Email Coach Harbourat Todd_Harbour@baylor.edu
Todd Harbour enters his 16th season as Baylor’s head track and field coach. He has served in that capacity for the cross country team for the last 20 years. Harbour was named as Clyde Hart’s successor June 14, 2005, after he had been Baylor’s head cross country coach and assistant track coach since January 2000.
Most recently a 2017 Southwest Conference Hall of Fame inductee, Harbour continues to build Baylor’s cross country and track and field teams into one of the nation’s most successful and prominent programs. Under his watch, Baylor has posted 23 Top-20 finishes nationally since he took over both programs in 2005-06, including eight Top-10 finishes.
In track and field, the women have seven Top-20 finishes at nationals, while the men have been Top 20 12 times.
In cross country, Harbour’s women’s teams have excelled, earning nine berths into the NCAA Championships, including seven-straight from 2003-09 and two in the last five years (2014, 2016). The streak was the sixth longest-active run at the time.
The team success has been built around a multitude of athletes who have succeeded individually. In his 15 seasons as head coach, Harbour’s student-athletes have won 10 individual NCAA titles, earned 229 All-America certificates and claimed 109 Big 12 titles (72 individual, 37 relay titles), putting the team consistently among the nation’s elite.
In a shortened 2020 campaign that was halted before the NCAA Indoor Championships, Harbour oversaw seven student-athletes who earned All-America honors. KC Lightfoot won his third Big 12 title (second indoor) and was an All-American for the third time. Alex Madlock, Tuesdi Tidwell and the men’s 4x400-meter relay (Ryan Croson, Howard Fields III, Matthew Moorer, Maxwell Willis) all achieved All-America status.
The 2019 track & field season brought 12 new All-America honors and seven Big 12 Championships combined between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Wil London closed his career as the second athlete in Big 12 history to win the outdoor conference title in the 400 meters all four years and added his first indoor title in the 400, as well. London’s three All-America honors in 2019 gave him eight for his career. Freshman KC Lightfoot didn’t take long to make his mark, becoming an All-American and Big 12 Champion in both the indoor and outdoor seasons to kick off his career.
In 2018, Harbour’s Bears earn 10 All-America honors and nine Big 12 Championships between indoor and outdoor. Another 47 competitors combined to bring home 77 All-Big 12 awards.
In the 2017 cross country season, Harbour helped sophom*ore Anna West garner the program’s ninth Cross Country All-America honor and first since Rachel Johnson in 2014. The 2017 team also garnered accolades with West and Lindsey Bradley earning their second-straight All-Region and All-Big 12 honors, while Gabby Satterlee earned her first career All-Region honor this season. Bradley was named Big 12 Runner of the Week on Oct. 3 after helping the Bears post a Top 10 finish at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational for the second consecutive season.
In 2017, Harbour helped guide the women’s track and field program to its first conference championship as the Bears won the indoor track and field title in Ames, Iowa. The BU women scored a program record 129.5 points to claim the team crown over second place Texas (100). The Bears used five individual event champions, four runner-up event finishes and 19 athletes, who recorded 28 All-Big 12 performances over two days of action, to secure the trophy.
During the 2016 cross country season, Harbour guided his women’s squad back to the NCAA Championships for the ninth time. He mentored four All-Region performers, Maggie Montoya, Lindsey Bradley, Anna West and Peyton Thomas, and guided BU to a second place finish at the region meet. Overall, the Lady Bears finished 27th at nationals and fifth at the Big 12 Championship with three All-Big 12 performers, including Bradley, Montoya and West.
The 2016 track & field season saw Harbour help senior Olicia Williams close out at historic four-year career in Waco as she became the first BU athlete to win both the Big 12 indoor and outdoor 800-meter titles in the same year.
For the year, Habour’s teams combined to earn 38 All-Big 12 and five All-America honors indoors and 37 All-Big 12 outdoors. As a team, the women were sixth with 69.28 points at the Big 12 Indoor Championship with two event titles, while placing eighth with 52.2 points and two event titles at the outdoor conference meet. On the men’s side, Harbour led BU to 44.5 points and an eighth place showing at the Big 12 Indoor meet with one event crown, while BU had two event champions to finish seventh with 64 points at the league’s outdoor meet. On the national level, the Baylor men kept its indoor scoring streak alive (every year since 1981) by producing a total of seven points for a tie for 34th-place in the team standings.
