Nike Track & Field Camp at Azusa Pacific University

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."

Blackett previously coached at her alma mater Rice, where she was one of the most successful women's track and field athletes in program history. She coached at Rice for 10 years, serving as a volunteer assistant her first five years.In 2021, Blackett was named the national women’s assistant coach of the year by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as the Cougars won the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field national championship, the school’s first NCAA national team title in any sport. She coached two individual national champions in Mechaela Hyacinth (100m) and Jaylah Walker (400m hurdles).

During the 2020 indoor season, Blackett was the West Region Assistant Coach of the Year qualified a total of five student-athletes for the 2020 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships. Two Cougars qualified in individual events, Mechaela Hyacinth and Jaylah Walker. Hyacinth was an automatic qualifier in the 60 meters, as she ran a time of 7.39 in early December that was the second-fastest time ran in Division II this season. Walker qualified for Nationals in the 400 meters, after running a provisional time of 54.98 that was fast enough to make the field of competitors.

In addition to the individual events, Blackett also coached the 4x400 relay team that qualified for Nationals competition. The relay team of Walker, Kiayra Holmes, Ki'Ana Thomas, and Meagan Warwick ran a provisional time of 3:46.62 to make the field.

Blackett was a two-time Olympian, competing for Barbados in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games during an 11-year professional career. She represented Barbados in six IAAF World Championships between 1997 and 2007, competing individually in the 400m hurdles as well as the 4x400 relay, and she qualified for the final four times in the 400m hurdles with a career-best fourth-place finish in 1999. She competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, qualifying for the semifinal of the 400m hurdles, and she competed in the 400m hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Blackett has a personal best of 53.36 in the 400m hurdles, which is also a national record for Barbados. She also set the Barbados 100m hurdles record of 13.39 in 2003.

In 2008, Blackett retired from international competition but still made her third Olympic appearance for Barbados by serving her native country as its head track and field coach at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

As a collegiate coach for Rice in 2007, Blackett was responsible for the development of freshman Shakera Reece, who set a school-record in the 100 meters (11.34), and she also coached Chandra Ewing to a Conference USA title in the 400m hurdles, an event Blackett dominated in her competitive career at Rice from 1994-97.

During that time, Reece set Rice records in both the 100m and 400m hurdles. She joined Melissa Straker, TaNisha Mills and Margaret Fox in the 4x400m relay to win the first NCAA indoor relay title for the Owls in 1997, setting a school record of 3:34.44.

As a collegiate athlete, Blackett was a six-time All-American for Rice, including back-to-back All-American performances in the 400m hurdles in 1996 and 1997. She qualified for the NCAA championships all four years of her collegiate career. She still holds the school record in the 400m outdoor hurdles, as well as the indoor hurdle mark for the 55m.

Blackett was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame individually in 2005 and again in 2007 as a member of the 1997 NCAA champion 4x400 relay.

Blackett graduated from Rice in 1997 and went on to earn a master's degree in hotel management from the University of Houston.

At that meet Powell jumped 8.95 metres (29-4½) to finally break the vaunted world record set by Bob Beamon at the 1968 Olympics. In that competition, Lewis led through the first four rounds, and bettered Beamon’s mark in round four with 8.91 metres, although it was wind-aided. Powell responded with his world record leap in round five. Lewis came back with 8.87 in round five and 8.84 in the final round, but it was not enough and Powell had the gold medal and the world record. He won another gold at the 1993 World Championships and a silver at the 1995 Worlds.

Powell attended UC Irvine and later UCLA. He was a six-time US Champion in the long jump, winning in 1990 and 1992-96. He was ranked in the world top 10 eleven times between 1985-96, ranking #1 in 1990-91 and 1993-94. In 1992, at a meet in Sestriere, Italy, Powell jumped 8.99 metres (29-5¾), and although wind-aided, it remains (through 2016) the longest jump ever recorded.

For his 1991 world record he was named the Sullivan Award Winner in the US and was named BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. He later became a coach, teaching at the Academy of Speed in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Personal Best: LJ – 8.95 (1991).

In the fall of 2022, Smith led the men’s cross country team to a historical season, as the Cougars qualified for Nationals for the first time in the program’s NCAA era with a third place finish at Regionals. The Cougars were led by All-Region runners Salvador Capetillo, Felix Perrier, Nixon Korir and Riley Burns. At the PacWest Championships a few weeks earlier, both the men’s and women’s teams placed as the conference runner-up.

In his first season leading Cougar cross country in the fall of 2021, Smith helped lead the men's team to their best-ever PacWest finish, as the Cougars placed second at the 2021 PacWest Championships. A few weeks later at Regionals, Smith’s men’s squad once again made program history, with the team placing fourth, which was Azusa Pacific highest-ever finish in the NCAA era. On the women’s side, Smith’s runners placed third in the PacWest in his first season. Smith produced a total of seven All-PacWest performers between the men and the women, and Mikayla Akers, who was among Smith’s first recruiting class, earned distinction as the PacWest Newcomer of the Year. Two Cougars were individual qualifiers for Nationals, as Josh Velasco and Justine Stecko each raced at the 2021 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.

