Abigi Id-Deen Hired to Vol Track Staff
July 01, 2015 | Track & Field
July 1, 2015
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee director of track and field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan has announced the hiring of Abigi Id-Deen to the position of sprints coach. Id-Deen joins the Vol Track staff following a nine-year stint at George Mason where he served most recently as Associate Head Coach.
"We are excited to have Abigi Id-Deen join our staff," said Sullivan. "He is someone that has been extremely successful with the men and women at George Mason over the last decade and has seen the results of his hard work pay out there over the years. He brings to Tennessee not only great knowledge and experience, but also passion and excitement as we continue to move this program forward within the SEC and the national scope."
Id-Deen had served at George Mason since 2006, beginning his stint there as an assistant coach. In 2011, after producing 10 All-Americans in the Patriot sprints and jumps and helping the men's teams to Colonial Athletic Association titles in 2010 and 2011, Id-Deen was promoted to his most recent position of associate head coach. At Tennessee, Id-Deen will work in conjunction with second-year Vols sprint coach Tim Hall and will specialize in coaching the long sprints, long hurdles, and long relays. Hall will remain on staff to focus on coaching the short sprints, hurdles, and relays.
"I would definitely say I'm excited to be joining the staff at Tennessee," said Id-Deen. "I'm excited to be moving to the SEC, which is the toughest conference in America, and to be working with the staff at UT. It's a great staff and I know that we'll do some exciting things. I'd like to thank Beth Alford-Sullivan for the opportunity and I'm ready to work hard to get things moving in the right direction towards restoring the great tradition of this program."
Id-Deen fills the vacancy left by former sprints coach Zach Glavash, who left the program in June to pursue other professional opportunities.
"It's an exciting time for our entire program as well as Coach Hall as Coach Id-Deen will be working in tandem with all our men and women sprinters and hurdlers," Sullivan added.
"Both Coach Sullivan and Coach Hall have been successful," said Id-Deen of Tennessee's coaching staff. "Coach Sullivan has proven herself as a coach and a recruiter and Coach Hall and I go back years. I always felt like he was one of the top coaches in the game."
Following his promotion at George Mason, Id-Deen earned the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year Award after helping the Patriot men to their third consecutive CAA title. Eleven of his athletes qualified for the NCAA East Region Championships that year, with two eventually moving on to the National Championships. Also in 2012, Id-Deen coached LaVell Handy to the Most Outstanding Field Performer Award at the CAA Championships. Handy qualified for the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the long jump and took part in the Olympic Trials at the end of the season.
More success followed Id-Deen in 2013 as he saw the men's 4x400-meter relay team earn All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Sprinter David Verburg earned second team All-American during the indoor season and went on to pick up first team honors during the outdoor campaign in the 400-meter dash. Verburg would go on to the USA Championships where his 400 time of 44.75 earned a place at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia. The outdoor season also saw the women's 4x400 team pick up second team All-America honors while at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
In 2014, Id-Deen again brought home hardware as the Patriot women's squad claimed the Atlantic 10 Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Three of his athletes seized individual titles at the A-10 Outdoor Championships, as did both the men's and women's 4x400 relay team.
In total, Id-Deen coached 21 NCAA All-Americans, six NCAA All-American relay teams, 48 individual conference champions, and 18 conference relay champions in his nine seasons at George Mason.
"It's ironic, because it's a similar situation [at Tennessee] as when I arrived at George Mason," Id-Deen said. "Like Tennessee, George Mason (1996 Indoor National Champions) had been a national title contender in the years before I got there. So being able to help revive a program and be a part of that is very exciting. That's what I was able to do at George Mason and I look forward to doing the same at Tennessee."
Id-Deen takes over a long distance sprint corps that includes rising sophomore standout Nathan Strother. Last season, Strother was just one of two true freshmen in the country to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400 meters. He was the first NCAA qualifier in the event for the Vols since 2004.
Prior to joining the staff at George Mason, Id-Deen spent two years as a member of Richmond's track and field staff, working primarily with the sprints, jumps and hurdle events. In those two years, he guided his first recruiting class of sprinters at Richmond to nine school records. His athletes broke 17 school records in total and also picked up five All-Conference selections during his tenure at Richmond.
He coached Ashley Bell to three A-10 Conference Championship titles in the long jump, triple jump and 200-meter dash during his first year at Richmond. Her efforts earned her the conference's Outstanding Field Athlete Award at the indoor championships. In his second year, he helped Jasmine Major to a pair of A-10 titles in the indoor 55-meter hurdles and the 100-meter hurdles. Major was named the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships' Most Outstanding Rookie and set a school record in the 100-meter dash.
He also coached freshman Jessica Young to the World Junior Championships and five school records, including the 60, 200, and 400-meter dash indoors, and the 200 and 400-meter dash outdoors. Young was the first female sprinter in Richmond history to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 400-meter dash. During the outdoor season, she was the first female sprinter to qualify for the NCAA East Regional Championships in the 200 and 400-meter dash.
Before becoming a member of the Spiders' staff, he served two years as a volunteer assistant under coach Willie Jones at Phoenix College (Ariz.), primarily working with the sprints and jumps.
Id-Deen competed in track & field at Central Arizona College from 1997-99 prior to transferring to Arizona State. He set a long jump personal best of 24-06, ran the 200 meters in 21.30 and set a personal mark of 47.50 in the 400 meters. He graduated from ASU in 2002. He and his wife, Kia, were married in August of 2014.
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