Thursday, August 28, 2014

XU adds 2 coaches for track/cross country, 1 signee

Destini Thomas
NEW ORLEANS — Joseph Moses, coach of men's and women's cross country and track and field at Xavier University of Louisiana, announced Wednesday two additions to his staff and one signee.
    
Joining the staff in 2014-15 are assistant coach Quinton Harley and student assistant Donyé Coleman. The signee is sprinter Destini Thomas of Houston.

Harley will coach XU sprinters, hurdlers and relay teams. He comes to Xavier from NCAA Division I's East Carolina University, where he was a volunteer assistant in 2013-14 and a sprinter and hurdler for two seasons. He was part of a staff that coached East Carolina's women to Conference USA indoor and outdoor team championships in 2014.
    
Harley earned All-America recognition at Edison Tech High School in Rochester, N.Y., and at NCAA Division II's Lake Erie College.
    
Coleman competed at Xavier and was All-Gulf Coast Conference four times in women's cross country and twice in outdoor track. As a senior in 2013, Coleman posted her best collegiate time for 5,000 meters — 19 minutes, 42.65 seconds — in a second-place finish at the GCAC Cross Country Championships. She competed at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships each of her final three seasons.
    
Coleman — a resident of Snellville, Ga., and a graduate of Shiloh High School — was a member of GCAC championship teams four times in cross country and three times in outdoor track.
    
Harley is enrolled in XU's graduate school. Coleman is completing requirements for her XU bachelor's degree.
    
"Quinton Harley is a very knowledgeable young coach with a promising future in track and field," Moses said. "Donyé Coleman had a good career at Xavier and will do a good job for us as a student assistant."
    
Thomas was a member of Summer Creek High School's district-champion 400 relay team this year, and she helped the Lady Bulldogs win the team championship. Individually in the 100, Thomas placed second in the district and area meets and was a regional finalist. Her best time this year at that distance was 12.00 seconds. She is a three-time qualifier for the AAU Junior Olympics in the 100.
    
Thomas moved to Houston in 2013 from Maryland, where she was a standout in track and basketball, a class officer and an honor-roll student at St. Mary's Ryken High School.
    
"Destini could be the next great sprinter in Xavier's women's program," Moses said.
    
Xavier won GCAC team championships in men's and women's cross country and women's outdoor track in 2013-14. The cross country teams will begin their season Friday in the Xavier Big Easy Opener at City Park. The women's race will start at 5:30 p.m., and the men's race will follow at 6.



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