Carl Sheffield - Track & Field/XC Coach - University of North Texas Athletics

Carl Sheffield

Title:
Director of Track & Field
Email:
carl.sheffield@unt.edu
Phone:
940-565-4753

Director of track & field Carl Sheffield enters his 11th season at the helm at North Texas and 24th year overall.

In 2019, the Mean Green qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field West Preliminaries in 10 events. The men's 4x100-meter relay team of Darien Porter, Davonye Jones, Antonio Delacruz and Abdon Campbell came up just .01 seconds short of advancing to the NCAA Championships while Aneesa Scott advanced to the quarterfinals in the 400. Porter (100-meter dash), Joseph Squire (110-meter hurdles), Brock Hottel (pole vault), Zion Hill (javelin), Scott (200-meter dash), Breanna Eckels (long jump), Haley Walker (discus) and Kristyn Archuleta (javelin) also competed. Throughout the prelims, the Mean Green finished higher than their incoming rankings in seven of the 10 events.

A pair of Mean Green captured titles at the 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships as Scott broke her own North Texas record to claim the 400-meter run and Hill earned first place in javelin. At the championships, both the women and men achieved their highest team finish since 2016 with the women taking sixth place and the men eighth. The 73 points scored by the women is the largest Mean Green total in C-USA outdoor championship history.

Three North Texas records were established during the 2019 outdoor season. Scott raced away from the competition in a time of 53.13 seconds for UNT's first outdoor champion since the 2017 season at the C-USA Championships. Also at the championships, Jaleisa Shaffer moved to number one in the UNT charts in the shot put with a mark of 14.95 meters to surpass teammate Walker's record. Hill threw for a UNT school record and defended his best mark in C-USA in javelin with a throw of 69.15 meters at the highly competitive Texas Relays to improve upon the previous UNT mark of 66.55 meters.

James Cole, Florian Lussy and Cassidy Adams were selected to the 2019 InTouch Credit Union Conference USA Track and Field All-Academic Team. Adams was also named to the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Teams as the third Mean Green to earn the honor.

Seven North Texas school records fell during the 2019 indoor track and field season, four on the track and another three on the field. The seven marks tie for the most set in one season, as the Mean Green also accomplished the same feat in 2010.

Hottel (pole vault), Squire (60-meter hurdles), Alia Holmes (200-meter dash), Shaffer (shot put), Walker (weight throw), Lussy (5,000-meter run), and the relay team of Lauryn McCollum, Artesha Richardson, Lyric Choice and Scott (4x400) placed their names in the UNT record books with their performances.

Eight Mean Green qualified to compete at the 2018 NCAA West Preliminaries in James Cole (200-meters, 4x100), Alford Tribble (4x100), Dominique Drayden (4x100), Campbell (4x100), Javier Lopez-Ibarra (javelin), Bailey Ashmore (pole vault), Eckels (long jump) and Archuleta (javelin).

At the 2018 Conference USA Outdoor Championships, North Texas finished with six all-conference honorees, including three second-place finishes. Lussy (10,000-meter run), Lopez-Ibarra (javelin) and Eckels (long jump) earned runner up honors while Karl Sralla (discus), Adams (3,000-meter steeplechase) and Archuleta (javelin) each finished third.

Lynch (mile) and Ashmore (pole vault) were the top finishers at the 2018 C-USA Indoor Championships with third place accolades.

Lussy, Lopez-Ibarra and Ashmore were each selected to the 2018 InTouch Credit Union Conference USA Track and Field All-Academic Team.

In 2017, the men's and women’s team each placed ninth at the 2017 C-USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The women were led by Freshman of the Year Kristyn Archuleta who won javelin with a school-record throw of 49.39 meters. Classmate Breanna Eckels placed second in the long jump and senior James Coleman took third in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

Six track and field athletes qualified for NCAA West Preliminaries in James Cole, Collin Heard, Javier Lopez-Ibarra, James Coleman, Breanna Eckels and Kristyn Archuleta. Susannah Lynch, Coleman and Lopez-Ibarra were named to the C-USA All-Academic team.

In 2016, the men's team placed fifth and the women's sixth at the 2016 C-USA Outdoor Track and Field championships. The women's team was led by graduate student Chastity Stewart who took home two first-place finishes in the 100 and 400-meter hurdles and was a part of the second-place finish in the women's 4x100-meter relay. The men's squad came away with 15 top-10 finishes, including a first-place finish by Kevone Kennedy in the discus, and a second-place finish by Jordan Faughtenberry in the pole vault.

