Baton Rouge, La. – LSU track and field head coach Dennis Shaver will be officially inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Wednesday evening (December 15) at the Grand Lakes Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction ceremony is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. CT. The event will be streamed live on the USTFCCCA’s YouTube page. Shaver will be inducted alongside Peter Farrell, Thomas ‘T.E.’ Jones, Don Larson, Dr. Nancy Meyer, John Moon, and John Weaver.
Shaver, a native of Salina, Kansas, has been in the coaching profession for 40 years. He’s had stops at Hutchison Community College (1981-85), Barton Community College (1985-91), Auburn University (1992-95), and LSU (1995 to present). He came to Baton Rouge in September of 1995 and has been here ever since.
Shaver is one of most well-respected coaches in the collegiate track and field realm and his record shows why. He just wrapped up his 17th season at the helm of LSU track and field and will enter year No. 18 this January. He has been named the USTFCCCA Head Coach of the Year four times. He’s also an eight-time SEC Coach of the Year and has racked up eight USTFCCCA South Central Region Coach of the Year awards. LSU has won two national titles under the direction of Shaver – the women’s NCAA outdoor title in 2008 and the men’s NCAA outdoor title in 2021.
He won eight National Junior College Athletic Association national titles in the junior college ranks, and he led Barton County CC to the first ever NJCAA ‘Triple Crown’ sweep in history by leading his program to national titles in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field during the 1990-91 season. He was a seven-time National Coach of the Year in the NJCAA, and during his time in the Jayhawk Community College conference he led his programs to 12 conference titles.
Started in 1995, the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame exists to recognize coaches who have brought great distinction to themselves, to their institutions and to the sports of cross country and track & field. Each of the honorees exemplifies the qualities of dedication to the sport, leadership and passion for their profession and serves as an inspiration to coaches everywhere.
Highlights While At LSU
- 34 Olympians
- 12 Olympic Medalists
- 69 NCAA Champion athletes winning 80 NCAA event titles
- 26 NCAA Champion Relay Teams
- Athletes have earned 643 All-America honors in 40 years of coaching
- 105 SEC Champion athletes winning 191 SEC event titles
- 43 SEC Champion Relay Teams
- 508 SEC Academic Honor Roll selections in 17 seasons as LSU’s head coach
- 2008 & 2012 NCAA Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year
- 2020 NCAA Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year
- 2021 NCAA Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year
- 7-time SEC Women’s Coach of the Year, 2019 SEC Men’s Coach of the Year
- 5-time USTFCCCA Women’s South Central Region Coach of the Year, x USTFCCCA Men’s South Central Region Coach of the Year
- 2007 USTFCCCA Women’s Mideast Region Coach of the Year
- 2003 USTFCCCA Assistant Coach of the Year
- Has coached two winners of The Bowerman – Sha’Carri Richarson (2019), Kimberlyn Duncan (2012)
- Has had nine athletes (five women, four men) win 100 meter dash NCAA titles since he became head coach of LSU in July of 2004
- Terrance Laird scored 20.5 points at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships for LSU. Laird won the 100 and 4x100m relay while taking second in the 200 meters. Ran a PR of 20.81 seconds at the Texas Relays to become the third fastest collegian of all time
- Guided Sha’Carri Richardson to the collegiate record of 10.75 seconds in the 100 meter dash at the 2019 NCAA Championships. The time of 10.75 is the U20 world record, fifth fastest by an American woman, and the ninth fastest in world history
- Coached Aleia Hobbs to a then low-altitude collegiate record of 7.07 seconds in the 60 meter dash to win the title at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships and a PR of 10.85 seconds in the 100 meter dash to own the third-fastest NCAA time ever. Hobbs owns five of the top 11 fastest wind-legal 100-meter dashes in NCAA history
- Coached 2018 4×100 meter relay (Mikiah Brisco, Kortnei Johnson, Rachel Misher, Aleia Hobbs) to the collegiate record of 42.05 at the SEC Championships, and that foursome went on to win the national title in 2018 en route to a perfect 10-0 record.
- Coached Kimberlyn Duncan to the then low-altitude collegiate record of 22.19 in the 200-meter dash to win the title at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships and a PR of 21.80 to win the event at the 2013 USA Outdoor Championships.
- Coached Richard Thompson to a 9.89 in the 100-meter final to win a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
- Coached Xavier Carter to four individual NCAA titles at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships, joining the legendary Jesse Owens of Ohio State in 1935 and 1936 as the only athletes in history to accomplish the feat.
- Coached LSU to three Collegiate Relay Records all-time, including the women’s 4×100 (42.05), women’s 4×200 (1:29.78), and women’s shuttle hurdle relay (52.77). He also coached the women’s 4×400 to the former NCAA Championships meet record of 3:25.26; the men’s former NCAA Championships meet record of 2:59.59 (2005) was broke in 2018.
