Aaron James was named assistant track and field coach in October 2012. James came to South Alabama with 30-plus years of track and field experience with his USATF Level I Coaching Certification. He is responsible for jumps and combined events for the Jaguars.
The 2017 season was highlighted with seven SBC conference champions and an All-American honor. Sean Collins picked up two Sun Belt titles for the second year in a row in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault. Collins finished in the top eight at the NCAA championships, earning first-team All-American honors.
Kaitlyn Beans earned three titles in the indoor long jump, triple jump and outdoor triple, while also finishing third during the outdoor season in the long jump. Freshman Emilie Berge won both the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon championships. Leyzon Legarde, (indoor and outdoor triple) and Megan James (indoor and outdoor pole vault), Niel Gillome (outdoor pole vault) also earned all-conference honors and joined Collins, Beans and Talylor Dames in qualifying for the NCAA outdoor preliminary. Kristina Szabo also qualified but was unable to attend.
The 2016 season produced a women’s Sun Belt Conference Outdoor team title for the Jags and an indoor All-American accolade with Collins finishing as the runner-up at the NCAA championships. The season also produced five SBC event champions and an additional six all-conference awards. Six school records were set — two each by Collins (indoor and outdoor pole vault), Jordan Friz (indoor and outdoor pole vault) and Beans (indoor and outdoor triple jump). James helped Beans achieve second-team All-American honors after advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Beans also received honorable mention All-America accolades in the triple jump each of the previous two seasons. His efforts aided Beans in earning all-Sun Belt Conference honors in the event three-straight years at the league's outdoor championships.
Jasmine Ferguson finished fifth in the pentathlon and heptathlon at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2015, respectively, while Cameron Stokes earned top-10 finishes in the men’s multi-events at both meets. Five student-athletes achieved all-conference honors including Gillome (pole vault), Nick Farrell (pole vault), Kayla Carlile, (pole vault), and two for Beans (indoor and outdoor triple jump) that same season.
The previous year, Noelle Jones was champion in the pentathlon at the league indoor championships to earn all-Sun Belt honors — Leah Hixon just missed the same recognition after coming in fourth place in the event — while Garrett Schumacher was an all-conference honoree following a second-place result in the heptathlon. In the spring, Jones and Hixon finished first and second, respectively, in the heptathlon with Schumacher coming in second in the decathlon at the SBC Outdoor Championships as all three received all-conference accolades. Hixon and Jones traded places in the javelin as Hixon won the event championship. In all, the group claimed three SBC event titles and eight additional all-conference honors including performances from Connor Smith, Farrell, and Beans as the later won her first triple jump title.
Hixon and Schumacher placed fourth in their respective events at the 2013 Sun Belt Indoor Championships while Ashton Krause and Mikel Magnusson also scored in the heptathlon for the men, Hixon garnered league championship in the heptathlon and javelin at the league outdoor meet later in the year and Schumaker finished third to pick up all-conference honors.
James also helped Jaylon Holt score in the men's triple jump at both the SBC Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2013 and 2014 as he became the school record holder in the indoor triple jump.
James joined the staff coming from a private real estate business and serving at Athens Christian School in Athens, Ga., where he was as an assistant coach and teacher. While at ACS, he specialized in sprints, pole vault, and relays while also coaching women’s basketball and junior varsity football. He also coached the boys’ and girls’ track and field teams to six Class A state titles.
Prior to that, James was an assistant coach at Georgia from 1999-2006, where he handled recruiting and developed the training regime for pole vault and combined events. During his stint there, the Bulldog women’s team won the 2006 Southeastern Conference indoor and outdoor championships. He coached three individual NCAA national champions, as well as 13 NCAA All-Americans and six academic All-Americans. Hyleas Fountain and Thorey Ellisdottir went on to become Olympians as Hyleas finished with a silver medal in the heptathlon in 2008 and Thorey — who set the NCAA indoor pole vault record in 2001 — finished fifth for Iceland in the 2004 games. They were both NCAA Champions for Georgia in these events. Hyleas also won the NCAA outdoor long jump and Fanni Juhasz picked up a championship in the indoor pole vault.
From 1994-99, James was an assistant at Clemson, where he performed similar duties. There he developed the training program for all field and multi-event student-athletes. While there, Clemson’s men’s team amassed five Atlantic Coast Conference championships – three indoor and two outdoor – and had two NCAA All-American student-athletes. Olympian Sean Crawford was a top recruit and performer for the Tigers winning gold in the 200m in Athens Greece in 2004. He also picked up silver from the 4x100m relay in 2004 and was promoted to silver in the 200m in 2008. Duane Ross and Carlton Chambers were fellow Tigers and Olympians.
James began his coach career in Brownfield Texas, in 1983 teaching and coaching football, girls’ basketball, track and field, and volleyball at the local junior high school. James says he had a “nice introduction to his career” by having Sheryl Swoopes, WNBA MVP and Olympic gold medalist one of his first seventh grade athletes.
In 1984, James became the Athletic Coordinator Woodsboro Junior High School coaching football, basketball, and track and field, helping the varsity to a regional championship. In a move closer to home, James coached pole vaulters at Big Spring High School in Big Spring, Texas, in 1985.
From there he went on to a graduate assistant position for men’s and women’s track at Baylor from 1986-87 under track coaching legend Clyde Hart. 1996 Gold medalist and World Record holder Michael Johnson was a freshman member of a team that finished top 10 at the NCAA Championships.
After that, he served as assistant coach as well as assistant to the athletic director at Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas, for two years. The team amassed three National team Championships, two runner-up finishes, 66 NAIA All-Americans, 20 national event champions, and his first Olympic medalist. Olympian Devon Morris took a silver in the 1988 games on Jamaica’s 4X400m relay His final stop before Clemson was a stint as assistant coach at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., from 1989-94. He helped develop three NCAA All-Americans, seven IC4A event champions, 22 Big South event champions and 29 school records. Todd Pettyjohn set an NCAA event record in the decathlon pole vault for the Flames, a first for James.
In addition to that coaching experience, James has also served as USATF Pole Vault Development Chair and has worked in camps and clinics. During his time at Georgia, he directed the UGA pole vault camps. He has also managed and directed meets and has assisted in officiating and results.
James has two daughters, Courtney and Megan. Megan is currently a student-athlete on the track team and competes in the women’s pole vault.
