University of South Alabama Athletics

David Barnett joined the USA as an assistant in October 2011 and was named Head Cross Country Coach/Assistant Track & Field Coach in December 2012.

Last fall, Barnett picked up his second Sun Belt Women's Coach of the Year honor, but first of his career on the women's side after directing the Jag women to their first conference title since 1993.  JoAnna McCoy earned first-team all-Sun Belt honors, while Laura Labuschaigne, Ashley Heitling and Nicole Durham captured second-team honors.  McCoy was also named all-region.  On the men's side, Christoph Graf and Patrick Rohr both earned first-team all-SBC honors, while Katelho Dyoyi picked up second-team accolades.  The trio also qualified for the NCAA Regional.

During the fall of 2014, Barnett was named the Sun Belt Conference Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year after guiding the Jaguars to the league title, their first since 2006.  Graf was selected the Most Outstanding Performer after claimining the individual title, going on to earn all-region honors while qualifying for the NCAA Championships, with Michael Pienaar chosen the conference Freshman of the Year while making the all-region squad as well.  Also, Rohr received all-Sun Belt honors for the third year in a row.

Graf and Rohr earned all-league honors in the 3,000-meter run at the SBC Indoor Championships after finising first and second, respectively in the race, with the former adding all-conference accolades following a second-place finish in the mile.  The duo not only received all-SBC recognition during the outdoor season as well, both qualified for the NCAA East Region Preliminaries as well.

During the 2014 outdoor season, Barnett oversaw five all-SBC performers, including Freshman of the Year and top men's scorer Michael Pienaar.  Pienaar recorded three all-conference efforts in the 1,500-meter run (first), 10,000-meter run (second) and 5,000-meter run (third).  Also earning all-league accolades were Patrick Rohr (3,000-meter steeplechase) and Justin Housley (800-meter run), helping the men place third overall at the competition.  Rohr's efforts qualified him for the NCAA preliminaries in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Pienaar qualified for the World Juniors Championships in the 10,000-meter run.

In indoor competition, Barnett helped guide Kristin Parry to a pair of school records in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs, the former coming in a gold-medal performance at the SBC Championships.  In addition, Pienaar was named all-conference in the 5,000-meter run for the men.

The 2013 cross country teams saw a number of highlights under Barnett's watch.  Three individuals -- Rohr, Joe Gratton and Parry -- were all-conference selections, while Nicole Durham was named the league's Women's Freshman of the Year.  Additionally, the men's squad notched a third-place finish at the conference championships.  Both teams excelled in the classroom as well,as the Lady Jags finished with a combined 3.76 grade point average, the best of the schools athletic programs and one of the highest GPAs in the country.  Meanwhile, the men's squad was a close second among all sports on campus with a 3.54 overall GPA.  Both teams were recipients of the USTFCCCA's All-Academic Awards.

During the 2013 indoor and outdoor seasons Barnett coached four Sun Belt All-Conference Team selections who combined for several top-five marks in the school record books. The women contributed to a third-place Sun Belt finish at the outdoor championship meet. During his first season as head cross country coach, the men's and women's teams finished third and fifth, respectively. The Jaguars had three all-Sun Belt Conference team selections as well as the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year for women's cross country.The Lady Jaguars also had three of the top six freshmen finishers at this year's conference championship meet. Both the men's and women's teams were selected USTFCCCA all-Academic selections for the 2013 cross country season with university leading team G.P.A.'s of 3.76 for the women and 3.45 for the men.

Barnett joined the Jaguar coaching staff from Auburn, where he also served as an assistant. His responsibilities for the Tigers included assisting head track & field coach Ralph Spry and head cross country coach Mark Carroll with the development and specific training of distance competitors including several all-American and all-Southeastern Conference athletes, on-campus recruiting, budgeting, attending weekly NCAA compliance meetings and office management. Barnett also served as co-meet director for home track & field/cross country meets.

During his time with the Tiger program, the men’s indoor team recorded back-to-back top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships, the women’s squad placed in the top 10 at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships and top 15 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last season, and the men’s cross country squad was among the top 25 teams at the 2009 NCAA Championships.

The Oneonta, Ala., native was awarded a bachelor’s degree in exercise science by Auburn, and has previously obtained USA Track & Field (USTFA) Level I and II Coaching Certification. In his senior year at Oneonta High School, Barnett won the state 3A 1,600-meter run and then went on to compete at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Ala.