The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Track & Field / Cross Country
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Women's Cross Country/Distance)
- Phone:
- 512-922-3421
Texas head track and field/cross country coach Edrick Floréal has brought Sarah Smith on to serve as the new Assistant Coach of the women's distance/cross country program at the start of the 2023-24 season.
In year two with the Longhorns, Smith led Eva Jess to break both the indoor 5,000-meter program record (15:39.51) and the outdoor 10,000m program record (32:50.28). Jess was one spot shy of qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10K, finishing 13th with a time of 34:36.21. She shed four seconds off her previous 10K best from the 2024 season. Jess was also a two-time SEC Track and Field Scorer finishing fourth in the indoor 5K with a personal best time of 15:39.51 and was fifth in the 10K. Junior Elizabeth Pickett also improved her times from the 2024 season, shedding 38 seconds off her PB in the 5000 (15:57.90) and 27 from her indoor 3000m (9:12.17). Smith also coached Aishling Callanan to move to No. 3 on UT's all-time performer list in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:19.23. Freshman Sydni Wilkins improved her cross country 5K personal best to 17:00.1, taking 40 seconds off her opener and posted a PB in the 5000m outdoor at 16:16.25.
Prior to the track season, Smith led the Longhorns to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the second-straight season. Texas finished 31st with 829 points and were led by Jess who finished in 20:45.7.
Her first season with UT saw Olivia Howell reach the NCAA Championships in the 1500-meter and finish eighth to earn USTFCCCA First Team All-America honors. Howell also broke the program record six times in her lone track season as a Longhorn (4:09.70). Howell also ranks as the fourth-best performer in the outdoor 800m (2:02.23) in school history and was a three-time Big 12 Championships scorer. Eva Jess improved her outdoor 5000m times by 54 seconds in her first year working with Smith and dropped two minutes off her personal best in the 10K. Smith also began the season taking the Longhorns to the NCAA Cross Country South Central Regional Championships and the team finished fifth with 143 points, but sent Beth Ramos to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in her career after finishing seventh at the regional. She finished 112th in 20:45.6 at NCAAs.
Smith has 11 years of coaching experience under her belt and most recently served as the Head Cross Country Coach of the University of Illinois for the last three years.
"It's a very exciting time for us to be able to add Sarah Smith to our coaching staff," Floréal said. "I'm looking forward to seeing the growth of our young women's distance group with the addition of Smith on our team."
Smith led NCAA Indoor Mile Champion Olivia Howell in 2023 and helped her break the Albuquerque Convention Center facility record with her time of 4:34.00. Her work with Howell didn't go unnoticed as Howell was named the Illinois Female Athlete of the Year three times, won the Indoor Big Ten Mile three times (2021-23) and was the 1500m Big Ten Champion in 2021, 2022 and 2023. She also added a Big Ten runner-up performance in the 5000m in 2023.
Howell also had early success during the cross country season, winning the Midwest Regional 6K with her time of 20:02.9 and went on to represent Illinois at the NCAA Championships. In 2021, she led the women's cross country program to a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships and a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Championships. In 2019, the Fighting Illini women won the NCAA Midwest Regional Title and Smith was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year.
Smith also coached Jonathan Davis to be a cros country All-American in 2021 and Big 10 Champ and All-American in both the mile and the 1500m in 2022. Davis was also the runner-up in the 2022 US Championships in the 1500m and ran 3:33.81 later in the season in the 1500.
Smith has coached one national champion, 14 All-Americans and led 14 Big Ten Individual Champions.
Prior to Illinois, Smith served as an Assistant Coach of Track and Field / Head Coach of Cross Country from 2014-16 at Dayton before being promoted to the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country for the 2016-17 season. The Women's cross country team were the 2015 Atlantic-10 Runners-Up and coached Chloe Flora to be the A-10 Rookie of the Year. Dayton had seven All-Conference runners, 14 of the top-25 5K marks in school history, 17 of the best 25 6K times and coached six A-10 track and field champions.
Smith got her start in coaching at her alma mater Purdue, where she was an assistant coach from 2011-13 after her four-year career as a Boilermaker. As an athlete, Smith broke the school record in the 3000-meter steeplechase on her way to qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
She also adds an USTFCCCA All-Academic honor and was Purdue's Distinguished Scholar-Athlete in 2010.
Smith now resides in Austin, Texas with her husband Stephen and her daughter Charlotte.
