Sacramento State

Former NCAA champion and record-holder Kyra Jefferson joined the Sacramento State coaching staff in September of 2023. Jefferson coaches the team's sprinters and hurdlers.

AT SACRAMENTO STATE

2025 Season

• Coached her student-athletes to six school records during the season.
• During the indoor season, Zoe Ewell and Jessi Barry finished 1-2 in the 60 at the Big Sky Championships and posted the two fastest times in school history. Ewell set the school record in 7.39 while Barry ran 7.44.
• Tristian Campbell was named the Big Sky Indoor Freshman of the Meet at the conference championships. Campbell set the school record in the 400 which had stood for a decade with a time 53.49.
• Ava Fitzgerald was the Big Sky Indoor champion in the 60-hurdles and set the school record in 8.31 seconds.
• The 4x400 relay team of Breija Stredic, Campbell, Dominique Abbott and Emily Giddens had a season best of 3:44.05 to move into third place in program history.
• The success poured over into the outdoor season where Fitzgerald won the 100-hurdles title at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships at Hornet Stadium. Fitzgerald toppled an 18-year old record with a mark of 13.34 at the meet.
• Ewell ran 11.69 in the 100 to draw into a tie for fifth place in program history.
• Campbell's best 400 of 54.39 ranked fifth all-time at Sacramento State.
• Breija Stredic posted a time of 58.52 in the 400-hurdles during the season to move into second place in school history. Stredic also earned all-Big Sky honors after finish in second place at the outdoor championships.
• Fitzgerald and Stredic advanced to the NCAA West First Round.
• Barry, Fitzgerald, Kassidy Schroth and Ewell set the school record in the 4x100 after running 45.03.
• Stredic, Ewell, Giddens and Campbell set the school 4x400 record in 3:38.22 at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships.

2024 Season

• Saw immediate success in her first season, coaching her athletes to 10 school indoor top 10 marks.
• Zoe Ewell set the school record in the 60 with a time of 7.50 in the semifinals of the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
• Jessi Barry earned all-Big Sky honors after placing third in the 60 finals at hte Big Sky Indoor Championships. Barry’s best time during the year was 7.52 which tied the then-school record.
• Kassidy Schroth scored for the team in the 60 and moved into eighth place in school history with a time of 7.57.
• Ava Fitzgerald was fourth at the Big Sky Indoor Championships and posted the fifth-fastest time in school history in 8.49 seconds.
• Breija Stredic ranked eighth in the Hornet record book behind an indoor 400 of 55.86.
• Freshman Stephen Dahdouh had a fantastic debut season, cracking the school top 10 in the 60 and 60-hurdles. Dahdouh ranked seventh all-time at Sac State in the 60 behind a time of 6.85. He is fourth in the 60-hurdles after running 8.00 in the prelims of the Big Sky Championships. He placed sixth in the meet in the finals.
• Zachary Winger moved into fifth place in the Hornet record book in the 60-hurdles and also finished fifth at the conference meet. Winger had a best time of 8.01 during the year. He is now sixth in program history in the 200 after running 21.77.
• The men set two other school top 10 marks with Nathan Rider running 21.76 in the 200 and Malachi Cox 48.03 in the 400 to each rank fifth.
• Outdoors, Stredic qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary in the 400-hurdles. She finished second at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships to earn all-Big Sky accolades. Stredic’s time of 58.75 at the Big Sky meet placed her third all-time at Sacramento State. The freshman also cracked the school top 10 in the 100 with a time of 11.81.
• Fitzgerald was second at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in the 100-hurdles to earn all-conference. She moved into fourth place in school history at 13.53.
• Winger finished fourth in the 110-hurdles and fifth in the 400-hurdles at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships. His season best of 14.12 in the prelims tied him for eighth all-time at Sacramento State.

AT FLORIDA

• Was four-time NCAA and six-time SEC champion while competing at Florida.
• The NCAA indoor champion in the 200 in 2015 and added an outdoor title in the event in 2017. That year, she ran 22.02 in the finals to break the NCAA record in the event which had stood for 28 years.
• Began her professional career that summer and competed through the 2023 season.
• Placed second in the 200 and was part of the gold-medal winning 4x100 relay at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
• Finished second in the 200 at the 2017 Herculis meet in Monaco and was fifth at Weltklasse Zurich in 2017.
• Began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Florida during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
• Oversaw daily training sessions and athlete warm-ups.
• Also utilized video analysis or sprinters and hurdlers, identifying areas of improvement.
• Cached at the P.K. Yonge Development Research School in Gainesville, Fla., from 2019-21. In that role, she designed training sessions for hurdlers and sprinters, oversaw physical conditioning and managed the team's budget.

"I am very excited to welcome Coach Kyra Jefferson to our staff," McDaniel said. "Kyra brings a wealth of knowledge and experience at the highest level in the sport of track & field. Our sprinters and hurdlers are able to say they are coached by the fourth fastest 200m sprinter in NCAA history with a PB of 22.02 (1.1 )wind. I was extremely impressed with Kyra's vision she displayed for our student-athletes during the interview process. She will be a valuable asset for all of our student-athletes who are part of our program.  Anytime you can hire someone who has trained with Sha'Carri Richardson and Grant Holloway who are both 2023 world champions that speaks volume on Kyra's overall experience.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

"Kyra is a passionate young coach who is dedicated to her craft. She is dedicated to helping the athletes she works with get better on a daily basis and she also brings a wealth of experience and knowledge from her days as a high level athlete at the collegiate and international levels."
Mike Holloway
Florida Head Coach, 2023 Men's NCAA Champions, and 12-time USTFCCA Coach of the year.
 
 
"Knowing that my former teammate and good friend is taking on the sprint and hurdle position at Sac State is great news. She has experience in this sport as a former NCAA 200m record-holder and a professional athlete. I'm excited for Kyra's journey as a coach. She will do great things for the Hornet program."
Bridgette Owens
Illinois Assistant Sprints & Hurdle Coach, University of Florida record holder in the 100m hurdles with a PR of 12.71
 
 
"From being a collegiate record holder to representing team USA on the world stage, Kyra has the experience to coach these young athletes and make them better human beings outside of track."
Grant Holloway
Three-time 110m Hurdler World Champion, PR 12.81