Tennessee State Alumnus John Moon To Serve As Men's Head Coach For USA At 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships

LEGENDARY HEAD COACH JOHN MOON (bio)
36TH YEAR
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY
 Courtesy: Seton Hall Athletic Communications

NASHVILLE, Tennessee  -  USA Track and Field has announced that former Tennessee State Univeristy Flying Tiger 100 yards co-world record holder and national champion John Moon has been selected as the head coach of the USA men's track and field team at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey on March 9-11, 2012. Also, Moon will serve as the men's throws coach.

Currently, Moon is the head cross country coach at Seton Hall University.

Moon's distinguished coaching career spans over 40 years, has taken him to over 50 countries and has garnered him many coaching appointments, awards, and inductions. He started as a high school coach for Kilmer Job Center and Rahway High School in New Jersey. With Rahway, Moon earned 33 championships and a 99-11 dual meet record.

Moon became Seton Hall's head coach in 1972 and in his first year, coached the men's mile relay team to first place at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He has coached 71 All-Americans and seven NCAA Champions, including 400 meters specialist Andrew Valmon, an Olympic relay gold medalist and BIG EAST record holder. Moon guided the Lady Pirates to 3rd place at the 1994 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Moon's appointments, awards and inductions include: first assistant coach, men's Track Team, 2000 Summer Olympics; head track coach, 1995 Pan American Games; head coach, 2001 U.S. vs. Great Britain dual meet; assistant coach, 1991 Goodwill Games; head coach, 1983 U.S. Olympic Festival East Team; head coach, 1975 U.S. Junior National Team; 2002 Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year; NCAA Women's Indoor Track Coach of the Year; Big East Coach of the Year seven times; Collegiate Track Conference Coach of the Year six times; Newark YMWCA Legendary Coaches Award; Seton Hall Athletic Hall Fame; and New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Moon was equally impressive as a track star. At Linden High School, he ran the 100 yards in 9.7 seconds and the 220 yards in 21.0 seconds, earning All-State and All-American honors. At Tennessee State and with Wilma Rudolph as a teammate, Moon again earned All-American honors and tied the 100 yards world record at 9.3 seconds. Also, he won the 100 yards at the NAIA and placed third in the NCAA Championships. After graduating from TSU, Moon finished second in the 100 yards at the 1963 National AAU Championships and ran 20.3 seconds in the 220 and 46.2 in the 440.

In 1964, he became the last man to beat Bob "Bullet" Hayes (Florida A&M University), the Olympic legend who had established a new level of speed in track and field.

Moon's appointment as the head coach of the U.S. indoor team to the World Indoors is somewhat remarkable and ironic because Seton Hall cancelled its indoor and outdoor track and field teams at the end of the 2010 season to reallocate over $1 million to other areas. However, Seton Hall retained men's and women's cross country, and Moon continues as the head coach of both teams.

John Moon To Serve As Men's Head Coach For USA At 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships

SOUTH ORANGE, New Jersey - Seton Hall University head cross country coach John Moon will soon be able to add another prestigious accomplishment to his international coaching resume as he has been selected to serve as the men's head coach for team USA at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships will take place from March 9-11, in Istanbul, Turkey. This year's meet is on course to be the largest in the championship's history, with more than 160 IAAF member nations preparing to send a squad to Istanbul.

"I am excited and honored for my track & field colleagues to select me as the head coach for the U.S. international team," Moon said. "It's rewarding for the track & field community to hold me as one of the elite coaches in the country. To represent Team U.S.A. is a great honor, one of the biggest of my career, and I am excited to represent Seton Hall University as well."

Moon will serve as the USA men's head coach and also work with the team's throwers. He will be joined by New Mexico State University head coach Orin Richburg, Rowan University assistant coach Norm Tate, and USA Track & Field's Dave Schrock.

The post as the U.S. men's head coach at the World Indoor Championships is the latest in a long list of international coaching experiences Moon as accrued over his 40-year career in track and field.

He served as the top men's assistant coach for Team USA at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Moon was also the head coach for the United States at the 1995 Pan American Games, and in 2001 he guided the United State in the prestigious U.S. vs. Great Britain dual meet in Glasgow, Scotland.

COURTESY: TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION AND SETON HALL UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS.