Cal Poly track and field director Terry Crawford announced Wednesday that she will leave the program after 18 seasons to accept a position with USA Track and Field as Director of Coaching.
“I have been part of the Cal Poly program for a long time, so this was a difficult decision to make, but an opportunity I could not pass up,” Crawford said in a release. “The program is in good shape and I look forward to following the team’s success.”
During her tenure, Cal Poly captured seven men’s Big West Conference titles and two women’s titles and delivered the school’s first Olympic gold medalist in 2008, discus champion Stephanie Brown Trafton.
In 2005, Crawford helped develop Cal Poly’s ninth national champion as Sharon Day, another future Olympian, would win the high jump.
Crawford came to Cal Poly with a 20-year pedigree built at the Universities of Texas and Tennessee. Her 1986 Texas squad is the only team in the history of women¹s Division I track and field which has won the Triple Crown after capturing national titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, all in the same year.
As a competitor, Crawford won an 800 meter national championship at Tennessee. She was also a finalist at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic trials.
Crawford was elected to the Lady Vol’s Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Longhorns’ Hall of Fame in 2007.
“I am very excited about this next phase in my career,” Crawford said. “To be able to elevate USATF’s service to coaches, and by extension, to athletes, is something I could not pass up. I am looking forward to being part of this new era.”
Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone will begin the process of finding the school’s first new track and field director in over 14 years.
“This is a great opportunity for Terry to work with the USATF,” Cone said in a statement. “We wish her the best as she moves into her new position.”