Jamaican-born coach Nadia Alexander-Pompey has been appointed associate head coach at her alma mater Louisiana Tech, track and field coach Gary Stanley announced Thursday (October 21).

The 35-year-old Alexander-Pompey was Jamaica’s national discus champion in 2007 and finished eighth in the final of the shot put at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India.

She spent the past two years as the head coach at Florida A&M University.

“Once I started my coaching career, I always dreamed of the opportunity to return home to my alma mater Louisiana Tech University and join the staff,” said Alexander-Pompey, a former student of Manning’s High and St Hugh’s high school in her home country.

“It took something incredibly special for me to leave Florida A&M, but I know in my heart this is the right place and the right time.

“As a former Lady Techster, I know where our potential as a program can rise to amongst the NCAA track and field teams. I thank Coach Stanley and embrace the opportunity to join his staff and continue to build onto that history on both a conference and national level.”

Meanwhile, Coach Stanley said he was excited about Alexander-Pompey’s return, which he believes is a major boost to Louisiana Tech’s athletics programme.

“I am thrilled to bring back one of Louisiana Tech’s greatest throwers as our throws coach. Nadia has experience as a D1 head coach and is a proud Louisiana Tech graduate. She still holds the indoor and outdoor school record in the shot put. She was an extremely hard worker and a ferocious competitor. I know she will bring those same qualities in as a coach at Tech,” he said.

Alexander-Pompey lettered at Louisiana Tech from 2005 through 2009 where she helped lead the program to four Western Athletic Conference indoor titles and five Western Athletic Conference outdoor titles during her time in Ruston.

She was a three-time all-conference honoree in the shot put in indoor track and field (2006, 2007, 2008) and a two-time all-conference honoree in the shot put in outdoor track and field (2008, 2009). She was the WAC Indoor Champion in the shot put in 2009 with a throw of 52-10.25 and the Outdoor Champion in 2008 (54-6.75) and 2009 (54-0.5).

Alexander-Pompey still holds the top six marks in the shot put in outdoor, including the school record throw of 54-8.75 in Philadelphia in April of 2009 at the Penn Relays where she won the event. She still holds the top two marks in the shot put in indoor competition, including the school record throw of 53-7.5 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2008.