On July 11, 2012, new UNO athletic director Derek Morel announced that he had made his first hire. Ty Sevin, a native of Cut Off, Louisiana, is the head coach for the university’s newly reinstated track and field program. Sevin will oversee six teams: the men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams. The UNO track and field program had been cut in 2005 due to an insufficient budget resulting from a decrease in enrollment following Hurricane Katrina.
Sevin had previously served as head coach at McNeese State from 2005 to 2007 and took the Cowboys to a top 25 ranking in his final season. He spent the past five years coaching at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He trained track and field athletes to compete in pole vaulting, javelin, discus, and shot put. He was also a member of LSU’s 1990 national champion track team and a two-time NCAA All-American.
His Olympic credentials will likely serve as a very useful recruiting tool and his southeast Louisiana connections should prove to be helpful establishing relationships with the current and future members of the team.
Sevin was “ecstatic” upon learning that he had been hired. His main focus will be not only on the results of the season, but also on trying to build a team and laying the foundation for the program and getting the word out about UNO track and field.
Sevin accompanied two of the athletes he trained, Kara Patterson and Brad Walker to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Patterson participated in the women’s javelin competition and Walker in the men’s pole vault during the second week of the games. Walker managed to qualify for the men’s pole vault final, but received no mark in the final round. While Sevin did enjoy the overall experience in London, he did feel a bit disappointed by the results, stating that the results were not reflective of the training and preparation that he and the athletes had put in.
by: Paul Geohegan
from: http://driftwood.uno.edu/709/