During the 2015 cross country season, Harbour worked to rebuild the women’s squad after losing decorated seniors Rachel Johnson and Mariah Kelly. The season was highlighted by the individual efforts of junior Maggie Montoya, who placed fifth at the Big 12 Championship and was the regional runner-up to become the sixth women’s individual NCAA qualifier under Harbour. As a team, Harbour’s women’s squad was eighth at the Big 12 meet and fourth at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships.
On the track in 2015, Harbour directed the women’s squad to a seventh place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships with school record totals for points scored (27) and All-American performances (9). Trayvon Bromell continued his emergence as one of the nation’s top sprinters by winning the NCAA Indoor 200-meter title. Under Harbour’s watch, Baylor athletes combined to earn 40 All-Big 12 and 10 All-America honors indoors, and 44 All-Big 12 and three All-America honors outdoors. As a team, the women set school records with 105 points scored and four event champions to be third at the Big 12 Indoor Championship, while placing fifth with 96 points and a record-tying three event titles at the outdoor conference meet. On the men’s side, Harbour guided the Bears to a seventh place finish with three event winners and 69 points at the Big 12 Indoor meet, while BU had a school record five event champions to finish fourth with 93 points at the league’s outdoor meet. On the national level, the Baylor men had two more Top 20 finishes under Harbour, taking 18th indoors (10 points) and 13th outdoors (14 points) to score for the 38th consecutive year.
Individually, Harbour coached Rachel Johnson to All-America honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the outdoor NCAA meet for a second-straight year with a sixth place showing. With that result, she became the fourth Baylor female athlete to earn All-American honors in cross country, indoor and outdoor track in the same school year, after tallying a sixth-place finish in the 3,000-meters and a second place finish in the 5,000-meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Olicia Williams earned indoor All-American honors as she finished third in the 800-meter race, turning in the second-fastest time in school history with a 2:03.67. Harbour’s women’s distance medley relay team carded a fourth place finish in 11:04.21, the second-best time in school history, at the NCAA meet to nab All-American honors in the event for the first time since 2008 and for the fourth time overall.
The 2014 cross country season saw Harbour return the women’s team to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2009. He mentored senior Rachel Johnson to All-America honors and a tie for the highest finish by a Baylor athlete all-time (5th) as the team placed 19th at the national meet. The women’s team was third at the Big 12 meet and second at the regional meet to earn an automatic NCAA berth.
Rounding out a decade as the head track and field coach, Harbour pushed his squad to new heights as 2014 was highlighted by an indoor NCAA title for Felix Obi in the triple jump and an outdoor NCAA crown for Bromell in the 100-meter dash. All told during the 2014 season, Baylor’s men and women combined to earn 45 All-Big 12 and three All-America honors indoors, and 54 All-Big 12 and 12 All-America honors outdoors. As a team, the Lady Bears turned in matching runner-up finishes at the indoor and outdoor conference meets, tying their best result in Big 12 history. At the outdoor NCAA meet, the women finished 14th with 17 points, their fourth-highest point total of all-time. The BU men were seventh indoors and fourth outdoors at the conference meet by tallying 93 points. That was the highest BU men’s team finish since 2001 (4th) and the highest point total since 1998 (101), while scoring 21 points at the NCAA Outdoor for an eighth-place finish overall. Individually, Harbour coached Johnson to a breakout season. She placed 10th at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships and earned a trip to the NCAA Championships with a fifth-place showing at the regional meet. Harbour helped Johnson transition to track season, as she went on to set school records in the indoor 3,000-meters and the outdoor 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meters. Johnson nabbed All-American honors at the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships, while securing a Big 12 title in the steeplechase.
