Edrick Floreal Position: Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track & Field

Edrick Floreal, who has spearheaded a resurgence of the Stanford Track & Field program, was named Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track & Field during the fall of 2005. This year will mark his 12th season overall with the Cardinal.

"I want to maintain the philosophies of the great track and field coaches at Stanford where the student-athletes are the center of the team and feel very comfortable," said Floreal. "I truly believe in Payton Jordan's philosophy of the coach-athlete relationship and having a family atmosphere among the team."

Since his arrival at Stanford in 1998, the Cardinal men and women have enjoyed tremendous success at the conference and NCAA championship level. A 4-time MPSF coach of the year the 2009 West Regional Indoor Coach of the Year and the 2006 and West Regional Outdoor Coach of the Year, Floreal has developed the Stanford sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers into Pac-10 and NCAA championship title contenders. Under his watch, 45 Stanford athletes have earned 110 All-America honors.

Last Season, Floreal's fourth as the Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field. He guided the Stanford men to their top outdoor finish (seventh) during his tenure at Stanford. He also led the Stanford men to an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor meet. Indoors, Myles Bradley (60-meter hurdles), Chris Derrick (3,000 and 5,000 meters) and Elliott Heath (3,000 meters) earned All-America honors, while Bradley also won the MPSF title. Outdoors, the Cardinal had six All-America honorees with Bradley (110-meter hurdles), Derrick (5,000 meters), Heath (5,000 meters), Garrett Heath (1,500 meters), Jacob Riley (10,000 meters) and Daniel Schaerer (discus).

The women also fared well in 2009 with an MPSF team title and a 12th-place national finish during the indoor season. They were led by Lauren Centrowitz, Laurynne Chetelat and Alicia Follmar each earning All-America honors in the 3,000 meters, while Centrowitz and Follmar teamed with Maria Lattanzi and Idara Otu to earn All-America status in the distance medley relay. Whitney Liehr also earned and All-America honor in pentathlon. Outdoors, Centrowitz finished her career with a third place and All-America status in the 1,500 meters, while Liehr captured an All-America honor in the triple jump.

The 2008 was highlighted by Erica McLain capturing the indoor and outdoor NCAA titles in the triple jump. Both Stanford's men (seventh) and women (fifth) placed in the top-10 at the NCAA indoor meet, while the women also finished 10th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Indoors, 11 athletes earned a total of 16 All-America honors under Floreal's guidance. Arianna Lambie (3,000 meters, DMR), Lauren Centrowitz (mile, DMR), Alicia Follmar (mile, DMR), McLain (long jump, triple jump) and Garrett Heath (mile, DMR) were all multiple All-Americans.

Outdoors, Floreal coached a total of six All-Americans in seven events. McLain was a two-time All-American, in the long jump and triple jump, while Lindsay Allen (3,000-meter steeplechase), Alex Gits (10,000 meters), Danielle Maier (javelin), Teresa McWalters (5,000 meters) and Heath (1,500 meters) also earned All-America honors.

Floreal's athletes were just as successful in the classroom where 35 athletes were named MPSF All-Academic during the indoor season and 38 were named Academic All-Pac-10 during the outdoor season. In addition, 17 athletes were named Academic All-Americans with the Stanford men's team earning the distinction of Academic Team of the Year for the indoor season.

After the season and under Floreal's guidance, McLain went on to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team after placing third at the Olympic Trials in the triple jump, while, Arantxa King was named to the Bermuda Olympic Team in the long jump. Floreal traveled to Beijing to coach both athletes as well as Stanford volunteer assistant, Grace Upshaw. This brought his total of Olympic athletes to six.

In his second season as Director of Track & Field, Floreal led the men's and women's teams to fourth- and sixth-place finishes, respectively, at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. Floreal coached McLain to an NCAA championship in the triple jump, while Lambie earned NCAA All-American honors in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, Russell Brown finished second in the mile, Garrett Heath finished fourth in the mile and Josh Hustedt finished fourth in the heptathlon. Floreal also led Brown, Zach Chandy, Michael Garcia and Heath to the NCAA distance medley relay championships.

The women's team posted a runner-up finish at the 2007 Pac-10 Championships. Lambie captured the 1,500- and 5,000-meter titles, while McLain defended her triple jump title and earned her fifth career Pac-10 championship with an American collegiate record of 46-5 ¼. McWalters (10,000 meters) and Brown (1,500 meters) captured individual titles as well, and Michael Robertson and Ashley Freeman took second, respectively, in the discus and 800-meter events.

At the NCAA West Regional, both the men's and women's teams achieved good results heading into the NCAA's. Lambie captured the 1,500-meter title with a time of 4:14.05 and McLain won the triple jump with a leap of 44-8. Collectively, Floreal had 20 Cardinal student-athletes qualify for the 2007 NCAA Championships.

At the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Cardinal men and women each placed 10th overall. McLain earned a pair of All-American honors with a runner-up finish in the triple jump and a third-place effort in the long jump. Robertson took second in the discus and Brown and Lambie both finished third in the 1,500, respectively. Overall, five Cardinal student-athletes received nine All-American awards. Floreal was later named to the 2007 Pan-American Games staff for Team USA in Brazil.

During the 2006 track and field season, the women's squad captured runner-up honors at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship; Stanford's highest finish ever at the event. Seven athletes tallied 10 All-American performances, including Chauntae Bayne-Hackett's third-place finish in the 200 meters and eighth-place finish in the 60 meters, setting school records in both events. McLain also earned All-American honors in the long and triple jump. Floreal was named MPSF Coach of the Year for the third-straight year after capturing the women's indoor conference title.

