Building trust

New vision for Track & Field, Cross-Country includes close-knit relationships 

Newly hired Track & Field and Cross-Country Head Coach Shareese Hicks said it is a dream come true to take charge of the programs.

“I’m extremely excited to be able to lead a program like this in the [Rio Grande Valley],” Hicks told The Rider. “It’s something that, it sounds cliché to say, a dream come true, but it really is, so I’m very energetic and excited for what we’re going to do.”

Coach Hicks spent the previous two seasons at the University of Memphis as an assistant coach whose focus was sprints and hurdles. Before that, she spent five seasons as the Neosho County Community College track and field head coach.

Asked how much her past collegiate coaching experience will help her, she replied, “Big time. It’s very beneficial and extremely helpful in a way that I’m able to use my background and really structure and organize the program for what I think is going to be successful. And then, at the same time, develop student athletes because we want to throw farther, we want to get faster. So, I have that great balance that’s going to help us be successful in the [Western Athletic Conference].”

Chasse Conque, vice president and director of Athletics, told The Rider that the program is excited to welcome Hicks.

“She’s seen a lot, done a lot and has certainly experienced a lot, so she’s a great fit for us,” Conque said. “We’re excited to welcome her. She’s highly decorated, there’s not many younger coaches that are already in their hall of fame at their alma mater.”

Hicks was a standout student athlete at the University of North Carolina Charlotte from 2004 to 2007. She was a four-time All-American and has eight shared and individual Charlotte program records. In the fall of 2019, Hicks was honored in a jersey retirement recognition and then inducted into the Charlotte Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 2020.

She also ran professionally from 2008 to 2015, competing primarily in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. She was a 2021 U.S. Olympic trials finalist in the 400-meter dash.

She was a 2021 U.S. Olympic trials finalist in the 400-meter dash.

Conque said Hicks’ track and field experience as a student athlete, professional athlete and coach all contributed to being their No. 1 choice.

“All of those things really built a resume that we were impressed with, and then we got to meet her and spend time with her,” he said.

When Hicks was first hired, Assistant Coach Brad Foote told The Rider the first thing he saw was how great of an athlete she is.  

“I just think it’s always good for an athlete to not only be a good coach but someone who has been there, that understands the process to get to that level and then being able, as an athlete, [to say] ‘Yeah, she’s done this and she’s been there,’” Foote said. “It’s [being] able to sell that to your athletes, of no shortcuts and this is kind of how it is.”

Hicks said her background as a former student athlete helps her see where student athletes are coming from.

“At the time, I didn’t realize how helpful it was going to be, but it really is,” she said. “I’ve been able to make relationships from all walks of life, which is important because we’re coaching athletes from all different types of backgrounds. And then, being able to understand how it is, organizing, balancing your academics with your athletics. So, I’m able to provide tools for the student athletes in that aspect, and then, I have wonderful relationships with coaches that have really mentored me and have given me a blueprint on how to be successful in my career.”

Taylar Kregness, a junior thrower, told The Rider she is excited about getting a new head coach and that she knew Athletics had nothing but the student athletes’ best interest in mind.

“She’s extremely team-oriented and she has expressed a lot of interest in us, as student athletes, already, involving [Student-Athlete Advisory Committee] and our Black Student Union,” Kregness said. “She really values our goals, whether it’s athletics, our academics, or even our future professional goals. And, so far, the impression that Coach Hicks has made has been phenomenal. She’s just shown so much support and already showed so much pride for the program that we’ve built here as Vaqueros, so it just feels like there’s only one way but up.”

Hicks said she wants the student athletes to know that she has their backs, wants to build that trust with them and get them to all buy into the program.

“Track and field has that misconception that it’s an individual sport, but we really just all need to rely on each other,” she said. “They’re still building that close-knit kind of family and that’s the first thing on the agenda.”

Another priority for Hicks is student athletes’ mental health.

“Just the nature of sport is extremely stressful, and then you add being a student and being an athlete and the home life and all of those things, it’s a recipe for intense stress,” she said. “Our job as coaches is just that, to make sure that not only we provide the tools for you to navigate that, but also just that we’re adding extra support and not adding extra stress.”

Kregness said something that stood out to her was that Hicks was immediately interested in who she is as a person aside from who she is in athletics.

“‘Who do you wanna be, Taylar? What are your goals and stuff?’ And I think that type of mentality, person first before athletics, can be really beneficial,” she said.

Coach Hicks tweeted on Aug. 2, “Today I begin my new journey of leading the men’s and women’s track and field/cross country program at UTRGV. As a black woman in athletics, not only do I understand this monumental moment, but I’m extremely grateful for the shoulders I stand on.”

Asked what being the head coach of the program means to her as a Black woman and other Black women or women of color, she replied, “It just shows that representation matters.”

“I was able to look up to my [athletic director] at UNC Charlotte,” Hicks said. “She was one of the first women to run a Division 1 athletic department, so because of her, I saw that that was possible. And then, later on in my career, I looked at other women of color, Caryl Smith Gilbert, Connie Price, that are taking over programs in the [Southeastern Conference] and things like that, and I see that and I’m like, ‘OK, they kind of have provided that blueprint for that, so it’s not lost on me that this is very big and very important.’ So I take it very seriously and I’m very grateful and humbled at the opportunity.”

Hicks said she wants the program to increase its community service and make sure it has a presence in the Valley.

“Be on the lookout for track and field and cross-country,” she said. “Come out and support us and not only us but all the other sports because the vision is very equal across the board.”