Ken Hunt joined Brown’s coaching staff in 2012 and coaches the men’s and women’s horizontal jumps, vertical jumps, and multi-events. Hunt was promoted to the position of Associate Head Coach of Track and Field/Anne Rothenberg Assistant Coaching Chair in September of 2020.
Entering into his eighth season in 2019-20, the Bears have made stellar improvements under Hunt’s direction, highlighted by four NCAA All-Americans in each of the past four years consisting of Carly Paul (2019 - heptathlon, 2018 - High Jump), Shanelle DeJournett (2017 - High Jump) and O'Sha Williams in (2016 - Triple Jump). Hunt has coached five total All-Americans at Brown, as well as 47 performers onto Brown University’s All-Time Top Ten list, ten school records, and ten NCAA Regional qualifiers.
Hunt was named the Northeast Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for the 2019 outdoor season. He guided his athletes to 51 of the team's 59 points at the Ivy League Championships and coached Carly Paul to the all-time Ivy League record in the heptathlon at 5,632 points and was a national qualifier in the event. In addition, Hunt's long jumpers went 1-2-3 at Heps and four long and one high jumper all advanced to the NCAA East Preliminary meet, while the long jump quad ranked fourth in the nation.
Hunt coached Carly Paul to a standout season in 2017-18, as she captured the Ivy League pentathlon and heptathlon league titles and broke four school records over the course of both track & field seasons. Williams and Paul were named the recipients of the Marjorie Brown Smith Award as Brown's outstanding female varsity athlete of the year in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Prior to Brown, Hunt spent the 2011-2012 season at LSU, having a hand in the team's NCAA National Outdoor Track Championship and 12 NCAA Individual Qualifiers. Prior to his year at LSU, Hunt coached the sprints, hurdles and jumps at Georgia Southern University. During the 2010 season, his event group won four individual titles and scored 163 of the team's 184 points at the Southern Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championships.He coached Lynndsey Hyter, who achieved Southern Conference history as the first woman to win the Indoor Pentathlon three straight times as well as three times. Hyter recorded the second-highest point total in the championships. Every student-athletes who compete in jumps recorded personal bests during the 2010-2011 indoor season. As a result, Hunt was a finalist for the 2010 NCAA Southeastern Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
Prior to his time at Georgia Southern, Hunt coached at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where his athletes set SIUE records in the pentathlon, long jump and pole vault. Hunt was also an assistant track and field coach at Marquette University. During his two years with the Golden Eagles, Hunt coached 10 Big East qualifiers and 4 NCAA Regional qualifiers.
Prior to his career in college coaching, Hunt led the track program at Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In his four years as head coach at Rufus King, Hunt coached 100 all-conference athletes, 20 state champions and 15 all-state athletes. He built the team from an initial roster of 45 to more than 150 participants.
Hunt started his collegiate competition with the University of Wisconsin before finishing up at UW-Milwaukee. Hunt finished his collegiate competition having set the University and the Horizon League indoor and outdoor triple jump records.
Hunt has a bachelor's degree from UW-Milwaukee in History and a USATF Level 2 coaching certificate for jumps. Follow his story and the Brown track and field team @brown_jumps on IG or email him at [email protected]
