St. John's University Athletics
Women's Cross Country
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Yvonne Harrison enters her eighth season as an assistant coach for the cross country and track & field teams for St. John's, where she works primarily with the sprinters.
This past year was a memorable one for Coach Harrison and her group of sprinters, highlighted by new school records in the 4x100-meter relay (45.71) and 4x200-meter relay (1:35.25) set at the ECAC Outdoor Championships and Penn Relays, respectively. During the indoor season, sophomore sprinter Claire Mooney continued to reach new heights by claiming the 500-meter individual crown at the ECAC Championships, while senior standout Rikka Lovely closed out a terrific indoor career with her second consecutive 200-meter bronze medal at the same meet. At the Metropolitan Outdoor Championships, Rikka Lovely and fellow senior Molly Ellis combined to win the 100, 200 and 400 while running on the victorious 4x100 and 4x400 relays as St. John's claimed the team title. Later in the season, Molly Ellis became the school's second fastest performer all-time over 400 meters (52.77) in a third-place finish at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships and qualified in the event for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Red Storm would also send senior Trudy-Ann McLean, junior Shayna Presley and Claire Mooney to the NCAA Championships to combine with Molly Ellis in the 4x400-meter relay, where the quartet would place 21st in the country to cap a terrific season which saw the relay team rise to second on the school's all-time top-10 (3:35.77). The Red Storm also made strides in the hurdles, as Shayna Presley posted the second fastest 400-meter hurdles time in school history (59.49) at the ECAC Outdoor Championships.
Coach Harrison and her group of sprinters also enjoyed a very successful year of competition in 2011-12. Rikka Lovely had an extremely impressive indoor season, earning bronze medals at the BIG EAST and ECAC Championships in the 200-meter dash, while Claire Mooney burst onto the scene with All-BIG EAST and All-EAST performances in the 500-meter dash. The 4x400-meter relay team also won both the indoor and outdoor titles at the Metropolitan Championships.
A year ago, Coach Harrison had the special opportunity of seeing a former student-athlete who she maintains a close relationship with run at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, as Phobay Kutu-Akoi represented her home country of Liberia in the 100-meter dash. Kutu-Akoi, who holds both the St. John's and Liberian 100-meter dash records and served as the flag bearer for her country at the Opening Ceremonies, placed sixth in her preliminary heat, running a time of 11.52 seconds.
Harrison oversaw the rapid development and success of her underclassmen sprinters during the 2010-11 season. Molly Ellis became St. John's first ever Indoor BIG EAST 400-meter champion during her breakout season. Harrison also coached 4x400 meter and 4x800 meter relay teams to both Indoor and Outdoor Metropolitan Championships.
In 2009-10, Harrison worked with then-freshman sprinter Rikka Lovely and helped her to a first place finish at the Outdoor Metropolitan Championships and a fifth place finish at the Indoor BIG EAST Championships. Harrison's 4x400-meter relay team also finished seventh at the BIG EAST and eighth at the ECAC Championships. Then-senior Asia Davy finished first in the 400-meter dash at the Outdoor Metropolitan Championships.
In 2008-09, Harrison coached sprinter Phobay Kutu-Akoi to top-place finishes at the Metropolitan Outdoor Championships in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Kutu-Akoi's 11.52-second finish in the 100-meter preliminaries at that event set a new school record. She also coached Asia Davy to a title at the Metropolitan Outdoor Championships in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. Along with Kutu-Akoy,Harrison's 4x100-meter relay team and 4x200-meter relay team set new school records.
One early highlight of Harrison's coaching career at St. John's was the development of Maxcine Foster, who came to Queens via the sprinting island of Jamaica. Foster, a 400-meter specialist, was Harrison's first ECAC and BIG EAST Champion, as well as Harrison's first NCAA Championships qualifier, running personal best times of 53.72 indoors and 54.06 outdoors. Foster also earned All-ECAC and All-BIG EAST honors in the 500-meter run under Harrison, posting a personal best time of 1:11.66.
Harrison is an accomplished track & field athlete and has competed on both national and international levels, having represented Puerto Rico in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. In May 2006, Harrison captured the bronze medal at the Ibero-American Championships in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 2004, she competed at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, where she was a semifinalist.
In 2003, Harrison set Puerto Rico's national record in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. She also won the gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Championships and was a semifinalist at the World Championships in Paris, France. Harrison was also a semifinalist in the World Championships in 2002 in Edmonton, Canada.
As an undergrad, Harrison ran for the University of Illinois and graduated in 1998 with a bachelor of arts in sociology. While a member of the Fighting Illini, Harrison was a four-time All-American. She was also the runner-up at the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles during her senior campaign.
After graduation, Harrison served as a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater from 1999-2000.
Harrison currently lives in Laurelton, N.Y. She is a licensed and ordained minister, and is currently pursuing her master's degree in Divinity at St. John's.
