considered it a home away from home," Hoyt said. "Seeing what previous coaches have done here showed me an experience I wanted to have. It's exciting to see a Christian university which values track and field at such a high level, and it's clear to me that Azusa Pacific is serious about the ministry of a great track and field and cross country program. While I want to develop Olympians from this team, I also want to know that we're impacting lives, which is even more important."

In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Hoyt has served as the World University Games head coach for Team USA in 2015. He is the coach of two-time Olympian Sharon Day-Monroe, who competed at Cal Poly-SLO and went on to win six U.S. national championships (three heptathlon, three pentathlon). Day-Monroe set the American indoor record in the pentathlon (4,805 points) in 2014, claiming her third consecutive U.S. championship in the event.

Hoyt was an All-American decathlete at Seattle Pacific, and he competed in the decathlon at the 1992 U.S. Olympic trials. In 1990, he broke the American record for the decathlon high jump, clearing 2.20 meters (7-feet, 2.75-inches), and he still owns Seattle Pacific's school record in the high jump. While coaching at Seattle Pacific, Hoyt led the Falcons to five Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's titles (three indoor, two outdoor) and was a three-time GNAC Coach of the Year.

In their words:

Gary Pine (Azusa Pacific Athletic Director)

"Jack has a breadth of knowledge in a wide range of disciplines, and throughout his experience he has built connections throughout the track and field community. It became clear to me that Jack was the right person to lead Azusa Pacific track and field, and his vision and philosophy show how well he will fit this university. Jack will be a great leader for our program and an outstanding representative of the university, and he will keep Azusa Pacific at the forefront of collegiate track and field."

Bryan Clay (2002 Azusa Pacific graduate & 2008 Olympic decathlon gold medalist)

"With Kevin Reid and Mike Barnett leaving, that left a huge gap, not just in terms of leadership of the track and field team but within the fabric of Azusa Pacific. It's a surprise for a lot of people, and I was among those who were concerned with how well somebody could fill that gap. If there's somebody I feel comfortable with taking the reins, it would be a person like Jack. I've had the opportunity to see him work, and I've never met anyone with something bad to say about Jack. He has the character, values, and morals to guide students on a day-to-day basis, and that means more than national championships at Azusa Pacific. He has the skills to transform athletes into what they're capable of becoming, but he can also guide them on a spiritual, faith-based level, too. That's exciting for me, and I'm looking forward to being a part of Azusa Pacific track and field on the new path that's being forged. I expect amazing things from him, and I believe he will be able to take Azusa Pacific track and field to new heights and new levels while maintaining and adding to the legacy that Kevin and Mike are leaving behind."

Jack Nance (1988 Azusa Pacific graduate & seven-time NAIA All-American)

"Knowing Jack Hoyt for the last 30-plus years as a competitor, coach, and friend, I am excited about what he brings to Azusa Pacific track and field. He has seen firsthand the tradition of athletic and academic excellence while being a Christ-centered program, and he has an incredible resume which includes successful coaching at the international and NCAA Division I levels of competition. The most important thing for me is his heart for the athletes and his devotion to helping them become a better person before they leave his program. He has a heart for Christ and helping athletes to know Christ, and Azusa Pacific is blessed to have him take over a program built by Terry Franson, Kevin Reid, and Mike Barnett."