Wisconsin Badgers

The Jackson File

Hometown: Harvey, Illinois

Alma Mater: Lewis University, 2002

Coaching Experience

University of Wisconsin

• Assistant Coach,Track & Field, 2013-Present

Southern Illinois University--Edwardsville

• Head Coach, Men's and Women's Track & Field, 2009-13

• Assistant Coach, Men's and Women's Track & Field, 2007-09

Lafayette College

• Assistant Coach, Men's and Women's Track & Field, 2005-07

University of Chicago

• Assistant Coach, Men's and Women's Track & Field, 2003-05

Notable Athletes

Kiley Robbins UW indoor record in the 60 meters (7.28) UW outdoor record in the 100 meters (11.44) Lawrence Johnson UW indoor record in the 60 meters (6.54) UW outdoor record in the 100 meters (10.08) UW outdoor record in the 200 meters (20.41)  6X All-American  Fastest All Time Big Ten in 60 meters (6.54) Destiny Huven UW indoor record in the 60 hurdles (8.05) UW outdoor record in the 100 hurdles (12.82) 3X All-American 2022 USA Outdoor Championship Qualifer 2023 USA Outdoor Championship Qualifer  2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier

Gabby DesRosiers UW Indoor record holder in 4x400 relay (3:39.43) 2018 second-team All-American in 4x100 relay UW Outdoor record holder in 4x400 relay (3:37.41) UW Outdoor record holder in 4x100 relay (44.48) Second-team All-American in the DMR

Bianca Stubler UW Indoor record holder in 4x400 relay (3:39.43) UW Outdoor record holder in 4x400 relay (3:37.41) Ranks seventh in Indoor 600 meters (1:31.39) Ranks eighth in outdoor 400 meters (54.90)

Ebony McClendon UW Indoor record holder in the 200 meters (23.55) UW Indoor record holder in 4x400 relay (3:39.43) UW Outdoor record holder in 4x400 relay (3:37.41) UW Outdoor record holder in 4x100 relay (44.48) 2018 second-team All-American in 4x100 relay

Lorenzo Larry Ranks third in indoor 60 meters (6.69) Ranks fifth in outdoor 100 meters (10.27) Ranks second in indoor 200 meters (21.08) Ranks seven in outdoor 200 meters (20.89)

Brenna Detra 2018 second-team All-American in 4x100 relay 2017 honorable mention All-American in 400 hurdles Ranks fourth in indoor 600 meters (1:30.12) Ranks second in outdoor 400 hurdles (57.42)

Corbin Ellis UW Indoor record holder in 600 meters (1:16.64) 2018 First-Team All-American in DMR

Since 2013, Kareem Jackson has coached the men's and women's sprints, hurdles and horizontal jumps at Wisconsin. In his eight years at Wisconsin, Jackson has coached:

• 2023 Great Lakes Coach of the Year
• 2 US Olympic Trial Qualifiers
• 3 Big Ten Champions
• 23 All-Americans
• 18 All-Big Ten
• 18 UW Records
• 81 NCAA Preliminary Round Qualifiers
• 2014 Big Ten Championships - Indoor & Outdoor
• 2023 Indoor Big Ten Champions
• 2019 NCAA National Championships Indoor – 4^th Place
• 6 USA Junior Championships Outdoor Qualifiers
• 6 USA Outdoor Championships Qualifiers
• 2  International Medalist: LO Johnson ( Gold - 4 x 100m NACAC, U-23), Destiny Huven (Bronze - 100 Hurdles NACAC, U -23)

Huven wins Big Ten title

Sophomore Destiny Huven made Badger history in 2021, winning Wisconsin's first Big Ten title in the 100-meter hurdles. She broke the UW record in the event twice during the championship, running 13.02 in the finals. Junior Bianca Stubler also finished second in the 400-meter hurdles, running the third-fastest time in program history. Freshman Kiley Robbins set the UW record in the 60-meter dash and 100-meter dash during the season, breaking four-year old marks in both events.

On the men's side, Lawrence Johnson recorded top-10 marks in the 60-meter dash and 100-meter dash.

Hurdling phenom Huven

In 2020, Huven set the school record in the 60-meter hurdles, setting personal bests in nearly every meet that she ran, including in the trials at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, where she broke a five-year old mark, crossing the line in 8.25 seconds. Huven finished fourth in the finals, improving her time by nearly a second on the year. On the season, Wisconsin ran the second-fastest time in 4x400-meter relay as Ali Dorn, Haley Lubow, Bianca Stubler and Gabby DesRosiers ran 3:40.82. Dorn and Stubler also ran top-10 times in the 600 meters while Dorn moved into the top 10 in the 400 meters.

4x400 relay shatters school record

During the 2019 outdoor season, the women's 4x400-meter relay of DesRosiers, Lubow, Stubler and Ebony McClendon set the school record twice and qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary. The quartet finished second at the Big Ten Outdoor Championship, setting a school record of 3:37.41. McClendon also qualified for the preliminary round in the 100 meters after finishing third at the Big Ten meet. McClendon also finished third in the Big Ten Indoor 60 meters and fifth in the 200 meters.She was also a part of the second-place Big Ten 4x400-meter relay along with Lubow, DesRosiers and Stubler.

