T.J. Harris enters his seventh year as an assistant coach for the Campbell track & field program in 2020-21 and oversees jumps and combined events for the Fighting Camels.
Junior Sabina Allen won her second consecutive Most Outstanding Women’s Field Performer of the Year at the 2017 Big South Outdoor Championships after winning titles in the long and triple jump. Her mark of 6.22m in the long jump broke her own Campbell and Big South record. Allen also won the indoor long jump title and earned All-Conference honors in the indoor outdoor jump.
In addition, Davian Rhodes and Lorne Jenkins both closed out their collegiate careers by qualifying for the NCAA East Preliminary following the outdoor regular season. Rhodes captured titles in the high jump at the indoor and outdoor championships, while Lorne Jenkins won the long jump at the outdoor conference championships.
During the 2016 season, three Campbell student-athletes set five program records in the jumps. Allen notched school records in the outdoor long jump (6.18m), indoor triple jump (13.01m) and outdoor triple jump (13.11m). Jenkins had a PR of 15.35m in the outdoor triple jump and Shenelle McKay cleared 1.73m in the indoor high jump to set new program records.
CU won four individual titles at the 2016 Big South Indoor Championships in the jumps category and added three more at the outdoor championships. Davian Rhodes, Lorne Jenkins and Allen qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary at the end of the season, but none managed to advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.
The entire jumps squad made immediate improvements upon the arrival of Harris in April of 2015. Allen, Jaszyln Jenkins, McKay, Jenkins and Rhodes all set personal bests in their respective events under the guidance of Harris during the 2015 season. At the Big South Outdoor Championships, Rhodes and McKay earned All-Big South honors in the high jump, while Allen collected All-Conference accolades in the triple jump.
Harris joined the Fighting Camels’ coaching staff after serving as an Assistant Coach at Southwestern College (Winfield, Kan.) for six seasons. During his tenure with the Moundbuilders, Harris oversaw the development of the men’s and women’s field events athletes and had multiple conference champions and national qualifiers in each of his six campaigns. In total, 20 individuals earned 31 championships in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference under the guidance of Harris.
Prior to his time at Southwestern College, Harris served as an Assistant Coach for two seasons at Johnson County Community College, where he coached a pair of two-time national champions and 14 junior college All-Americans. In 2008, Harris was the only junior college coach to have student-athletes place inside the top-three at the national championship meet in all four jumps events.
Harris graduated from Southwestern College in 2004 with a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies. He was a part of two conference championship teams in the middle of a 29-year reign over the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. He earned five individual KCAC conference titles, including two in the long jump and triple jump and one in the 4x100m relay. Along with his success at the conference level, Harris was a three-time NAIA All-American, twice in the long jump and once in the triple jump.
Harris and his wife, Amanda, have two daughters, Sydni and Leyla, and a son, Maxwell. He is USATF Level 1 and Level 2 certified in the jumps.