Eight track and field athletes qualified for NCAA West Preliminaries in Mona Landry, Jazmine Martin, Collin Heard, Nadiyah El-Amin, Bryce McAndrew, Siara Obasuyi, Chastity Stewart and Eddie Wilcox. Connor Bey and Susie Kemper were named to the C-USA All-Academic team and both earned CoSIDA Academic All-District awards. Stewart qualified for NCAA nationals in two events (100 and 400-meter hurdles), finishing 22^ndin both events in Eugene, Ore.

In 2015, Sheffield helped coach nine student-athletes qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries during the outdoor season. Senior Shahaf Bereni qualified in the high jump and finished in the top 25 with a jump of 1.73 meters.

At the 2015 Conference USA Outdoor Championships, Sheffield helped the men’s team finish sixth with three podium finishes and 14 top-8 finalists. On the women’s side, two student-athletes came in the top-3 and 10 finished in the top eight.

During the indoor season, the men’s team finished fifth and the women’s team came in fourth thanks to three individual wins from Troy Taylor (3000-meter run), Shahaf Bereni (high jump) and Susie Kemper (mile).

In 2014, Sheffield coached both Clinton Collins and Chastity Stewart to the NCAA Championship with Collins earning All-American honors with a 15^thplace finish in the semifinal round of the men’s 400. Both Collins and Stewart were also individual champions at the 2014 Conference USA Conference Championship.

Sheffield guided 12 athletes to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries in 2014. At NCAA West Prelims, the 4x400 team of Connor Bey, Clinton Collins, Collin Heard and Anthony Hamilton placed 18^th, and freshman Elisha Peters placed 25^thin the women’s high jump.

In 2013, track and field sent a combined three athletes to the NCAA Finals. It was the first time that three Mean Green athletes participating in individual events went to the NCAA Championships since 1983.

Shahaf Bareni’s sixth-place finish at the NCAA West Prelims earned her a spot at the NCAA Championships. Bareni placed seventh at the championships with a record-breaking jump of 1.83 meters, one of the top finishes in school history.

Steven White finished his career with a third-place finish in the men’s 400-meter hurdles in a school record 49.32 at the NCAA Championships. White’s third place finish is the best for North Texas by an individual or relay team since Bill Schmidt finished second in the men’s javelin at the championships in 1970.

In 2012, White was named an USTFCCCA Second-Team All-American after finishing 14^thin the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 400-meter hurdles. White also participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Under Sheffield, the Mean Green have continued to see success at the national level. North Texas has sent at least one athlete to the NCAA Championships in nine out of the last 13 years.

At the helm of the track and field program at North Texas, Sheffield has led the Mean Green to two conference championships and two runner-up titles. The women’s outdoor program won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, while the women’s indoor team picked up second-place honors in 2012 and 2013. The 2012 outdoor title was the best finish for the women since winning the championship in 2003.

Sheffield also guided the men’s team to the most individual outdoor champions, five in 2012, since 2008 when North Texas had six individual outdoor champions.

Individually, Sheffield has been recognized for his team’s success. He was named the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2013. He was also named the indoor coach of the year in 2012. Under Sheffield’s leadership, athletes have broken a total of 32 school records.

Sheffield spent 12 years coaching as a Mean Green track & field assistant coach from 1996 to 2007. Under Sheffield’s guidance as the sprints and hurdles coach at North Texas, his athletes established or tied over 20 school records and earned more than 70 all-conference awards from 1996-2007. The Mean Green won four team championships with Sheffield on staff, two each on the men’s and women’s sides.

He brings enhanced credentials through his work at the Michael Johnson Training Center where he focused on improving the ability of his athletes to integrate linear speed concepts through biomechanics, motor control and performance analysis.

Sheffield began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at LSU in 1988. The Tigers went on to win a string of 11 consecutive NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He also coached national-caliber athletes with Nike sponsored teams in Texas and along the Atlantic coast before his first stint at North Texas.

A native of Dallas, Sheffield was one of the top-five hurdlers in the state while attending Skyline High School and attended UTA on scholarship as a high hurdler.

After earning his bachelor’s degree from UTA in 1993, Sheffield earned his Master of Science from North Texas in exercise physiology in 1996. In addition to his coaching duties, he served as an adjunct instructor for North Texas from 2005-07 for the Department of Kinesiology.

Carl and his wife, Tara, have two sons, Julian and Aiden.