Andrea Blackett comes to Westwood from her alma mater Rice.
Andrea Blackett Joins UCLA Track and Field Coaching Staff
August 12, 2016 | Track & Field
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Mike Maynard announced the hiring of Andrea Blackett. Blackett joins the UCLA staff from her alma mater Rice, where she served as an assistant coach. Blackett will coach the women's sprints, hurdles and relays.
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"I'm excited to announce the addition of Andrea Blackett to our coaching staff," Maynard said. "Coach Blackett has a wealth of knowledge with over 10 years of division I collegiate coaching experience and possesses an abundance of international experience. I am happy she will be joining the Bruin family."
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Blackett is considered one of the most successful women's track athletes to compete for Rice. She just finished her fifth season as an assistant coach after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for five years.
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"I am extremely excited to begin this new journey, joining the Bruin family," Blackett said. "Being associated with such an amazing track and field legacy is truly a blessing. I am fired up and looking forward to getting to know the team and being a part of this national caliber program."
In 2008, Blackett retired from international competition and served her native country of Barbados as its head track and field coach at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Blackett, in 2007, was responsible for the development of freshman Shakera Reeece, who set a school-record in the 100 meters (11.34), as well as coaching Chandra Ewing to a C-USA title in the 400m hurdles, an event that Blackett dominated in her competitive career at Rice from 1994-97.
During that time, she 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.
Blackett finished her collegiate career as a six-time All-America, including back-to-back turns in the 400m hurdles in 1996 and 1997. She qualified for the NCAA championships all four years.
Twelve years later, she still holds the school record in the 400m outdoor hurdles, as well as the indoor hurdle mark for the 55m.
She 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.
A veteran international competitor, Blackett represented Barbados in six IAAF World Championships (1997-07). She qualified for the final four times, and in 1999 she placed fourth. 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 set the Barbados 100m hurdles record of 13.39 in 2003. Blackett holds an undergraduate degree from Rice and a master's degree in hotel management from the University of Houston.
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"I'm excited to announce the addition of Andrea Blackett to our coaching staff," Maynard said. "Coach Blackett has a wealth of knowledge with over 10 years of division I collegiate coaching experience and possesses an abundance of international experience. I am happy she will be joining the Bruin family."
ย
Blackett is considered one of the most successful women's track athletes to compete for Rice. She just finished her fifth season as an assistant coach after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for five years.
ย
"I am extremely excited to begin this new journey, joining the Bruin family," Blackett said. "Being associated with such an amazing track and field legacy is truly a blessing. I am fired up and looking forward to getting to know the team and being a part of this national caliber program."
In 2008, Blackett retired from international competition and served her native country of Barbados as its head track and field coach at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Blackett, in 2007, was responsible for the development of freshman Shakera Reeece, who set a school-record in the 100 meters (11.34), as well as coaching Chandra Ewing to a C-USA title in the 400m hurdles, an event that Blackett dominated in her competitive career at Rice from 1994-97.
During that time, she 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.
Blackett finished her collegiate career as a six-time All-America, including back-to-back turns in the 400m hurdles in 1996 and 1997. She qualified for the NCAA championships all four years.
Twelve years later, she still holds the school record in the 400m outdoor hurdles, as well as the indoor hurdle mark for the 55m.
She 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.
A veteran international competitor, Blackett represented Barbados in six IAAF World Championships (1997-07). She qualified for the final four times, and in 1999 she placed fourth. 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 set the Barbados 100m hurdles record of 13.39 in 2003. Blackett holds an undergraduate degree from Rice and a master's degree in hotel management from the University of Houston.
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