The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Track & Field / Cross Country
- Title:
- Interim Head Coach: Sprints, Hurdles, Relays
- Email:
- Bailey@utexas.edu
- Phone:
- 512-471-9693
Two Minutes with Tonja Buford-Bailey
Tonja (TAWN-ja) Buford-Bailey, a decorated coaching veteran and three-time Olympian, is in her fifth season with Texas Track & Field. After four seasons as associate head coach, she was named interim head coach in February of 2018.
Buford-Bailey arrived on the Forty Acres after spending 10 years on the University of Illinois coaching staff, the last five of which she served as head women’s coach. She also assisted in coaching men’s sprinters for three seasons.
Buford-Bailey, who oversees the sprints, hurdles and relays, at Texas has established herself as one of the top coaches in the nation for her events and seen the Longhorns bring in 11 NCAA titles with her group in four seasons. Six of those NCAA titles came in the 2016 season when Buford-Bailey coached Courtney Okolo to titles in the 400 meters both indoors and out. Okolo also broke her own collegiate record outdoors in the event at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in April running 49.78. With Okolo’s help, Texas won the NCAA 4x400 relay title indoor and out in 2016. The 2016 indoor season also saw Texas win its first-ever men’s 400m title with Zack Bilderback claiming the crown. He closed a strong indoor season after breaking Big 12 Championship meet records in the 200 and 400. Teahna Daniels then became the first freshman woman to win the NCAA indoor title in the 60 meters. She also broke the American junior record, running 7.11 seconds in the final.
The 2016 success carried over to international competition as well with athletes coached by Buford-Bailey winning four medals at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. She coached Lifetime Longhorn Ashley Spencer to bronze in the 400 meter hurdles and saw Byron Robinson finish ninth in the men’s event. While Buford-Bailey did not coach the relay teams in Rio, three of her athletes won medals for their country in relay events. Okolo helped Team USA win gold in the 4x400 and Morolake Akionsun won gold in the 4x100 by running for Team USA in prelims. Texas senior Chrisann Gordon ran for Jamaica in the prelims to win a silver medal in the 4x400.
For her athletes’ successes in 2016 Buford-Bailey was named the USATF Nike Coach of the Year.
Most recently, the 2017 season was another success for Buford-Bailey’s group. Senior Chrisann Gordon won the 400 meters title outdoors at the NCAA Championships. It marked the 12th 400m title in school history and the seventh for an athlete coached by Buford-Bailey in the event in her career. Gordon’s time of 50.39 during the semifinals of the NCAA Championships is the fastest time in meet history in a qualifying round and also ranks her as the No. 7 performer in collegiate history.
Gordon also would go on to win silver at the Jamaican National Championships and qualify for the IAAF World Championships where she would finish 10th in the semifinals.
Another Jamaican had a sensational year for Buford-Bailey in 2017. Freshman Rushelle Burton won Big 12 Conference titles indoors in the 60 meter hurdles and outdoors in the 100 meter hurdles. She earned first team All-America honors in each event finishing fifth and third, respectively. Burton’s time of 12.65 seconds in the final at the NCAA Outdoor Championships made her the fastest freshman in NCAA history in the event. Burton would also qualify for Team Jamaica and the IAAF World Championships. She would clock 12.92 and finish 12th overall.
The Longhorns again dominated the sprints and hurdles at the Big 12 Championships both indoors and out in 2017.
Outdoors the men and women won both hurdle events. Spencer Dunkerley-Offor claimed his first conference title in the 110m hurdles and Byron Robinson went back-to-back in the 400 hurdles. Burton claimed her title as a freshman and junior Ariel Jones became the second woman to win three straight Big 12 titles in the 400 hurdles. Jones would go on to finish fourth at the NCAA Championships as well.
Teahna Daniels won Big 12 titles in the 60 meters and 100 meters to make it four consecutive years a Longhorn has won those events guided by Buford-Bailey. Daniels also finished third outdoors at the NCAA meet and took 10th indoors in the 60 meters.
The 2017 IAAF World Championships saw more success for her athletes on the global stage. Akinosun again helped Team USA win gold in the 4x100 with her running the third leg. Gordon finished 10th in the 400 meters and had Jamaica in position to win a medal in the 4x400 before an injury to a teammate. Burton crossed 12th in the 100 hurdles as the second-youngest competitor in the field.
The success of the Texas sprints, hurdles and relays started immediately under Buford-Bailey in 2014 when she was voted the 2014 USTFCCCA National Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year after helping the Longhorns finish second at the NCAA meet and claim the Big 12 title.
Her athletes dominated the 2014 Big 12 Outdoor Championships by posting 96 of the 149 points. She also coached her athletes to wins in five of the six sprint/hurdles/relays events at that meet (4x400m relay did not compete). In addition, Okolo (50.03) set the 400-meter collegiate record at the Big 12 and 11 of Buford-Bailey’s 13 entries at NCAA West Preliminary Round advanced to the national meet. During the outdoor season, the 4x400-meter relay posted three of the top 12 all-time best collegiate performances, including the second-best time (3:24.21) in winning the NCAA title.
The Longhorns were also impressive during the 2014 indoor season, claiming the Big 12 title and finishing as runners-up at the NCAA meet. At nationals, the 4x400 unit of Briana Nelson, Okolo, Kendall Baisden and Ashley Spencer posted the second-fastest time (3:27.42) in collegiate history, but were edged in that event by Oregon who set a new record (3:27.40). In addition, Spencer, Okolo and Baisden finished 2-4-5, respectively, in the 400 meters. For her efforts indoor and out Okolo was a finalist for the 2014 Bowerman, the most prestigious award in collegiate track and field.