In 2013, a young Baylor squad added another Top 25 national finish as the women’s team placed 25th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, while collectively the men and women had seven All-American honorees. Prior to that event, Harbour guided BU athletes to six individual conference titles at the Big 12 Indoor Championships as both the men and women placed fourth. During the outdoor season, Baylor’s women tallied the highest finish at the league meet under Harbour and the best since 1999 by finishingthird. At the national meet, seven student-athletes garnered All-American accolades. Harbour’s middle distance crew had a breakout year as Mariah Kelly won the Big 12 Indoor 1,000-meter title and freshman Olicia Williams clocked the second-fastest time in school history at the 800-meter distance.
The 2012 track and field season featured another Top 20 indoor finish for Harbour’s women’s squad. That team had All-American performances from Tiffani McReynolds, Erin Atkinson, Jessica Ubanyionwu and Skylar White to finish 16th at the national meet. BU’s men received All-American nods at the indoor event with Patrick Schoenball finishing fifth in the 800-meters and the 4X400-meter relay team earning a seventh-place finish. During the outdoor season, White again scored All-American status in the shot put, while the 4X100-meter relay team led the way for the men with a fifth-place showing. In cross country, Harbour coached Johnson to an All-Big 12 performance with an eighth place finish at the conference meet.
The 2011 track and field season showed that Baylor continued to put itself in a prominent place nationally with Top 20 finishes on both sides at the NCAA Indoor meet. A silver medal in the 60-meter hurdles from freshman McReynolds and two All-America performances by Tiffany Townsend bolstered a 10th place finish for the women. Meanwhile, the Baylor men earned a silver medal in the 4x400-meter relay to help place 16th overall as a squad. Outdoors, Townsend again highlighted the action with two more All-America performances in the sprints, giving her a school record 17 over her outstanding career. During the 2011 cross country season, Johnson earned All-Region honors with a 19th place finish.
While the 2010 cross country season didn’t feature a team trip to the NCAA Championships for the first time in seven seasons for the Baylor women, Robyn Bennett and Kate Westenhover each earned All-Region honors and individual spots in the NCAA Championships. Katie Shaw added All-Region honors for the women, while Robbie Knorr earned All-Region on the men’s side.
In 2010, Baylor’s track teams battled through a multitude of injuries, but under Harbour’s leadership the depth of the team became a bright spot. The Bears managed 70 combined All-Big 12 honors at the indoor and outdoor conference championships, while totaling 15 All-America honors. The men’s indoor and outdoor 4x400-meter relay teams each earned All-America honors, while the indoor team finished as the nation’s runner-up. Baylor claimed Big 12 individual titles in the indoor men’s distance medley relay, the indoor 800-meters by James Gilreath and the outdoor men’s 4x100-meter relay. With the success of Baylor’s relay teams at the Drake Relays and Texas Relays, the Bears earned the overall relay title by Track and Field News. During the season, Baylor student-athletes broke school records 13 times, with White breaking the indoor and outdoor shot put record seven times.
On the track in 2009, the Baylor men’s 4x400-meter relay team continued a streak of 42 consecutive victories through the NCAA Indoor Championships until a third place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Sprinter Trey Harts, a leg of the 4x400 relay, also earned an individual championship indoors in the 200-meters. Harbour’s crew of men in the 4x400-meter relay helped put together an astounding streak of 42 consecutive meet victories, which included five consecutive NCAA?titles (2007 indoor/outdoor, 2008 indoor/outdoor, 2009 indoor).
During the 2008 season, Baylor’s men won the indoor and outdoor 4x400-meter relay titles to make NCAA?history for the second season in a row. After winning both titles in 2007, the Bears did it again in 2008, marking the fifth time in school history and 11th time ever.
In 2007, Baylor captured two national titles, winning the indoor and outdoor 4x400-meter relays. The relay squad set a new Baylor record of 3:00.04, the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history. The relay broke the 12-year-old record of 3:00.60.
Baylor also made history at the 2007 Drake Relays, winning all four sprint relays (4x100-meter, 4x200-meter, 4x400-meter and sprint medley), becoming the first school to accomplish the feat in 63 years.
