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Craig Perry

Head Coach Track/Cross Country

Phone:  (620) 251-7700, ext. 2080

E-mail:  craigp@coffeyville.edu  

 

Craig Perry will be in his third year as Head Track Coach at CCC in 2009-2010.  Perry received his bachelor's degree in 2006 from Oklahoma State University.  He is also a CCC alum and competed in cross country and track and field as a 5,000 meter runner.  He was also part of the national qualifying 4x800 meter relay team his sophomore year.  Perry was an Academic All-American at CCC in 2003 and 2004 and was a member of the 2003 NJCAA Academic Team of the Year in cross country.   

 

In his second season as Head Coach, the Ravens placed as All-American in fifteen events combined at the Indoor and Outdoor National Track Meets.  At the Outdoor National Meet, the women’s team placed 15th and the men’s team finished 14th nationally.  The women’s track won both the indoor and outdoor Jayhawk East Conference title and the women’s team placed second in Region VI during the region outdoor meet.

 

In his first season as Red Raven Head Coach, the Track & Field program produced 5 NJCAA All-Americans, 8 NJCAA Academic All-Americans, 2 Region Champions, 10 Conference Champions, and 3 new school records.  In the Jayhawk Eastern Division, the women’s team finished as Conference runners-up while the men placed 4th overall during the outdoor season.   

 

Perry’s 2008 cross country team had five NJCAA Academic All-Americans.  The men’s team finished third in the Jayhawk East and the women’s team ended the year fifth in conference competition.

 

Coach Perry also led a successful campaign with the 2007-2008 cross country season.  Under his leadership, 5 cross country runners joined the ranks of the top 25 performers list at CCC (since ’95).  The cross country team was named an NJCAA All-Academic Team, placing 8th in the nation with a team GPA of 3.450.  Four cross country athletes earned individual Academic All-American status.

  

Perry is married to Michelle Woolsey, a former distance runner who graduated from CCC in 2005.

 

Heather Schmidt

Assistant Coach - Track/Cross Country

Phone: (620) 252-7109

E-mail: heathers@coffeyville.edu

 

Heather Schmidt begins her third season with the Coffeyville track and field program in charge of men’s and women’s jumps.  Since the beginning of her tenure, 7 of the 12 school records at CCC have been broken in the jumping events.  

 

In 2009, Freshmen Marquis Burns (Apopka, FL) rewrote the school’s indoor and outdoor record book by setting four new records in both triple jump and high jump. Burns was undefeated as Region VI and Jayhawk East Conference Champion in the high jump with a top mark of 7’ .25”.  He also claimed the Outdoor Conference Championship in the triple jump with a top of 49’ 5”.  At the national level, Burns earned Outdoor Coaches Association All-American recognition in both the high jump (5th in the Nation) and triple jump (7th in the Nation) at the NJCAA National Championships.

 

Under Schmidt’s leadership, Freshman Emily Seda (Land O’Lakes, FL) also flourished, earning 2009 Indoor Coaches Association All-American honors in the long jump (5th in the Nation) at the NJCAA National meet and setting the school record in the outdoor long jump with a mark of 18’ 7.5”.

 

During Schmidt’s first season at Coffeyville, Rashad Cannon (Richmond, VA) quickly developed into one of the best junior college jumpers in the nation and finished his career at Coffeyville as one of the most decorated jumpers in school history.  As a freshman, Cannon won the indoor 2008 Region VI and Conference Championship in the long jump on his way to earning NJCAA All-American honors (2nd in the Nation) in the long jump and Coaches Association All-American recognition in the triple jump (6th in Nation) at the NJCAA Indoor National Championships.  Cannon currently holds the indoor school record in the long jump with a top mark of 24’ 9.25”.  In 2009, Cannon returned as a sophomore to claim the Indoor Region VI and Conference Championship title in the long jump and the Outdoor Conference Championship on his way to finishing 6th in the Nation and earning Coaches Association All-American honors at the NJCAA Outdoor Meet in the long jump.  Cannon graduated with his Associates Degree from Coffeyville Community College and is now competing for Purdue University.  

 

Schmidt recruited fellow Zanesville, Ohio native Brandy Simpson to compete for Coffeyville, where she quickly displayed promise in the multi-events.  In her sophomore season, Simpson broke the women’s outdoor heptathlon school record, scoring 4,312 points on her way to winning the Region VI Outdoor Championship in 2009.  Brandy was undefeated in the Jayhawk East Conference during both indoor and outdoor seasons in the multi-events at each of her four Region VI Championship meets.  She also finished as Coaches Association All-American (6th in the Nation in the heptathlon) at the 2009 NJCAA National meet.  Simpson graduated from Coffeyville with her Associates Degree and now competes for Missouri Southern State University.

