Texas State Athletics

Bryan Jackson enters his fourth season as the cross country and distance track and field coach at Texas State after spending the previous three seasons at Wofford College as the head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field programs.
 
In 2014, Jackson coached Michelle Jones to a second place finish in the 1,500-meter run at the SBC Outdoor Championships after she broke a school record with a time of 4:30.20 earlier in the season. Jones was part of a distance medley relay team that Jackson guided to a second place finish with a time of 11:56.78 at the SBC Indoor Championships. The team set a new Texas State record with a time of 11:50.94 earlier in the season.
 
Jackson guided Sandra Venegas to three Texas State records in 2013. During the indoor season she ran 17:27.24 in the 5,000-meter run while grabbing outdoor records in the 5,000-meters and 10,000-meter run with times of 16:46.30 and 35:25.11 respectively. Her 10,000m record came at the WAC Outdoor Championships where she finished second in both the 10,000m and 5,000m en route to helping the women’s team to a team championship. Her 10,000-meter time made her an NCAA West Preliminary qualifier. Venegas also finished third at the WAC Indoor Championships to help the women’s team to another team championship.
 
In addition to Venegas, Jackson also coached Kimberly Krtinich to a strong 2013 that culminated in her competing in the 800-meter run at the NCAA West Preliminary. Her best outdoor 800m time of the season was the 2:08.70 she ran at the WAC Outdoor Championships, finishing third. She ran an indoor best 2:08.81 at the WAC Indoor Championships to finish second.
 
Meanwhile, Jackson showed he can have an early effect on collegiate careers when he coached freshman Tyrone Jackson to the NCAA West Preliminary in the 800m. He ran his career best 800-meter run in 1:49.52 to qualify for the preliminary round. He also finished third at the WAC Outdoor Championships to contribute to a men’s team championship. Jackson finished third at the WAC Indoor Championships as well.

During his first season, he coached the Southland Conference outdoor 800-meter champion, three All-SLC athletes and four athletes who broke school records during the 2012 campaign.  Steffanie Armstrong set a new mark in the women’s indoor 3,000-meter run, while Charles Grethen broke the record for the men’s indoor 800m. During the outdoor season, Michelle Jones set the record for the 1,600-meters, and Michael Morris bettered the mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

In his first year as coach of the Texas State cross country teams, Jackson led the women and men to fourth and sixth-place finishes, respectively. The Bobcats had two runners earn All-Southland Conference honors as Armstrong placed fourth and senior Michael Morris finished eighth.
 
During his tenure at Wofford, Jackson coached the 2009 conference Freshman of the Year and had athletes break 30 school records on the track along with each of the school’s cross country records. He also saw 24 of the top 25 women’s cross country times in Wofford’s history occur under his direction.
 
Before his stint at Wofford, Jackson coached two seasons at his alma mater, Bowling Green, where he helped three athletes be named to the All-Mid-American All-American Team in cross country.
 
In 2008, Jackson served as the meet director for the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship in addition to planning the 2006 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championship.
 
Jackson was a two-time letterwinner at Bowling Green, serving as the team captain for the 2005 cross country team. In those two seasons, he finished in the top five for the Falcons.
     
Jackson graduated from Bowling Green in 2006 with a degree in business administration. In 2008, he earned a Master of Education in developmental kinesiology from BGU. His thesis research focused on female collegiate cross country runners and how different types of foot posture affect muscle firing patterns and ground reaction forces.
 
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Jackson holds a USA Track and Field Level I coaching certification and a Level II certification in jumping events.