Buford-Bailey backed up her 2014 campaign with another sucessful year for the sprints, hurdles and relays group in 2015. She earned USTFCCCA South Central Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year both indoor and out.
Okolo won her first indoor title in the 400 meters with a school record time and the 4x400m relay also won in a time that ranked fifth in NCAA history.
During her tenure at Illinois, Buford-Bailey coached her athletes to 25 All-America honors, including six NCAA titles. There were also 43 individual Big Ten Champions during that time.
Buford-Bailey’s teams have achieved top 20 national rankings by the USTFCCCA on the women’s side during four of her five years at the helm. Her 2013 Illini were ranked as high as eighth during the indoor season after winning their first conference title since 1996. Buford-Bailey also guided her team to 14th-place finishes at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships and a runner-up effort at the Big Ten Outdoor meet, with the squad amassing 13 All-America honors and 11 individual and relay conference titles.
Buford-Bailey’s expertise in the sprint events was especially evident in 2013 in the success of two-time NCAA 400m champion, two-time Bowerman Award semifinalist and 2013 IAAF World Championships qualifier Ashley Spencer, who had just completed her sophomore campaign at Illinois. The season also saw Buford-Bailey guide then freshman Morolake Akinosun to a pair of All-America honors, a U.S. junior title in the 100m and a pair of Pan American Junior Championships qualifications in the 100m and 200m.
Her coaching experience also spans to the men’s side, as she also guided Andrew Riley to two consecutive NCAA titles in the 110-meter hurdles (outdoor 2010) and 60m hurdles (indoor 2011). The latter completed an undefeated indoor season in the event for the then junior and three-time Big Ten champion.
Before embarking on her already impressive coaching career, Buford-Bailey established herself among the elite hurdlers in the world during her time as a student-athlete at Illinois (1990-93). A 10-time All-American, she was the 1992 NCAA champion in the 400m hurdles. Buford-Bailey also amassed a Big Ten-record 25 conference titles, an effort that earned her four Big Ten Athlete of the Year honors and three Athlete of the Championships awards.
Buford-Bailey was a trailblazer for Illinois athletics on the international stage. As the first Illini female athlete to make a U.S. Olympic team, she earned her way onto three (1992, 1996, 2000) over the course of her professional career. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Buford-Bailey took home a bronze medal, also a first for a female Illini athlete, in the 400m hurdles. One of the first women to post a sub-53 second mark in the event, her career best of 52.62 still ranks No. 4 in the world all-time.
Buford-Bailey, a Dayton, Ohio native, is married to former NFL wide receiver Victor Bailey. The couple has two children, Victor Jr. and Victoria.
As one of the most decorated track student-athletes in history at the University of Illinois, Buford-Bailey was a member of the inaugural class of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame in June.
THE BUFORD-BAILEY FILE
EDUCATION
• B.S., University of Illinois (1993)
COACHING EXPERIENCE
• University of Texas – Associate Head Coach, 2013-Present
• University of Texas – Co-Interim Head Coach, Fall 2016
• University of Illinois - Head Coach, 2008-13
• University of Illinois - Associate Head Coach, 2008
• University of Illinois - Assistant Coach, 2004-07
• Pan American Junior Athletics Championships - Assistant Coach Team USA, 2007
• Olympic Games
– Rio 2016: Personal Coach - Ashley Spencer - 400m hurdles (bronze)
Personal Coach - Morolake Akinosun - 4x100 (gold)
Personal Coach - Courtney Okolo - 4x400 (gold)
Personal Coach - Chrisann Gordon - 4x400 (silver)
Personal Coach - Byron Robinson - 400m hurdles
– London 2012: USATF Assistant Coach for Women’s Sprints/Hurdles
Personal Coach: Andrew Riley - 110m hurdles
• IAAF World Outdoor Championships
– London 2017: Personal Coach - Morolake Akinosun, Chrisann Gordon
– Berlin 2009: USATF Assistant Coach Women’s Sprints/Hurdles
• IAAF World Indoor Championships
– Portland 2016:
Personal Coach - Ashley Spencer - 400m (silver), 4x400 (gold)
Personal Coach - Courtney Okolo - 4x400 (gold)
Personal Coach - Chrisann Gordon - 400m, 4x400
– Berlin 2009: USATF Assistant Coach Women’s Sprints/Hurdles
COACHING HONORS/AWARDS
• 2016 USATF Nike Coach of the Year
• 2016 USTFCCCA National Women’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year
• 2016 USTFCCCA South Central Men’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year
• 2016 USTFCCCA South Central Women’s Indoor & Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year
• 2015 USTFCCCA South Central Women’s Indoor & Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year
• 2014 USTFCCCA National Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year
• Division I Midwest Region Head Coach of the Year - 2009, 2013
ATHLETIC EXPERIENCE
University of Illinois - 1990-93
• NCAA Champion: 400m hurdles, 1992
• All-America Accolades: 10
• Big Ten Titles: 25
• Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year: 1992, 1993
• Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Championships: 1992, 1993
• Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Freshman of the Year: 1990
• Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year: 1992, 1993
• Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Championships: 1992, 1993
• Member of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame Inaugural Class - 2017
U.S. National Team
• U.S. Olympic Team: 1992, 1996, 2000
• Olympic Bronze Medalist: 400m Hurdles, 1996
• IAAF World Championships Silver Medalist: 400m Hurdles, 1995