During the 2022 track season, Smith’s distance group had a great season. Azusa Pacific captured both the men’s and women’s PacWest team titles for the sixth-consecutive year, with several distance runners turning in great performances at the PacWest Championships. Ayrton Ledesma was named the Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet, as he was the conference champion in the 1500m and steeplechase, setting the meet record in both events, and he was also the runner-up in the 5K. On the women’s side, Jenny Sandoval was the conference champion in both the 10K and 5K. In total, Azusa Pacific won six distance events between the men and the women at the PacWest Championships. A few weeks later at the NCAA Championships, Smith had two runners achieve All-American status, highlighted by an individual national title in the 10K by Sandoval. In the men’s steeplechase, Nixon Korir placed seventh to earn All-American distinction.

In Smith’s first few months in Azusa, he was a part of the track & field coaching staff that captured Azusa Pacific’s first-ever NCAA National Championship, as the women’s track and field team finished on top at the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Of the 81 points that the Cougars scored at the Championships, 13 came from Jenny Sandoval, who was an All-American in two distance events, finishing as the national runner-up in the 10K, and fourth in the 5K.

Prior to Azusa Pacific, while most NCAA seasons were on hold, Smith coached professional athletes through the COVID-era, 4 of whom competed at the USA Track & Field Championships in events ranging from 1500m to 10,000m. He helped guide Ayla Granados and Jenna Hinkle to personal best times in the 1500, running 4:12 and 4:10 respectively. He coached Chico State school record holder, Hannah Dorman, and Cal State San Marcos school record holder, Natalie Rodriguez as they pursued post collegiate racing in the 5,000m and 10,000m. All of these athletes competed at the 2019 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Smith is no stranger to the PacWest Conference or Azusa Pacific, as his previous position in collegiate coaching was at former conference member Notre Dame de Namur, where he spent two seasons (2018-2019) as the head coach of cross country and an assistant track & field coach. In his first season with NDNU, Smith led the Argonauts to a third place finish on the men's side at the cross country conference meet, the highest in program history, and also coached two conference champions that year on the track. One of those conference champions was Jason Gomez, who went on to win the USA U20 1500m title and represented the United States and NDNU at the Pan American Championships in Costa Rica (Summer 2019).The following season, he helped the men’s cross country program elevate its performance to an even higher level, as the Argonauts finished second at the 2019 PacWest Cross Country Championships.

Prior to NDNU, Smith was the head cross country and track coach at Gillette College, a NJCAA DI Program in Gillette, Wyoming. At GCC, he was named the 2017 NJCAA National Championships Men’s Coach of the Year after he led his team to a fourth place finish at Nationals.. On the women's side, the only two runners on the team placed 1st and 4th at the NJCAA Region IX Championships and qualified individually for the national meet. Following the 2017 Cross Country season, Gillette College had three qualifiers for the NJCAA DI Indoor National Championships, including Ayrton Ledesma, who Smith helped coach to a national title in the 3,000m and a runner up finish in the mile. Ledesma claimed a second national title in the outdoor season as well, finishing first in the 3,000m Steeplechase.

Smith's first coaching stop was at regional powerhouse Chico State, where he was at from the fall of 2014 until the spring of 2017. While Smith was at Chico State, the Wildcats won three NCAA trophies (2015 - women, 2016 - men & women), six conference championships, and produced eight All-Americans in cross country. On the track, Smith helped distance athletes set five school records, produced 16 All-Americans, and the Wildcats won five conference titles. Smith also implemented a program for strength & conditioning and form analysis, in addition to his day-to-day activities.

Prior to his coaching career, Smith was a standout cross country and track & field student-athlete at the University of St. Francis (Joliet, Ill.), and then Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. At Lewis, he won back-to-back All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors in both sports while helping lead the Flyers to the 2014 GLVC Indoor Track & Field Championship. He also excelled in the classroom, earning two United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association All-Academic awards, and was named to the National Honors Society and the 2014 CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Team. At St. Francis, Smith was the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Cross Country Freshman of the Year in 2009, and then was named the CCAC Runner of the Year the following year, helping the Fighting Saints win their first-ever conference cross country title. On the track, Smith earned All-America honors in both the 5,000-meter run and the 4×800-meter relay.

Smith, a native of Illinois, attended Winnebago High School in Winnebago, Ill., where he was the individual state champion in cross country and the 3,200-meter run while leading the Indians to the 2007 Illinois state team title.

Smith received his master's degree in Kinesiology from Chico State with an emphasis in biomechanics and strength & conditioning in 2017. He received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Lewis University in 2014.