FAMU has named W. Wayne Angel (pictured on the far left) as its new men’s track and cross country coach.Angel comes to FAMU from the Midwest, where he had been the Head Men’s Cross Country and Track and Field Coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2003 to 2009.
While at Illinois, he produced 30 Big Ten Champions (14 individual / 4 relays). In 2006, Angel he had 23 top NCAA finishes, 17 All-Americans and 4x400-meter relay team finished as runner up.
In addition, he developed 17 NCAA Championship qualifiers, two regional champions in the 400-intermediate hurdles in 2004. In 2007, one of his athletes is the current collegiate holder the 500-meter dash.
At Illinois, Angel produced an Olympian, who participated in the 2008 Games in Beijing, China, had two individuals to participate in the 2004 Olympic trials in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles and coached a Canadian National Champion in the 400-meters.
Angel began his coaching career at Pike High School (1992-98) in 1992 as the Head Girls Track and Field Coach. There, he led his team to a #17 national ranking and a State Championship in 1997, earning the Indiana High School Coach of the Year Award.
During his tenure at Pike High, Angel won four regional championships, three sectional championships and three conference championships, while guiding them to a state runnerup finish in 1998. He also produced three individual state champions and three High School All-Americans.
Angel’s collegiate coaching career began in 1998, when he became the Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach and Assistant Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Coach at the University of Tennessee – Martin (1998-99).
After his one-year stint at UT-Martin, Angel was named Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach at Wichita State (1999 -2002) in Wichita, Kansas.
The new FAMU coach is a former Army Airborne Ranger, and a distinguished honor graduate of the Army’s Air Assault School. He is a three-time Gold Medalist at the World Military Games and holds the Armed Forces record in the 400-meter hurdles.
In addition, Angel was an Olympic Trials participant in 1980 in Eugene, Ore., and again in Los Angeles in 1984.