The Bears also had solid individual showings at the 2007 NCAA meets, as Reggie Witherspoon (200-meters) and LeJerald Betters (400-meters) each earned All-America honors indoors and outdoors. Nichole Jones (800 -meters) earned All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to become Baylor’s first-ever All-American in the women’s outdoor 800 -meters. In addition to the men’s 4x400-meter relay, Baylor earned eight more All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, including the women’s distance medley relay.
For the year, Baylor athletes set or tied 12 school records, including two each for Kaleigh Teel and Chris Cardwell. Jones and Lauren Hagans combined to break the outdoor 800-meter record three times during the season, while the women’s 4x800-meter relay shattered the previous program-best by 13 seconds.
Baylor didn’t miss a beat in Harbour’s first season at the helm in 2006, capturing one national title, receiving 10 All-America honors and earning 12 Big 12 Conference titles--seven individual and five relay. The Bears also established school records in 12 events.
Jacob Norman became the first national champion under Harbour, blazing to the indoor 60-meter crown with a school record time of 6.56. Witherspoon was a two-time All-American and was named 2006 Big 12 Indoor Male Athlete of the Year. He won conference crowns in the indoor 200-meters, both the indoor and outdoor 400-meters, the indoor and outdoor 4x400-meter relays and the 4x100-meter relay. Erin Bedell (3,000 meters) and Kevin Mutai (600 yards) also captured indoor conference titles. The Bears continued their success during the outdoor season as Chris Gillis earned All-America honors and won the Big 12 title in the long jump. Both the men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relays earned All-America honors and won Big 12 titles. Angel Perkins also earned All-America honors in the 400-meters.
Harbour has only strengthened a solid corps of women’s middle distance runners. The distance medley relay earned All-America honors with a fifth place finish at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships and blew away both the indoor and outdoor school records. Lauren Hagans broke her own record in the indoor 1,000-meters and earned All-Big 12 honors in the 800-meters. Erin Bedell came within an eyelash of adding the Big 12 outdoor 1,500-meter title to her standout freshman season, while Ruth Waller earned All-Big 12 honors in the event. A trio of Bears, Lyndsy Bedell, Monique Ortega and Charity Williams, earned All-Big 12 honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Ortega went on to earn All-Region honors and qualify for the NCAA Championships.
During his six years as an assistant, Harbour’s middle distance and distance runners rewrote the record books. His student-athletes broke eight individual school records and seven relay marks en route to 18 All-America certificates and nine Big 12 individual titles.
In his first season, Harbour watched Floyd Thompson set a blistering school record of 1:07.43 in the indoor 600-yards. Thompson went on to anchor the 4x800 relay team with Damian Davis, Jonathan Pike and Jon Capron to break a 24-year-old record (7:17.55) at the Drake Relays, as well as contribute to a 4x400 team would later win a national outdoor title.
Another record fell in 2001 as the team of Nick Devenport, Michael Smith, Davis and Ferenc Bekesi broke the school indoor distance medley relay record. Thompson went on to win the Big 12 title in the 800-meters outdoors, finish fifth at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., and run on another 4x400-meter national championship team. The Baylor men’s team would placed third overall, tying its best finish ever.
The 2002 season would add more success in the middle and distance events as Lanie Millar, a walk-on, won the Big 12 800-meter title, while establishing a new school record (2:06.34). During the outdoor season, Millar also set the outdoor school record (2:06.08) in the 800 meters. Debbie Thornhill brought home a Big 12 title in the 10,000-meters, and two more distance relay records would be set as the men’s team of Bekesi, Capron, King and Matt Chance established a new 4x1,500 record (15:34.74) at the Texas Relays. The women’s team of Chance, Thornhill, Bennett, and Millar would set a new school record in the 4xMile (20:18.55) at Drake Relays.
In 2003, Wil Fitts made his mark his sophom*ore year by winning the Big 12 indoor title in the 600-yards, while the team of Devenport, Lewis, King, and Robert Quiroga won the distance medley relay title. Kyle King also established a new school record in the 5,000-meters (13:57.22). During the outdoor season, Angela Marvin set a new school record in the steeplechase en route to winning the Big 12 title as a freshman. Later that summer, she claimed the United States junior title for the 2,000-meter steeplechase, while adding a new American junior record to her resume. Thornhill successfully defended her Big 12 10,000-meter title, while earning All-America honors at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif., with an eighth place finish.
