ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Daniel J. White has tabbed Dana Boone to lead the Knights' cross country and track and field programs.
"We are thrilled to welcome Dana Boone to UCF," White said. "Her passion for student-athlete success is unmistakable. To that end, she is the perfect leader for our current athletes, as well as future Knights. I couldn't be more excited to watch Dana take our program to new heights!"
Boone joins the Knights after three successful seasons as the associate head women's coach at Texas Tech, where she worked with the sprints and hurdles.
"I am truly excited to be named UCF's next head coach," Boone said. "I would like to thank Dr. White, Nicole Harvey and the entire search committee for entrusting me with the future of this program. I would also like to thank Coach Kittley and Kirby Hocutt for the opportunity that they've provided me at Texas Tech over the last three years. I am looking forward to getting started."
At Texas Tech, Boone coached a pair of relay squads to the NCAA Championship in both 2017 and 2018. Last season, Texas Tech's 4x400 relay finished 19th in the nation, while the 4x100 relay finished 24th this year.
She qualified at least one relay event, in addition to sprints events, for the NCAA West Preliminary in each of her three seasons in Lubbock.
Prior to Texas Tech, Boone spent four seasons as the head coach at Texas State, leading the Bobcats to four conference championships, while also racking up conference Coach of the Year honors behind each title.
In each of her four years at Texas State, Boone's teams qualified 20 or more athletes for the NCAA West Preliminary. In 2015, 29 athletes represented the Bobcats in 24 events. Boone also took three student-athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships and advanced six to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
A two-time USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year, she spent six years as the sprints, hurdles and relays coach at Oklahoma. During her time with the Sooners, she trained five NCAA All-America First Team and six NCAA All-America Second Team student-athletes between the indoor and outdoor seasons, including NCAA 100-meter dash champion Candyce McGrone (11.08). The sprint group, comprised of just two student-athletes, accounted for 23 of Oklahoma's 41 points at the 2011 NCAA Championships.
Boone also enjoyed successful stints as an assistant at Tulane, Middle Tennessee and South Carolina, coaching sprints, hurdles and jumps at each stop. During her coaching career, she has had 63 All-America honorees.
An outstanding jumper at Virginia, Boone was a six-time All-American and six-time ACC champion. She still owns the school records for the indoor and outdoor long jump, and outdoor triple jump.
Boone earned a bachelor's degree in communication studies at Virginia in 1991, and a master's degree in physical education at Middle Tennessee State in 1995. She is a Level 2 certified coach in sprints, hurdles and jumps.