4x100 relay earns second-team All-America honors

During the 2018 season, Jackson coached the women's 4x100 relay of Meagan Blair, Brenna Detra, McClendon and DesRosiers to a school record and second-team All-American honors after a 16th-place finish at the NCAA outdoor championships. The quartet was the first in school history to compete in the 4x100 at the NCAA outdoor championships. Detra also earned second-team All-American honors thanks to a 13th-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles at the national meet. 

Men's sprinters shine in 2017

In 2017, Lorenzo Larry shined for the Badgers, finishing third in the 60 meters at the Big Ten Indoor championships, after running the third-fastest time of 6.69 in the semifinals. Corbin Ellis broke the school record in the 600 meters at the Big Ten championships en route to a fifth-place showing. 

On the women's side, Brenna Detra finished second at the Big Ten championships in the 800 meters and ran a PR of 2:06.47 that ranks fifth in school history. During the outdoor season, Detra finished third in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big Ten championships and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. McClendon broke the a trio of school records in her third year at UW, shattering the school marks in the indoor 60 meters and 200 meters while also breaking the UW outdoor record in the 100 meters, qualifying for the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the 200 meters. McClendon finished third in both the 60 and 200 meters at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Chinne Okoronkwo excelled in the triple jump under Jackson's coaching, earning the school's second-best indoor mark and the third-best outdoor mark. She finished third at the Big Ten indoor championships and qualified for the NCAA West Prelims. 

Sprinters set school records

McClendon broke the Badgers' school record in the 200 meters at the Big Ten indoor championships while she came within a hundredth of a second in matching the program record in the 60 meters at the indoor meet. In addition, Detra became the ninth Badger to break the minute mark in the 400 hurdles as she ran the school's second-fastest time of 57.56 at the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, where she ultimately finished fifth.

On the men's side, Larry ran the second-fastest indoor 200-meter time, the ninth-fastest time in the 100 meters and the seventh-fastest time in the 200 meters in the outdoor season, as he qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round in both events. Ryan Davis also qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary for the third-straight year.

McClendon is freshman phenom

Several athletes shined under Jackson during his second year at UW, headlined by freshman McClendon. McClendon ran the school’s second-fastest times in both the 60 and 200 meters during the indoor season and placed eighth in the 60 meters at the 2015 Big Ten Indoor Championships. Grace Heglund-Lohman finished sixth in the 400 hurdles at the 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

On the men’s side, Ryan Davis had a solid sophomore season, finishing fifth in the finals of the 400 meters at the Big Ten indoor meet. Davis qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the 400 meters while Aaron Thompson qualified in the 400 hurdles. Thompson also scored for the Badgers at the Big Ten outdoor meet with a seventh-place showing in the 400 hurdles. 

Immediate impact in first season

Several Wisconsin sprinters and jumpers shined under Jackson in his first year in Madison. Kim Azie ran the school's second-fastest time in the 60-meter dash, while Laura McGinnis cracked the Badgers' top-10 list in the triple jump en route to advancing to the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Grace Heglund-Lohman scored for the Badgers at the Big Ten outdoor meet with a personal-best time in the 400 hurdles. Babatunde Awosika ran the school's sixth-fastest time in the 200 meters during the indoor season, while during the outdoor season, Ryan Davis was one of three Badgers to run qualifying times for the USA Junior Outdoor Championships.

Guiding the Cougars

Prior to his appointment at Wisconsin, Jackson served as the head coach at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville for four seasons, succeeding current UW throws coach Dave Astrauskas. During his time at SIUE, Jackson led the Cougars in their transition from NCAA Division II to Division I.

In SIUE's first year eligible of Division I eligibility in 2013, seven athletes advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary Round, and La'Derrick Ward became the first athlete in program history to advance to the NCAA championships. He earned honorable- ention All-America accolades in the long jump and was a qualifier for the 2013 USA Outdoor Championships. Ward and Jessica Oranika both competed at the 2013 USA Junior Championships.

More than 30 records were broken during his tenure at SIUE while athletes set top-three marks in nearly every event on the Cougars all-time list. In addition, 17 athletes earned marks that would have earned them spots in the NCAA preliminary round had SIUE been eligible during its transition to Division I.

In 2012, Darius Smith competed in the USA junior championships in the 200 meters, while Jatavia Wright qualified for the U.S. junior championships in the 100 hurdles. Thrower Ben Bishop qualified for the 2010 USA Indoor Championships, and William Lindsey qualified for the 2010 USA Junior Championships in both hurdle events and was a finalist in the 400 hurdles at the 2013 USA Outdoor Championships.

The Cougars also were successful in the classroom during Jackson's tenure as the women's track squad earned All-Academic honors by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Coaching career starts

Prior to his time at SIUE, Jackson was an assistant at Lafayette, working with the sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers. He served in a similar role at the University of Chicago.

A member of the USTFCCCA, Jackson holds a Level I coaching certification as well as a Level II coaching certification in sprints, hurdles and jumps.

Conference champion at Lewis

Jackson received a bachelor's degree in general studies and mathematics from Lewis University in 2002. The Flyers were ranked in the top 15 in the country in each of his four years. He won a Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in the high jump in 1998 and earned all-conference honors in both the 110 hurdles and the high jump.