UW hall of famer Brad Walker named USATF's Nike Coach of the Year award winner...

INDIANAPOLIS--University of Washington alum and Husky Hall of Fame member Brad Walker (Paul Merca photo) was named by USA Track & Field as the USATF Nike Coach of the Year Wednesday.

Walker, a two time US Olympian, world champion and former American record holder, coached both former Pullman resident Katie Nageotte and Sandi Morris to the world outdoor and indoor titles in 2022.

Nageotte won the world title in Eugene this summer, while Morris won the world indoor title in Belgrade in March.

Nageotte and Morris waged an epic battle for gold in Eugene, with Nageotte taking the top spot on the podium by virtue of her first-attempt clearance at 4.85m/15-11, a height Morris needed two tries to negotiate.

At Belgrade, Morris sailed over 4.80m/15-9 on her final attempt to grab the gold over Nageotte, who ended up with a best of 4.75m/15-7. Over the course of the season the duo met nine times, with Morris holding an 8-1 edge over Nageotte, the reigning Olympic champion.

Before moving to the Atlanta area after the 2019 collegiate season, Walker was the jumps coach at Washington State University. In the 2019 season, two members of his jumps squad--high jumpers Peyton Frederickson, and Mitch Jacobson, both qualified for the NCAA outdoor championships.

While in Pullman, he began coaching Nageotte in the 2018 season. Nageotte was a volunteer coach for the Cougars until Walker resigned after the 2019 season to attend chiropractic school. Nageotte followed Walker to Atlanta to continue receiving coaching from him.

In Atlanta, Walker's assembled a strong training group of vaulters that includes Nageotte, Morris, 2022 NCAA champ and world championships team member Gabriela Leon from Louisville, Canada's Robin Bone, and Saudi Arabia's Hussein Al Hizam, who jumped collegiately at Kansas. He also is coaching two time Canadian Olympic 400 meter hurdler and Arizona alum Sage Watson.

Walker joins 400 meter hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 200 meter sprinter Noah Lyles as winners of USA Track & Field's most prestigious annual awards. McLauglin-Levrone was named the winner of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee award to the female athlete of the year, while Lyles won the Jesse Owens award as the nation's top male athlete in 2022.

All three will receive their awards at the USATF national convention in Orlando on Saturday December 3rd at the Night of Legends in conjunction with the USATF Annual Meeting.

The USATF release is available here.

NOTE: USA Track & Field contributed to this report.

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