 

Other top performing jumpers and multi-event athletes under Schmidt’s tutelage include Gabby Mask (Sherwood, AR) 2008 Indoor Jayhawk East Conference Champion in long jump; Tarayla Merriweather (Ratcliff, KY) outdoor school record holder in triple jump with a top mark of 37’ .5”; Christen Hill (Kansas City, KS) 2008 outdoor conference champion in high jump; Dustin Schull (Pemberton, MN) 2008 Indoor Conference Champion in pentathlon; DJ Bland (El Dorado, MO) 2008 Outdoor Conference Champion in Decathlon and Coaches Association All-American in Decathlon (7th in Nation).

 

Heather was a three-sport star (track, volleyball and basketball) in both high school in Zanesville, Ohio and in college at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio.  As a track athlete, she competed in high jump, long jump, triple jump, javelin, shorts sprints and relays. She was recognized as Academic All-OAC in both track and field and volleyball, selected for the 2004 COSIDA Academic All-District IV Track Team and recognized by the OAC as a Clyde A. Lamb award winner (an award given to two athletes from each college in the conference).  The faculty and coaches also recognized Heather as the William O. Whetsell award recipient, which is awarded annually to one high achieving student-athlete at Marietta College.  She was also named OAC Scholar-Athlete of the Month in April 2004 for achievements in track and field.  Heather graduated from Marietta College as class salutatorian with a bachelor's degree in psychology.  Heather then completed her Masters of Science degree in psychology from Ohio University in 2006.  She is USATF Level 1 certified and serves as director of the Coffeyville Community College Summer Fun Track & Field Camp for kids each summer.  In addition to coaching, Heather teaches Psychology and Ethics courses at CCC.  

 

Robert Wood

Assistant Coach - Track

Phone: 620-252-7046

E-mail: robertw@coffeyville.edu

 

Robert Wood enters his third year as Assistant Track and Field Coach here at Coffeyville Community College. Coach Wood is originally from Blackwell, Oklahoma.  Wood came to Coffeyville from east rival Cowley County where he built one of the top Juco throwing programs in the country during his six years as an assistant coach, helping the Tigers to two women’s indoor and four outdoor as well as one men’s indoor and four men’s outdoor Jayhawk Eastern Division Conference Championships, three Region VI Championships, and four third place National finishes in six years (Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Men’s Cross Country and Outdoor Track).

 

Wood will serve as throwing coach for the Red Ravens as well as helping with the multi-events and the Red Raven strength program.

 

In eight years of coaching, Coach Wood’s athletes have produced:

 

14 NJCAA All-Americans

60 NJCAA Coaches Association All-Americans

6 National Champions

5 National Runners-Up

4 Third Place Finishers

14 Region VI Champions

40 Conference Champions

52 All Conference Selections

1 USATF Junior National Qualifier

1 NJCAA Field Athlete of the Meet

16 of his athletes signed Division I or II Scholarships

 

Coach Wood holds Level I Coaching Certification (general) as well as Level II Coaching Certifications in both throws and jumps through the United States Track and Field Association and is a member of the National Throws Coaches Association.  He holds an Associates of Arts Degree in Community Journalism with emphasis in Television Productions from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, a Bachelors Degree from Tabor College in Social Sciences with emphasis in History, and a Masters Degree from Fort Hays State University in Liberal Studies with emphasis in Health Sciences.

 

Coach Wood also serves as the Director of Student Life for Coffeyville Community College and is married to his wife Jill. They have a daughter named Jacinda.

 

Jessi Larrison

Assistant Coach - Track

E-mail:  jessil@coffeyville.edu

 

Jessi is in her first year as an assistant track coach and resident assistant at Coffeyville Community College.  Jessi is a 2009 graduate of Marietta College (Ohio) with a B.F.A. degree in graphic design.  At Marietta, Jessi ran cross country and competed in the following events on the track team: 4x400 relay, 4x200 relay, 4x800 relay, DMR, and 400 meters, 800 meters, and 1,500 meters.

 

Jessi was conference champion in the 800 meters twice, 2006 and 2009.  She was also the All-Ohio champion in 2006 and 2009 in the 800 meters.  At Marietta, Jessi was named MVP three years in track and one year in cross country.

 

Jessi is a Batavia, Ohio, native.

 

La-Nation McCray

Assistant Coach - Track

E-mail: lanationm@coffeyville.edu

 

La-Nation is in her first year at Coffeyville Community College as an assistant track coach and resident assistant.  La-Nation is a Miami, Florida, native who graduated from Nichols State University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with minors in criminal justice and family and consumer sciences.

 

While at Nichols State, La-Nation competed in the 400 meters and on the 4x400 meters and 4x100 meters relay teams.  La-Nation has the second best time in the outdoor 400 meters and third best time in the indoor 400 meters in Nichols’ school history.  She was also part of 4 x 200 relay team that won the KU Relays her senior year and on the 4 x 100 relay team that placed third.

 

Before Nichols, La-Nation competed for the Cowley College Tigers.  At Cowley, she holds the school records in the outdoor 400 meters and 200 meters, and indoor 60 meters.  She also made the All-Conference team in 2006.