At the 2006 Pac-10 Championships McLain repeated as the long jump and triple jump champion. Bayne-Hackett also captured the 400-meter title in a school-record 52.35. At the 2006 West Regional, Nashonme Johnson captured the regional title in the 400 meters, leading the Cardinal to a first-place tie with USC. Floreal was named West Regional Outdoor Coach of the Year and went on to coach 11 athletes who were named All-Americans at the NCAA Championships.

In 2005, Stanford's crew of sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers were simply sensational in a season that led to the Pac-10 Conference and NCAA West Regional coach of the year honors for Floreal. McLain became the first woman in Pac-10 history to capture both the triple jump and long jump at the conference meet, which she would go on to accomplish three times. McLain's triple jump of 45-2 ½ was the American junior record and she later finished second at the NCAA West Regional and third at the NCAA Championships. McLain shattered her American junior record by winning the United States Outdoor Championship with an effort of 45-11 ¾, thus earning a berth on Team USA, which competed at the World Championships in Finland.

In 2005, Stanford captured its first Pac-10 title in women's track & field (in a school record 173 points over UCLA's 70). The Cardinal got wins from Undine Becker in the 400-meter hurdles and McLain in the triple jump and long jump, a second-place finish by the 400-meter relay team, and a third-place effort by Johnson in the 400 meters. Stanford's women's team then won the NCAA West Regional title led by wins by Davis in the 100 meters, as well as a victory in the 1,600-meter relay.

The Cardinal 1,600-meter relay team broke the school record with a time of 3:29.39 at the NCAA Championship in Sacramento in 2005. Stanford placed fifth as a team, its highest finish since 1992 when the Cardinal placed fourth.

Indoors at the 2005 NCAA Championship, McLain gained two All-American honors with a second-place finish in the triple jump and eighth place in the long jump. Indoor school records were broken by Wopamo Osaisai in the 60 meters, Nick Sebes in the 400 meters, Janice Davis in the 60 and 200 meters, Ashley Purnell in the 400 meters and the 1,600-meter relay team of Christina Moschella, Janice Davis, Ashley Freeman and Ashley Purnell. Osaisai later broke the long-standing school record in the 100 meters (10.39) at the Junior Pan Am Championships in 2005.

In his first season as head coach of the women's squad Floreal was named the 2004 MPSF Track and Field Coach of the Year after guiding the Cardinal to its second consecutive MPSF Indoor Track and Field Championship. At the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships, Floreal coached Stanford to a seventh-place finish. Outdoors, he led Stanford to a runner-up finish at the 2004 Pac-10 Championships with 153 points. In addition, the Cardinal women finished sixth at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Several school records in the sprints and relays were set in 2004. The women's 4x100-meter relay and the 1,600-meter relay set school records for the second consecutive year, while the men broke a 26-year-old school record in the 4x100-meter relay. The women's 4x100-meter relay earned All-American honors at the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history with an eighth-place finish in the final. The men's 4x100-meter relay ran a time of 39.71 to qualify for the NCAA Championships. In the women's 400 meters, Johnson set a school record and Keisha Gaines set a freshman school record.

The 2003 track and field season was also filled with success for Stanford sprinters. The women's 1,600-meter relay won the Pac-10 Championship, set a then-school record, and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Johnson broke the freshman record in the 200 and 400 meters, and became the first Stanford sprinter since 1992 to compete at the NCAA Championship. In indoor competition, Jakki Bailey set a then-school record in the 60 meters while Ashley Purnell set the then-school record in the 200 meters. The women's indoor 1,600-meter relay team won the 2003 crown at the MPSF Championships. The men's 1,600-meter relay team captured top honors at the 2003 NCAA West Regional Championship. Lindsey Johnson (100-meter hurdles, 60 meter hurdles), Milton Little (60 meters), and Justin Williams (60-meter hurdles) each established new school records.

Floreal's vast technical knowledge in the sprints, hurdles and jumps, and his experience as a world-class athlete have benefited several athletes to outstanding individual accomplishments in a wide variety of events.

In 1999, Floreal coached Tracye Lawyer to the 1999 NCAA title in the heptathlon and her third consecutive Pac-10 title. Floreal coached Michael Ponikvar to three Pac-10 Conference high jump titles in 1999, 2001, and 2002. In 2003, Floreal coached Grace Upshaw to the U.S National Title in the women's long jump and No. 5 world ranking. Upshaw finished second at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. In 2008, Floreal again led Upshaw to the Olympics where she placed eighth at the Beijing Games. Floreal also coached Stanford alumnus Jackie Edwards to her fourth Olympics in the long jump. In 2004, Floreal helped guide 2000 Stanford graduate Toby Stevenson to a silver medal at the Athens Olympics.

Floreal served as assistant coach for Team USA at the 2002 IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, which featured the world record-setting men's 4x100-meter relay team, the first team to run under 39 seconds. Prior to his arrival at Stanford, Floreal produced 13 All-Americans in three seasons at Kentucky. He also enjoyed successful coaching stints at Georgia Tech and Nebraska.

Floreal graduated from Arkansas in 1990. While a student-athlete for the Razorbacks, he captured five NCAA triple jump titles and four NCAA team championships. He also competed for Canada at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games.

Floreal is married to LaVonna Martin-Floreal, the 1992 Olympic silver medalist in the 100-meter hurdles. The couple has two children, Edrick Jr. and Mikaielle. The Floreals reside in Palo Alto.