COLLEGE STATION, TX - 2020.02.27 - SEC Indoor Championship Practice Day

Ken Harnden

Title:
Assistant Coach (Sprints/Hurdles/Relays)
Email:
kharnden@utk.edu
Phone:
(865) 974-4000

Two-time Olympian and veteran sprints coach Ken Harnden joined the Tennessee track and field staff to start the 2018-19 season and enters his third season on Rocky Top in 2021-22. Harnden serves as one half of the sprint coaching tandem with assistant coach David Neville.

THE HARNDEN FILE

Coaching Experience

2003-15: Florida State, Assistant
2015-18: Georgia, Assistant
2018-present: Tennessee, Assistant

BY THE NUMBERS

25 NCAA Individual Championships
5 NCAA Team Championships
160+ All-America Honors
15 Olympians
6 Sub-10 100m sprinters
6 NCAA 200m Champions

AWARDS

2005 USTFCCCA Asst. Coach of the Year
2007 USTFCCCA Asst. Coach of the Year
2012 USTFCCCA Men’s Asst. Coach of the Year

The Tennessee sprint group was headlined in 2021 by sophomore Joella Lloyd and the SEC title winning 4x400m Relay squad. During the indoor season, Lloyd won the 60m SEC title in school-record setting fashion as she posted a title winning time of 7.15. She followed that up with All-America honors after placing sixth in the 60m at the NCAA meet.

On the men's side, the 4x400m Relay crew of Sebastian Cooper, Christopher Bailey, Emmanuel Bynum and Jonathan Sacoor posted a then world-leading mark of 3:04.08 to claim a gold medal and SEC title for the Orange & White at the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships. The foursome then earned a bronze medal at the NCAA Championship meet.

Following the collegiate season, Lloyd qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for her home country of Antigua and Barbuda. Lloyd ran in the 100m, becoming just the third Lady Vol track & field Olympian to run the event at the Games.

Tennessee had an elite group of women's 60-meter hurdlers during Harnden's second year with the Vols, led by the senior duo of Alexis Duncan and Domonique Turner. Duncan ran as fast as 8.10 during the 2020 indoor season, good for the No. 2 performance in Lady Vol history. Turner took home the bronze medal in the event at the SEC Indoor Championships, running a personal-best 8.11 in her first career conference final.

Harnden also guided Emmanuel Bynum to a UT freshman record in 2020, as the Memphis native clocked a time of 33.38 in the 300-meter dash at the Virginia Tech Invitational. In the women's 400-meter, rookie standout Britton Wilson became the fifth Lady Vol to run sub-53 indoors with a mark of 52.99 at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invite.

In his first year on Rocky Top, Harnden guided Tennessee sprinters, hurdlers and relays to 10 USTFCCCA All-America certificates. Senior standout Mustaqeem Williams swept SEC indoor and outdoor titles in the 200m dash, becoming the first Vol to accomplish that feat since 2007-08 (Rubin Williams).

Harnden came to Rocky Top after spending three seasons in the same role at Georgia. Prior to that, he spent 12 seasons coaching at Florida State.

"Ken's consistent and proven success shows that he is one of the best sprints coaches in the country," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "The University of Tennessee sprints crew is storied in history and tradition. Our alums, current student-athletes and future Tennessee Volunteers deserve a coach that can build on that tradition at the highest level.

"Ken has a career filled with 14 Olympians, 25 NCAA individual champions along with two collegiate records and 5 NCAA team titles. These results show Coach Harnden's commitment to consistently bringing out the best in his student-athletes. Former, current and future Tennessee Volunteers can rest-assured we have a proven veteran coach that has been there and done it multiple times."

The three-time USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year has guided 14 Olympians, 25 NCAA champions and more than 160 All-American honors. In addition to individual accolades, Harnden has contributed to substantial program-wide success as a part of five NCAA team championship teams, most recently the Georgia men’s outdoor title in 2018.

"I would like to thank Coach Sullivan for inviting me to join this amazing staff," Harnden said. "I was blown away at how family oriented they are. This group of coaches is destined to do great things at Tennessee, and I am blessed to be a part of it. I would like to also thank Greg McGarity and Josh Brooks at UGA, I am so thankful for the opportunity I have had to work at UGA."

Numerous student-athletes have achieved world class times under Harnden’s watch. Six of his sprinters have broken the 10-second barrier in the 100-meter dash. His short sprints coaching prowess is also exemplified in the 200 meters with six NCAA individual championships in the event under his watch.

Among that group is Walter Dix, a six-time NCAA champion and 18-time All-American for Florida State. He was a bronze medalist in the 100m and 200m at the 2008 Olympics and remains the NCAA record holder in the 200m (19.69).

Harnden also coached 2011 Bowerman Award winner Ngoni Makusha, who became the fifth man in NCAA history to win the 100m and long jump at the same championship (DeHart Hubbard, 1925; Jesse Owens, 1936; Carl Lewis, 1981; Jarrion Lawson, 2016). Makusha also set the then-NCAA record in the 100m (9.89).

Harnden has also coached several women to the top of the national podium. Kala Funderburk won the 2015 NCAA 400-meter dash for Florida State, capturing the title in 51.09 seconds. Harnden also recruited and worked with Lynna Irby at Georgia, who went on to win the 400m title for the Bulldogs this year as a freshman.

Harnden represented Zimbabwe in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games in the 400m hurdles, and he competed in the event three times at the IAAF World Championships, making the finals twice. He holds Zimbabwe’s national record in the 400m hurdles (48.05).

On the collegiate stage, Harnden competed for North Carolina, where he won the 1995 NCAA title in the 400m hurdles. He was also part of the 1995 NCAA indoor champion 4x400m relay team.

Harnden is the father of two sons: Garry and Pierce.