King used the 2004 season to establish himself as one of the all-time best distance runners in Baylor history. He became the first Baylor runner since 1981 to earn All-America honors in an event over 800-meters, with his fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships in Austin. He also had an outstanding indoor campaign, as he earned his first All-America honor in the 5,000-meters. At the Big 12 Indoor Championships, King teamed with Quiroga, Korey Wright and Bo Price to win a second-straight distance medley relay title. Fitts also continued his success in his junior season as he would establish a new indoor school record in the 800 meters (1:48.82). As a part of the outdoor 4x400-meter relay team, Fitts also earned his first national championship ring.
In 2005, after automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships at the Stanford Invitational, Brittany Brockman earned her first All-America honor in Sacramento in the 10,000-meters, while Fitts earned All-America honors in the 800-meters. During the indoor season, freshman Hagans established a new school record in the 1,000-meters (2:53.05) and teamed with Angel Perkins, Ortega and Jessa Chance to set a new school record in the distance medley relay.
One of Baylor’s most legendary track athletes, Harbour holds school record marks in the 1,500-meters and the mile run. His 3:50.34 run at Oslo, Norway, his senior year, is still the fastest mile ever run by a collegiate athlete. He was inducted into the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992.
During his collegiate days, Harbour was the Southwest Conference champion in the 1,500-meters in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981. He claimed the NCAA 1,500-meter runner-up title in 1979, 1980 and 1981, the only athlete to ever win three consecutive runner-up titles in that event. Harbour won the silver medal at the Pan Am Games in 1979 and was ranked ninth in the world in the 1,500-meters in 1982.
After graduating from Baylor, Harbour ran professionally for Nike and was one of the world’s top milers. After the 1985 season, Harbour headed to Riesel, Texas, where he found another profession that would eventually lead him back to Baylor. Harbour began teaching history at Class 2A Riesel High School, then found himself coaching the varsity track and field teams. From there, he became involved with the varsity football program and eventually ended up as the head football coach and athletic director.
His success at Riesel included numerous district and regional championships in football and track and field. His track and field teams claimed district championships from 1987-90 and 1993-97 and produced regional championships in 1988, 1989 and 1994. Harbour coached eight individual state champions in track and field and led his cross country teams to a regional championship and two state runner-up results. Harbour was the 1995-96 chairman of the track advisory committee for the Texas High School Coaches Association.
Harbour’s varsity football teams compiled a 51-24-4 record and advanced to the bi-district playoffs four times and area playoffs once in his six years at the helm. Those accomplishments earned him District 16A Coach of the Year, Central Texas Coach of the Year, District 14A Coach of the Year and Lay Witness for Christ Ministry Coach of the Year honors.
Harbour and his wife, Cindy, have three children: Jonathan, Stephen and Aaron.
THE HARBOUR FILE
PERSONAL
Hometown: Port Isabel, Texas
Family: Wife, Cindy - Children, Jonathan, Stephen, Aaron
EDUCATION
College: Baylor, 1981
COACHING EXPERIENCE
2000-05 Assistant Track and Field/Head Cross Country Coach
2005-Present Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach
HEAD COACH HIGHLIGHTS
10 National Champions
200 All-America Performances
92 Big 12 Conference Champions (59 Individual and 33 Relay)
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
1981-87 Nike
HONORS
Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame, Southwest Conference Hall of Fame, Rio Grande Valley Hall of Fame
Big 12 Coach of the Year (2017)
Five-time All-American
10-time Southwest Conference Champion
Eight individual conference titles (Most in Baylor history)
1979 Pan Am Games Silver Medal
Ranked ninth in the world in 1982
Owns seventh-fastest mile time in U.S. history
54 sub-four-minute miles
COLLEGIATE RECORD
Outdoor Mile - 3:50.34
