Grimes Honored for Work with Husker Multis, Vaulters

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln?Nebraska pole vault/multi-events coach Kris Grimes was honored as one of the nation’s top assistant coaches Monday by the USTFCCCA (United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association). Grimes was selected as the top women’s jumps/combined events coach for the NCAA Midwest Region in 2007.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

A second-year member of the Husker track and field staff, Grimes helped Nebraska send one of the nation’s largest contingents to this week’s NCAA Outdoor Championships with 28 individuals. Eight of those student-athletes train under Grimes, including five women.

 

“Kris has done a terrific job during both of his years on our coaching staff,” Head Coach Gary Pepin said. “He has been one of our hardest-working coaches and recruiters and is well-liked by both his student-athletes and fellow coaches. He has really done a great job this year with his athletes, despite some tough luck with injuries. Kris also handles his duties well while keeping his family priority No. 1.”

 

Leading Grimes’ pupils this season have been sophomore Brysun Stately, the nation’s top-ranked competitor in the women’s pole vault, and senior Ashley Selig, who will chase her second career national title this week in the combined events.

 

Stately became only the third Husker women’s All-American in the pole vault in March with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships, while she shattered the outdoor school record with a mark of 14-3 1/4 during the Kansas Relays in April. 

 

Selig recently became the first athlete in Big 12 history with four conference crowns in the multi-events. Junior teammate Jenny Green, who will join Stately competing for NCAA honors in the women’s pole vault, earned the same distinction with her fourth Big 12 victory in the vault last month.

 

Grimes also helped steer a pair of Husker women to their first career NCAA bids this outdoor season in senior Casie Witte and junior Kim Shubert. Witte, the runner-up finisher to Selig during the Big 12 women’s heptathlon last month, enters the week ranked 21st among the national field. Shubert, also a combined events specialist, will compete in the high jump at the NCAA meet.

 

While the Husker women’s pole vault and multi-event groups have flourished during Grimes’ short stint at Nebraska, his men’s athletes have also shown tremendous success on both the national and conference levels. With the addition of men’s decathletes Lee Martin and Skyler Reising, NU will lead all NCAA squads this week with four total men’s and women’s entries in the combined events.

                                                                                                        

Senior Gable Baldwin, a former NCAA All-American and Big 12 champion in the men’s pole vault, also was able to qualify for his fourth career national meet under the watchful eye of Grimes, while junior Ben Schutter, who has missed the entire outdoor season with a leg injury, reached his first-ever NCAA meet during the indoor season.

 

Overall, five Husker multi-event athletes and three NU vaulters have advanced to either the NCAA indoor or outdoor meets in Grimes’ second year.

Grimes experienced an incredibly successful first season at Nebraska in 2006 after joining the Huskers during the early fall. His athletes combined to earn five NCAA All-America honors in his first year while helping the men’s and women’s squads place among the top 20 at both NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

One of the top story lines of his inaugural campaign was the transformation of Sara Jane Baker, twice a runner-up during Big 12 combined events competitions, into a conference champion and two-time All-American. Baker won her first Big 12 heptathlon in four chances during the 2006 outdoor season before adding a sixth-place finish at the NCAA outdoor meet. She also was the eighth American finisher in the high jump during national indoor competition.

In addition to Baker, Grimes helped the two-time All-American Green return to the top of the conference in the women’s pole vault during the indoor season following a near-18-month layoff, while also guiding her to both NCAA Championships.

Grimes aided former Husker Ray Scotten to a successful conclusion to his brilliant career with All-America honors at both NCAA meets, while 2005 NCAA champion Selig earned another Big 12 championship and top-five national finish in the pentathlon indoors before redshirting during the outdoor season.

A native of Jefferson City, Mo., Grimes has helped several athletes flourish on the national level during his 19 years of coaching, as his resume boasts 14 NCAA All-America athletes who have earned 20 individual honors. Included among the group is two-time NCAA champion Sevatheda Fynes, who Grimes coached to national wins in the 100- and 200-meter dash events while at MichiganState.

Grimes brought a wealth of recruiting and coaching experience on the NCAA Division I level with him to Nebraska. He previously served as an assistant coach responsible for the development of the WashingtonState men’s and women’s jump groups for eight seasons. While with WSU, Grimes tutored pole vaulters Tamara Diles and Tyson Byers to NCAA All-America careers. Matt Mason set an indoor school record of 26-6 1/4 on his way to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA indoor meet in 2004, and Demetrius Murray claimed silver-medal honors in the triple jump at the 2000 NCAA outdoor meet.

Prior to his post with WSU, Grimes served as interim head women’s track coach at Michigan State for one season in 1996, before being named the Spartans’ interim Director of Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country. He remained in his interim post with MSU until 1998, when he was hired by WashingtonState. In his first season with the Spartans, Grimes coached an NCAA champion and three All-Americans.

A three-time NCAA All-American pole vaulter at AbileneChristianUniversity, Grimes was a key contributor on four Division II national championship teams. After exhausting his eligibility, he served as an assistant coach for the Wildcats in 1989. Grimes later coached in a graduate assistant role at Missouri from 1990 to 1991. Between his time at Missouri and MichiganState, he spent five years (1992-96) as an assistant in charge of jumps and combined events at Louisiana-Monroe.

Grimes is a United States Track and Field Coaching Education Certified Level II Instructor who earned 2005 West Region Women’s Assistant Coach-of-the-Year honors from the USTCCA. He is currently pursuing his Level III certification.

Grimes received his master’s degree in education with concentrations in sport psychology/biomechanics from Missouri in 1992 and his bachelor’s in education from Abilene Christian in 1989, concentrating on psychology/physical education. He is married to Tami Micham Grimes, a former distance runner at ULM. They have two sons, Kristofer James and James Harrison, and a daughter, Anna Kay.