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In his 16th year at the University of Houston, Kyle Tellez begins his ninth season as the associate head track and field coach. Tellez coaches Houston's student-athletes in the high jumps, pole vault and multi events. He was named associate head coach in 1998 after spending seven seasons as an assistant coach for the Cougars. Last season, Tellez coached Trisitan Whitley, Tom Rusteburg, Krystal Ward and Danielle Aanerud to impressive finishes at the conference championships. Whitley finished third in the high jump at the C-USA Outdoor Championships. Ward and Aanerud both finished second in the high jump and pole vault, respectively. Tom Rusteburg was the top finisher in the pole vault at the conference championships. During the indoor season, Tellez had a top five finisher in both the men's and women's high jump and pole vault at the C-USA Indoor championships. Since he began coaching Houston's jumpers, pole vaulters and multi-athletes, Tellez has produced two-time NCAA long jump champion Jenny Adams and All-Americans Krystal Ward, Rhian Clarke, Nick Decker, Ifoma Jones, John Davis, Nathan Labus and Edwina Ammonds. Adams concluded her collegiate career as the 2001 NCAA indoor champion and was the 2000 NCAA outdoor long jump champion. Ward began her collegiate career with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and won the pentathlon and heptathlon at the Conference USA Championships in each of the last two seasons. It was the third time that she had won the C-USA heptathlon championship in her collegiate career. Clarke had a fifth-place finish in the pole vault at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships after finishing in fourth place at the 2001 NCAA Indoor meet, and seventh at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Decker had a sixth-place finish in the high jump at the 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships. Tellez also coached Jones, who was a four-time All-American after finishing in fourth place in the heptathlon and in seventh place in the high jump at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She finished fifth in the heptathlon in 1999. Davis finished in fourth place at the 1999 NCAA Indoor shot put competition after recording a third-place finish in the event at the 1998 NCAA Indoor meet. He also finished in fourth place in the discus at the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championships and earned All-American honors in the discus at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Labus finished third in the pole vault at the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships, and Ammonds was seventh in the heptathlon at the 1994 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Tellez has tutored several Conference USA men's champions, and Davis earned 1997 Conference USA Outdoor Athlete of the Year honors after winning the C-USA shot put, discus and javelin titles under his direction. Tellez also has coached a trio of C-USA women's champion throwers and the league's first pole vault champion, Denise Darre. In 2000, Ron Veillon won his third straight C-USA indoor heptathlon championship and was the 2003 C-USA decathlon champion. He also has coached C-USA men's pole vault champions Tom Rusteberg in 2005, Daniel Patton, Mike Brookins and Bill Collins, along with women's pole vault champions Clarke and Denise Darre. Before Houston began competing in Conference USA in 1997, Tellez also tutored four Southwest Conference champions. Tellez's first conference champion was Ken Bigger, who won two Southwest Conference high jump titles in 1993 and 1994. Ammonds won the SWC heptathlon crown in 1994, and Michael Hoffer was the 1996 SWC decathlon champion. As a collegiate distance runner, Tellez ran for Houston's cross country and track teams in 1984-85. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Education at Houston. Born on June 5, 1966, in Fullerton, Calif., Tellez has a son, Timothy, and a daughter, Annie. He is the son of Houston's former head coach and Hall of Fame coach Tom Tellez. |
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